The Jordan Spieth Experience was on full display early on moving day at the PGA Championship.
Entering the day at 5-over-par — and just barely squeaking under the cutline — Spieth needed to make quite a run to get back in contention with the leaders at five-under.
Unfortunately, his first tee shot of the day took the idea of making a run way too literally and landed straight in the porta-potty area.
Seriously, you either have to try really hard to mess up a drive like this or suffer some horrible luck. We have to assume it’s the latter because the next shot didn’t go much better for him.
After being granted temporary immovable obstruction relief, Spieth’s second shot clipped a tree and dove straight back down to Earth, eliciting a little profanity from the golfer.
“His brother and sister have mentioned … how happy he seems. How relaxed and comfortable.”
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. – Phil Mickelson’s estate, with golf greens and bunkers out his 13,000-square foot mansion, was stirring one day this week.
The wooden front gate swung open when a dry cleaner’s van arrived. Inside, gardeners cut and pruned the 5.85-acre property about 25 miles north of San Diego. And a man who introduced himself as the property manager greeted a reporter hoping to talk to Mickelson, who entered the World Golf Hall of Famer at the ripe age of 41.
“Right now he’s actually in meetings,’’ the property manager told USA Today Sports.
But Mickelson’s mother was available to talk. She said her son is as happy as she’s seen him in years and, during his three-month absence from professional golf, occasionally in public view.
“I didn’t recognize him at first,’’ Mary Mickelson told USA Today Sports during a phone interview. “He had a little bit of a beard and mustache. I don’t ever remember him doing that before. Not too many people recognize him, so it’s been fun to be able to go out with him.’’
Three months ago, Mickelson voiced support for a Saudi-backed, breakaway golf tour despite acknowledging the country’s “horrible record on human rights,’’ including the execution of gay people and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi national who worked for the Washington Post.
Facing backlash for his comments, Mickelson retreated to his mansion and largely disappeared from public view.
“I wish you could see him now,’’ Mary Mickelson said. “He’s relaxed, he laughs all the time. He’s not on the phone with people that are calling him for this and that, and please play in this tournament, and it’s hard when you have to say no, when you don’t have the time to spend. But he has taken a lot of time with our family.
Phil Mickelson of the United States tees off on the 14th hole during day one of the PIF Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club on February 3, 2022, in Al Murooj, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)
“Tim and Tina, his brother and sister, have mentioned that too. How happy he seems. How relaxed and comfortable. And if it means going through all of this … I’m happy for him.
“I think you’ll see a different person if he decides to come back and if he plays, someone who’s going to enjoy playing just to be playing.’’
If Mickelson comes back?
“We don’t talk about (golf) very much,’’ she said. “I know when he comes to visit, we’re always in the backyard putting and chipping and just playing around. I guess he’s getting out there. I really don’t know for sure.”
Mickelson’s absence from the PGA Championship is much to the chagrin of his supporters such as Charles Barkley.
“I think it’s time for him to come out of hibernation,’’ Barkley, the NBA Hall of Famer-turned-broadcaster, told USA Today Sports, during a recent phone interview.
“I talked to Phil and I told him, ‘Hey, man, how long are you going to hide out? It’s time for you to come out,’ ’’ Barkley said. “Phil is my friend and always will be my friend. That does not mean he did not screw up. But the notion that he’s got to stay in his house for the rest of his life is just (expletive).”
Mickelson’s beard and mustache
It turns out Mickelson has been getting out of his house but keeping a low profile thanks to that new mustache and beard, according to Mickelson’s mother.
She said her son’s public outings have included watching his nephew play Little League baseball and watching his niece play lacrosse.
At a recent San Carlos Little League game, astute spectators noticed Phil Mickelson watching the action from an adjacent field rather than from the stands.
The golfer, whose three children are in college, has made several visits to his parents’ home in San Diego during his break from golf, according to Mickelson’s mother.
“He spent a whole day with those little ones, his nephew and his niece, and really they saw a different side of him,’’ Mary Mickelson said. “And now every time we’re together they talk with him more and seem to appreciate him more, whereas before it was mainly watching on TV.
