KIAWAH ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA | That was bonkers, wasn’t it?
Maybe it was pandemic fatigue – or the alcohol consumed on a long Sunday in the sun. Or maybe it was just the fact a nearly 51-year-old man far enough past his sell-by date that he hadn’t posted a top-20 finish in almost a year was 176 yards and a few more strokes from making history.
That cocktail of circumstances led to a total loss of decorum. There was no stopping the thousands of fans who poured onto the 18th fairway and right past the players still trying to finish the PGA Championship. Brooks Koepka and his tender knee were none too amused. Phil Mickelson, with a stroke left to give, called it “harrowing … and awesome.”
The final scene made an already amazing PGA Championship unforgettable. Mickelson did what no AARP-eligible golfer had ever done and collected his sixth major in trademark Phil phasion.
It was glorious.
When Phil was a spry lad of 39, he saw a 59-year-old Tom Watson on a new hip come a whisker from winning the 2009 British Open a year af...
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