By Rahul Banerji
Phil Mickelson is 18 holes away from scripting some unlikely history at the 103rd PGA Championship on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course on Sunday.
Playing some of the smoothest golf of his storied career, the left-hander has led the field for the last two days.
At 50, he could become the oldest men’s Major winner, ahead of Julius Boros, who was 48 as the 1968 PGA Championship.
No player has won a Major after turning 50, and if Mickelson does pull through on Sunday, it would be on the longest Major venue ever, over a massive 7,876 yards.
No player has ever gone 30 years between his first and most recent PGA Tour victory. Mickelson won the Northern Telecom Open back in 1991 as an amateur.
If he wins on Sunday, it will be 30 years, 4 months, 10 days between the first and current titles.
It would be Mickelson’s second PGA title after 2005, his sixth Major and a first since the 2013 Open and 45th PGA Tour win overall after the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am.
Slim lead
After Saturday, Mickelson (70-69-70, -7) was one shot ahead of 2018/2019 winner Brooks Koepka (69-71-70, -6) and two up on 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (71-68-72, -5).
Mickelson also held the three-day lead at the 2005 PGA Championship, which he went on to win.
Incidentally, he is three-for-five as 54-hole leader or co-leader in Major championships.
But it is the Ocean Course that is extracting a price on the field.
Mickelson was five up on the field after the opening 10 holes on Moving Day, Saturday, but with eight holes to go he found water and began to drop shots.
He eventually ended on 2-under 70, that too thanks to a final hole bogey by Koepka who has been chipping away at the leaders.
“I felt I had a very clear picture on every shot,” Mickelson said later. “And I’ve been swinging the club well, and so I was executing.
“I think that because I feel or believe I’m playing really well and I have an opportunity to contend for a major championship on Sunday and I’m having so much fun that it’s easier to stay in the present and not get ahead of myself.”
Bothered by a right knee injury that hobbled his ability to read putts, Koepka is in touching distance of his fifth Major win.
“I left a lot out there,” he said.
“I’ve got a chance to win, so that’s all I wanted to do today is not give back any shots and be there tomorrow with a chance, and I’ve got that.”
Rough patch
Augusta Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama was hot on the heels of the leaders before the Ocean Course took a toll.
Both the Japanese star and Korea’s Sungjae Im lost momentum at critical stages of their rounds.
Matsuyama even threatened for the lead by turning in 34 but struggled home in 42 to end the day with a disappointing 76.
On his back nine, he dropped six shots, four bogeys and a double.
It sent him down to tied 23 and eight off the pace after starting the day only two behind.
Im was better with a 73 for shared tenth place but bogeys on his last two holes meant he was six shots behind the leader.
“I just regret that I missed a couple short putts, but overall I feel good about my game,” said Im.
“I don’t want to change anything,” said Im, whose best major finish was joint runner-up at last year’s Masters.
“Want to stay consistent with my game. I just wish I can drop more putts and have a strong finish.
“Definitely my experience of playing in these type of Majors and these situations really help me.
“I do have experience playing well at the Masters, so I’m not nervous. I’m just going to play my game.”
Also read: Bland wins British Masters to break 19-year title jinx, so there’s hope for all
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