“Those things are so important to him and I think he probably forgot how important they were. Slowly you’re pulled away doing more corporate things, but things that were really the most important to him, they weren’t getting done. So I think now he’s in such a good place and every time I see him it’s as if he seems better and better.’’
On April 28, video surfaced of Mickelson hitting a drive at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club, where he is a member. It was the first public evidence that he was back on a golf course rather than working on his short game in the front of his house.
The video recording incident violated the club’s code on privacy, said Michael Jack, Director of Golf at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. Jack declined to answer questions about Mickelson.
“I have special marching orders on that,’’ he said.
Phil Mickelson talks to Charles Barkley about his putt on the third green during Capital One’s The Match: Champions For Change at Stone Canyon Golf Club on November 27, 2020, in Oro Valley, Arizona. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images for The Match)
Charles Barkley says it’s time
But enough with the hiding, said Barkley, who offered advice for Mickelson.
“He needs to do one sit-down interview and let them ask him tough questions,’’ Barkley said, “and then apologize on camera, then move forward. You know, he released a statement (of apology). But statements, they’re not the same as somebody saying it in your face. I think he needs to do one sit-down interview and apologize. And then that’s it, that’s all he can do.’’
Later in the day, the property manager at Mickelson’s estate greeted the reporter again with an update on the interview request.
“He’s just not interested at this point, I guess,’’ the man said.
There was much about the 103rd playing of the PGA Championship that felt familiar.
There was much about the 103rd playing of the PGA Championship that felt familiar.
The spectacular Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina was hosting the event for the second time in less than a decade — Rory McIlroy had captured his second major at the Pete and Alice Dye design back in 2012, crushing the field with a devastating demonstration of championship golf.
After a year without spectators (due to the pandemic), PGA of America officials welcomed galleries, albeit smaller ones, back into the fold. It was announced that somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 fans would be able to attend the event, and a buzz started well before the first shot was played. Overall, the game was enjoying a spike in popularity akin to when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson helped drive the sport decades prior, and this resurgence pushed demand for the few available tickets to an all-time high.
But Woods was still recovering from a near-fatal rollover car crash with fans clinging to hope that he’d again be able to walk. And Mickelson was a handful of weeks from his 51st birthday, so surely he wouldn’t be able to compete with a younger crop of superstars that included McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland, right?
And what about Brooks Koepka, who had hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy two of the three previous years? There was little to believe that Koepka would threaten again after undergoing knee surgery in March. Although the former Florida State star had made appearances at both the Masters and the AT&T Byron Nelson leading up to the PGA Championship, he missed the cut in both events. Koepka’s surgeons had told him he wouldn’t be fully healed until late summer, so expecting him to challenge was a longshot.
But again, this event had a sense of familiarity — and when the first day was done, the four-time major champion toured Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course in 69 shots to grab a share of the early lead. Koepka made six birdies to yet again position himself atop the leaderboard in one of golf’s four more important championships.
“It’s a major. I’m going to show up. I’m ready to play,” Koepka said. “I feel so much better now. I don’t need to be 100 percent to be able to play good.”
“I felt like I already had confidence. In my mind, it’s just a major week. Just show up. That’s all you’ve got to do.”
Over the previous four years, Koepka has shown up for majors more reliably than any of golf’s elite players, although a series of speed-bumps — knee, hip and neck ailments, plus a split with his longtime coach Claude Harmon III — had slowed his charge of late. His opening 69 marked the first time he’d put himself into the frame in a major since last summer’s PGA Championship in San Francisco, a spell in which he missed the U.S. Open due to injury and failed to factor in two Masters.
Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson look on during the final round of the 2021 PGA Championship held at the Ocean Course of Kiawah Island Golf Resort on May 23, 2021, in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Koepka found only five of 14 fairways in blustery conditions on the Ocean Course but hit 13 of 18 greens, good enough to rank first in Strokes Gained: Approach through the early wave of players. The winds raked across the barrier island, making for tricky playing conditions, and the first-round scoring average when Koepka signed his card was 74.54. Koepka didn’t end the day atop the leaderboard — Corey Conners shot a 67 in the late wave to take those honors — but he did sit in a tie for second in a sextet that included Keegan Bradley, Cam Davis, Sam Horsfield, Viktor Hovland and Aaron Wise
“I love it when it’s difficult. I think that’s why I do so well in the majors,” Koepka said. “I just know mentally I can grind it out. You’ve just got to accept it and move on.”
While Koepka came to the PGA Championship hoping to use fortitude as his main weapon, Conners was hoping to use some of the mathematical acumen he’d picked up while earning a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Mathematics from Kent State University.
The Canadian’s keen decision-making and analysis worked just fine on Thursday as he figured out his way around the Ocean Course in just 67 strokes.
“I’d say it’s impossible to be stress-free around this golf course. You can’t fall asleep out there on any holes. It’s very challenging,” Conners said. “I was fortunate to have a good day. Made it as least stressful as possible on myself. I hit a lot of really good shots and holed some nice putts early in the round, and that really helped boost the confidence. Played with a lot of freedom.”
The Ocean Course was just the most recent big stage in golf that Conners has performed well on. He finished third in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, seventh in the Players Championship and tied for eighth in the Masters leading up to the PGA Championship. He’d been a regular on the first page of leaderboards for a few months now while seeking his first major title and second PGA Tour victory. He’d also made a steady rise up the world rankings, climbing from No. 196 when he won the 2019 Valero Texas Open to No. 39 heading into this event.
Corey Conners, of Canada, watches his tee shot on the eighth tee during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament on the Ocean Course Thursday, May 20, 2021, in Kiawah Island, S.C. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
“I have a lot of belief in myself, and I’ve been playing well for quite a while,” Conners said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to play against the best players in the world and put my game to the test. I have a lot of confidence in my game and I’m excited for the rest of the weekend.
“I think one of most important things is the short game around this place,” he said. “A lot of major championships you can’t ball-strike your way to good rounds. You need to have a good short game. You need to get the ball up and down and you need to roll in birdie putts. Good ball-striking definitely helps. The wind and difficulty of the golf course, hitting it solid is very important.”
On Friday, many of the biggest names were sent packing — Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele to name a few — but one of the event’s charms came into the spotlight as PGA teaching professionals Brad Marek and Ben Cook qualified for the weekend.
A 37-year-old teaching pro from the Northern California PGA Section, Marek posted a 1-over 73 Friday and 2-over 146 for the championship (T-32). Cook, 27, PGA Director of Instruction at Yankee Springs Golf Course, in Wayland, Michigan, was leaking oil on the closing stretch of the Pete Dye layout, but managed to par the final two holes to make the cut on the number (72-77—149) for the first time in three appearances.
“It’s been a cool week,” Cook said. “I’m out here on the putting green hitting putts next to my heroes, and I have a great support team here. I feel very blessed.”
Marek, who played college golf at Indiana, competed professionally for nine years on a variety of tours, winning 15 times in that span, including a couple of times on the Dakotas Tour.
Brad Marek reacts on the first green during the first round of the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course on May 20, 2021 in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. (Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
“I chased mini-tours nine or 10 years after college, always with the goal of trying to get out here. Obviously didn’t attain that via the regular route, but as soon as I was done playing, I knew I wanted to be a part of the PGA for the opportunities like this on the playing side,” he said.
Marek, who tied for eighth at his first PGA Professional Championship to earn a spot in this week’s field, runs his own junior golf academy out of Corica Park in Alameda, California, for players with aspirations of playing college golf.
“Everybody in that has a goal of trying to move up to the next level in terms of their golf,” he said.
Speaking as much for Cook as for himself, Marek explained why it was important for two of the 20 club professionals in the field to make the cut.
“Any time one of us can make the cut, I think it’s really good for,” Marek said. “I think there used to be 25 spots in this and it got reduced to 20, so I feel like any time a couple of us can make the cut and represent the PGA well, I think that bodes well for the organization as a whole and just kind of shows the type of players that are at the top level of the PGA of America.”
