Phil at 50: Mickelson’s historic golf Major win is a triumph of mental strength

Baying fans, thousands of them, closed in as Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka walked up to the final green at the Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course on Sunday. Not to take anything away from the finest hour of Leftie the popular champion, the frenzy would have come second only to the roar for Tiger Woods’ march to Major victories.

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On Sunday, at one of the toughest courses in the US, where a scratch player is expected to average 79 in a good round, Mickelson’s two-shot win in the US PGA Championship meant much more than the history he made as the oldest to win a Major, at 50.

“Being able to stay more in the present” Mickleson, who turns 51 next month, told reporters as the most important ingredient in his first Major for eight years.

“It's very possible this is the last tournament I ever win. Like if I'm being realistic. But it's also very possible that I may have had a little bit of a breakthrough in some of my focus and maybe I go on a little bit of a run, I don't know. But the point is that there's no reason why I or anybody else can't do it at a later age. It just takes a little bit more work.”

Less of an understatement, more of a fair assessment, but none of the nostalgia that was whipped up when Jack Nicklaus, winner of a record 18 Majors, contended well into the final round at the 1998 Masters at 58. Or when Tom Watson, at 59, almost won the 2009 British Open until nerves let him down as he lost in the playoff. Fred Couples was 52 when he led midway through the 2012 Masters.

For Mickelson, whose last Major win was the 2013 US Open, it was more about fixing his wavering concentration. For inspiration, to win a Major long after everyone had given up, he need not have looked beyond Woods’ 2019 Masters win, his first Major (overall 15th) after 11 frustrating years, through four back surgeries and turmoil in his life.

The Ocean Course at 7,849 yards was the longest course in which a Major was played. That meant it was tailor-made for the younger big-hitters, like Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka. In the end, only 16 players ended under par, Mickelson beating Koepka by two shots.

It was Mickelson’s consistency, accurate tee shots in stiff breeze from the Atlantic and inspired play that stood out. The wind and hazards on the course punished the field. Mickelson shared the halfway lead, led by a shot after 54 holes before seeing off Koepka’s on Sunday.

Mickelson knew he would be a contender in tough conditions. But those close to him knew he must stay in the now. Tina, older sister to Phil and Tim—he caddied for his brother, for the first time in a Major—tweeted with a smiley emoji, on how the family dealt with the pressure on Sunday. “While you guys were busy on the golf course, I was busy fielding Mom’s “nervous texts”.

And mom’s frantic message, attached to the tweet? “Tina, txt Philip and tell him just to par in. Don’t hit bombs or activate calves. Just par. They will have to catch him. He won’t listen to his mother do you txt him. Hurry (smiley).”

Mickelson put it down to taming the mind. “I’ll get my thoughts racing (usually), I was really trying to stay calm.”

The motto was “working harder physically, focus a lot harder”. It helped win his 45th PGA Tour title. “I don't know how to describe the feeling of excitement and fulfillment and accomplishment to do something when—you know, of this magnitude—when very few people thought that I could.”

It did feel like two of golf’s icons were only indulging themselves when he beat Woods in The Match—a made for TV match play event—in September, 2018 to take home a $9 million prize.

But Mickelson and fellow players insist it is his love for golf, and staying injury free, that has helped him keep playing at the highest level.

“He just loves golf. I mean, when he's at home, he's still playing almost every single day, sometimes 36. He's grinding. It never stops for him,” said Tim.

Irish three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington, 49, one of the few to end under par, believes older golfers do better under pressure, when their minds can’t drift. “I'd say Phil is full to capacity, but that's where he likes to live.”

With just two wins in seven years, Mickelson admitted his mental game wasn’t really there. He made changes to his diet, did meditation and played ridiculously long sessions of 36 to 45 holes a day.

The skill level, combined with focus, proved unbeatable on a treacherous course. Mickelson bounced back every time he slipped on Sunday, holing out a 50-foot bunker shot at the par-3 fifth and hitting a 366-yard drive at the par-5 16th for birdies, after back-to-back bogeys on the 13th and 14th.

Shane Lowry, the British Open winner, put it in perspective.

“It’s not very enjoyable out there because it’s so hard, and every hole is a disaster waiting to happen. So it’s very stressful and there’s a lot of anxiety and a lot of nerves and a lot of tension out there, but you just have to get on with it and try and hit the best shots you can, and that’s all I’ve been doing.”

Mickelson joins England’s Nick Faldo and US golfer Lee Trevino as a six-time Major winner. Only 11 players have won more.

He had needed a special exemption to play next month’s US Open, but the win gives him a direct entry. With the tournament being played at Torrey Pines, near his home in San Diego, few would bet against Mickelson, armed with his late-career focus, completing a career grand slam.

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