But the big story of Friday was the familiar charge of Mickelson, whose 23-foot birdie putt dropped into the center of the cup capping a 3-under 69 that gave him the lead after the second round. Mickelson’s putt accentuated a 31 on his second nine that put him at 5-under for the tournament and energized a crowd that was growing with each birdie.
“It’s really fun, obviously, to make a putt on the last hole, finish a round like that and then to have that type of support here has been pretty special,” Mickelson said.
Mickelson had worked through “scar tissue” – something Padraig Harrington, one of his playing partners the opening two days, said 50-somethings must overcome – and of course, the unpredictable challenges of this “diabolical” (DeChambeau’s description) course to put himself in position to accomplish something he had not done in eight years – win a major.
“To be in contention, to have a good opportunity, I’m having a blast,” Mickelson said. “I’m excited for the weekend.”
Two weeks before the event at Kiawah, Mickelson was leading at Quail Hollow in Charlotte after an opening-round 64, but he followed with a 75 and two 76s and subsequently went from leading the tournament to finishing 69th.
He insisted an approach that included long spells of longer meditation and extra practice could make the difference.
“I’m working on it,” he said. “I’m making more and more progress just by trying to elongate my focus. I might try to play 36, 45 holes in a day and try to focus on each shot so that when I go out and play 18, it doesn’t feel like it’s that much. I might try to elongate the time that I end up meditating.
“But I’m trying to use my mind like a muscle and just expand it because as I’ve gotten older, it’s been more difficult for me to maintain a sharp focus, a good visualization and see the shot.”
Louis Oosthuizen Saturday at the 2021 PGA Championship. (David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)
Mickelson wasn’t alone at the top as Louis Oosthuizen’s 68 pushed him into a tie for the lead through two rounds. Koepka posted a 71 and sat just a single shot behind the duo.
On Saturday, after shooting a 68 of his own, Jordan Spieth summed up the post-round sentiment of many of his colleagues. Spieth sounded as if he was channeling “the most interesting man in the world,” from old Dos Equis commercials when he said, “I don’t watch golf, but I promise you I’m going to turn it on to watch (Mickelson).”
“Yeah, it’s Phil, right,” he added. “It’s theatre.”
Dressed in all black like another ageless wonder, Gary Player, and sporting his now-familiar Highway Patrolman shades, the southpaw put on a world-class performance in the third round, threatening to run away with the title before a few stumbles.
He closed with five pars to shoot 2-under 70 and ended the day with a one-stroke lead over Koepka. After sharing the 36-hole lead, the 50-year-old Mickelson charged ahead with four birdies in his first seven holes.
In much more docile conditions, Mickelson sent the crowds into a delirious frenzy. Throaty cheers of “Let’s go Phil,” filled the air making it sound if not like 1999 then at least a pre-COVID world with Mickelson dispensing thumbs up to his fans as if giving out candy on Halloween.
By the time he canned a 7-foot birdie putt at 10 to reach double-digits under par, his lead had swelled to five strokes and Phil’s faithful were ready to crown him champion.
“I felt I had a very clear picture on every shot,” Mickelson said of his torrid start.
But as Spieth pointed out, Mickelson always provides theater and his five-stroke lead faded away as Mickelson hit into a fairway bunker at 12, took his medicine and made bogey, then snap-hooked his tee shot into the drink at 13, had to re-tee and made double bogey. Meanwhile, Oosthuizen made birdies at Nos. 11 and 12, and salvaged a bogey after driving into the water at 13, too. He shot 72 to trail by two and could’ve been even closer if he had made a few putts, including missing a gimme for birdie at 7 and taking three putts from 21 feet at No. 17.
“I think we all got lucky that he came back to the field,” Oosthuizen said of Mickelson.
Phil Mickelson celebrates with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning during the final round of the 2021 PGA Championship held at the Ocean Course of Kiawah Island Golf Resort on May 23, 2021 in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
With his 70, Mickelson became just the fifth player aged 50 or older to hold at least a share of the lead after three rounds in a major since 1900, joining Tom Watson (2009 Open), Greg Norman (2008 Open), Boros (1973 U.S. Open) and Harry Vardon (1920 U.S. Open).
And as is his wont, Mickelson made Sunday something special.
After sleeping on a one-shot lead, Mickelson, 200-1 to win on Thursday, survived a helter-skelter first 10 holes where he and playing partner Koepka exchanged body blows to the tune of four two-shot swings and one three-shot swing. And then he didn’t stagger despite a few more edge-of-your-seat moments on the back nine.
Mickelson got off to a shaky start with three bogeys in his first six holes, but birdies on 2, 5, 7 and 10 gave him separation from the field and when he took to the 13th tee, he had a 5-shot lead.
He made two consecutive bogeys before righting his ship with a birdie on the 16th and his nearest competitors didn’t get closer than two shots down the stretch.
Thousands of those fans followed him up the fairway and encircled the 18th green when containment was lost by marshals and thundered when Mickelson capped off his triumph by tapping in from six inches.
“Slightly unnerving but exceptionally awesome,” Mickelson said.
Thus, after winning his first PGA Tour title 30 years ago when he stunned the golf world to capture the Northern Telecom Open as a junior at Arizona State University, Mickelson won his 45th. And the man whose plaque has been hanging in the World Golf Hall of Fame for nine years and who has three victories on the PGA Tour Champions didn’t have any problem lifting the 27-pound Wanamaker Trophy for the second time; 16 years ago he won the 2005 PGA Championship.
“This is just an incredible feeling because I just believed that it was possible but yet everything was saying it wasn’t,” Mickelson said. “I hope that others find that inspiration. It might take a little extra work, a little bit harder effort to maintain physically or maintain the skills, but gosh, is it worth it in the end.”
“My desire to play is the same. I’ve never been driven by exterior things. I’ve always been intrinsically motivated because I love to compete, I love playing the game. I love having opportunities to play against the best at the highest level,” said Mickelson.
“That’s what drives me. I just didn’t see why it couldn’t be done. It just took a little bit more effort.”
Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio and Adam Schupak also contributed to this report.
Quite simply, it was the wildest and most condensed 12-month period in the history of men’s major championship golf.
When Collin Morikawa tapped in the winning putt at the British Open, it brought to an end the wildest and most condensed 12-month period in the history of men’s major championship golf.
With the British open canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the three others majors rescheduled for later in the year, the top players in the world were faced with seven major championships starting last August and ending Sunday at Royal St. George’s in England.
Some of the majors came off brilliantly, others struggled to find just the right feel in a new time period. Players were lost from some majors because of COVID-19, while other majors found just the right mix to produce a great week.
Here’s a list of the five best moments from the remarkable and busy 12-month major blitz in men’s golf:
Somehow, however, world No. 11 Tyrrell Hatton’s head didn’t explode.
It was unsettling enough that the wedding plans needed to be altered due to COVID-19 restrictions, which led Hatton and his longtime girlfriend, Emily Braisher, to wed alone May 28 in Asheville, North Carolina.
And then things didn’t go as planned on the way to “I do.”
“The day wasn’t very smooth,” Hatton said Wednesday ahead of his start in the Palmetto Championship at Congaree. “Our driver turned up an hour late, so that meant we arrived half an hour late for our ceremony.
“Obviously, it wasn’t ideal. I think the most frustrated I got was when we were actually in the car driving there because the fact that he pitched up an hour late and then was driving under the speed limit. I politely asked him to use the right pedal and press a little harder to try and make up a little bit of time.”
Then the day took another unfortunate turn for the man who has helicoptered irons after poor shots, bitten into the shaft of his putter after bad putts and nearly broken clubs over his knees.
Mr. and Mrs. H wanted to take their wedding photos along the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway but Mother Nature chimed in. And Hatton kept his cool.
“We wanted to hike up and have some nice pictures. Unfortunately, after finishing the ceremony, it absolutely pissed down with rain, and we then had to drive like two miles down the road, pulled over in a lay by, and we had our wedding pictures taken on the side of the road,” Hatton said. “Not quite as magical as you’d planned it, I guess, but it was still pretty special.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPa_3uLDv0D/
Hatton, who won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January, last played in the PGA Championship two weeks ago, where he tied for 38th. He’s back at work but needs some gym time.
“It might have changed my waistline because I certainly drunk my body weight in beer up in Asheville,” he said of his wedding day. “I need to get back in the gym and sort myself out.
“I started practicing again last Wednesday, so I’ve had a few days to kind of try to get back into it. Naturally, I think I’ll be quite rusty. I would say the last month and a half has been a little bit awkward for me really. I started to feel like I was playing really well again at the Zurich Classic when I partnered with Danny Willett, and then getting the COVID test, the positive result the following week in Tampa was a surprise, and I felt like I was going to have a really good week there.
“All of a sudden, it’s two weeks off, and my next event’s the PGA. Again, rusty at the start, and as the week went on, it felt like it got a bit better, and I’ve just had two weeks off again. So naturally, going to be quite rusty, and just hoping that I can hit some good shots to find some momentum out there.”
Erik van Rooyen took to Twitter to issue an apology, calling his actions “unacceptable” and “totally out of character.”
Before Phil Mickelson took the 103rd PGA Championship by storm, Erik van Rooyen took his club to a tee box marker at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course.
Van Rooyen was having a rough stretch late in his back nine during the second round last Friday with a bogey on No. 14, a double bogey on 15, another bogey on 16. It was after a poor tee shot on the 17th hole that he simply lost it, taking a swipe at one of the tee box markers. Marshalls can be seen flinching as if they were going to get hit by something.
For most, that would have been it, but after taking three steps, van Rooyen turned around and took another lash at the marker. This one took the club head off his shaft and made a caddie recoil out of the way.
Former #Gophers golfer Erik Van Rooyen just went full Happy Gilmore at the PGA Championship.
Phil Mickelson proved everyone wrong in winning the PGA Championship at age 50.
Relief pitcher Tug McGraw is credited with coining the phrase “Ya Gotta Believe,” which became the rallying cry of the 1973 New York Mets. Phil Mickelson may owe some royalties on that battle cry after his stunning victory at the 103rd PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
Despite not having registered a top-10 finish in a major since 2016, or even a top-20 finish on the PGA Tour this season, Mickelson still believed that he could not only win again, but win another major.
“I had seen the progress but I had not seen the results,” he said ahead of this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, “and so that’s why I say, I had a belief but until you actually do it, it’s tough to really fully believe it.”
Mickelson credited playing against stiff competition with keeping him motivated to raise his game to their level. Nearly a year ago, he played a series of rounds with Xander Schauffele at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and Mickelson got waxed by the current World No. 6, who shot rounds of 64 and 63.
“I’m like, ‘Wow, OK. Let me try one more time,’ ” Mickelson recalled. “So, we go out next time and he shoots 62 and on a 220-yard par 3, I had to press and hit one to 4 feet and he makes a hole-in-one. I went back and talked to Amy and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to beat this guy. He’s probably playing the best of any player in the world right now.’ ”
At age 50, Mickelson worked harder than he ever had before, often playing as many as 45 holes a day and last month he posted scores in the low 60s at The Farms that convinced him he was on the verge of returning to the winner’s circle.
“Then I went to Innisbrook (for the Valspar Championship) and I missed the cut and I didn’t shoot the scores and I didn’t execute on Tour the way I had been at home,” he said. “I still had a barrier to break through and that’s why I was so frustrated is that I wasn’t bringing my best out when I knew I could, and I had a glimpse there obviously at Charlotte in one round but wasn’t able to sustain it.”
Mickelson stumbled from leading the Wells Fargo Championship after an opening 64 two weeks ago, finishing T-69, but his confidence didn’t waver, said his brother and caddie Tim Mickelson.
“Right after Charlotte, he said, ‘I am going to win again soon.’ I just said, ‘Well, let’s just make sure we’re in contention on a Sunday,’ ” Tim Mickelson said.
Mickelson’s longtime agent Steve Loy echoed that sentiment. “Every time I try to tell him, look, we are running out of time, he’s going, ‘I don’t want to hear it.’ ” On the morning of the final round, Loy sent a simple text message to Mickelson, who he caddied for 30 years ago when Mickelson won his first PGA Tour title as an amateur at Arizona State.
“I said, ‘Phil, I’m getting too old for this, but you aren’t. Let’s get it done.’ ” Loy recalled.
Mickelson flew home Sunday night after the victory and stayed up celebrating with his wife, Amy. He’s back in action this week at a tournament where he’s won two of his 45 PGA Tour titles.
“I want to try to carry that momentum into a tournament that I’ve enjoyed many times and fortunate to win a couple of times on a great golf course,” he said.
I’ve failed many times in my life and career and because of this I’ve learned a lot. Instead of feeling defeated countless times, I’ve used it as fuel to drive me to work harder. So today, join me in accepting our failures. Let’s use them to motivate us to work even harder.
It will be Mickelson’s last start before the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, one of his childhood playgrounds, in San Diego, and he’ll take two weeks to prep for the one major that has eluded him all these years. Winning a sixth major championship has bolstered his belief that it isn’t too late for him to complete the career Grand Slam.
“One of two things are going to happen: Either that’s going to be my last win and I’m going to have one of the most cherished victories of my career to look back on and cherish for a long time, or I also may have kind of found a little something that helps me stay a little bit more present and helps me focus throughout round a little bit longer and maybe I can execute and play golf at the highest level for a nice extended period of time now,” Mickelson said. “I don’t know which one it’s going to be, but either way, they are both positive.”
The feud between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau is very much alive, and the jabs started long before the PGA Championship.
Brooks Koepka may have been unhappy over his putting during the PGA Championship. He surely was disappointed in the fans who overwhelmed security to make his trek up the 18th fairway an adventure on Sunday.
But Koepka felt all that and more for Byson DeChambeau after Friday’s second round.
In the leaked video, Koepka was talking to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis about his poor putting when DeChambeau walked by and chimed in.
“I just felt it difficult to read, you sometimes …,” Koepka said before stopping. He rolled his eyes and then lost his concentration.
DeChambeau just appeared in the background and part of what he said was clear: “Keep it on the line.”
After his initial reaction, Koepka tried to continue before shaking his head again. “I (expletive) lost … I lost my train of thought. Yeah, hearing that bulls—t,” he said.
Brooks Koepka putts on the 18th green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament. (Photo: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)
Clearly upset, he added another expletive before Lewis said, “Alright, we’re starting over,” before telling Koepka how much the crew would enjoy that.
“I honestly wouldn’t even care,” Koepka said.
The Koepka-DeChambeau feud started three years ago and it appears to be simmering. Could this bring it to a full boil?
These are two proud, intense competitors, though very much opposites in personality. DeChambeau is the more popular on Tour and clearly the more outgoing. He has become a showman this season since bulking up last summer to add length to his game.
DeChambeau loves the energy and lets the fans know it, the best example his reaction at Bay Hill this year when his drive on the 555-yard, par-5 sixth hole cleared the lake and traveled 370 yards. He acknowledged the roars by thrusting his arms into the air.
Koepka, meanwhile, is not among the fan favorites. One spectator at the first tee box before Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship implored Mickelson to “not screw it up” because “we would not want to see Brooks win.”
Taking a much more businesslike, serious, me-against-the-world approach to his game, Koepka does not interact with fans as much as most of the Tour’s stars. Koepka, though very serious and emotionless, can be honest and give thoughtful answers during interview sessions.
This week, Koepka has been criticized, unfairly, for his comments on the fans’ behavior Sunday. His issue when complaining about the out-of-control scene was safety and not the juiced crowd trying to get a closer look at eventual champion Phil Mickelson. He said it was “cool for Phil,” but not for him after his knee was “dinged” a few times.
This may not be Jack vs. Arnie or Tiger vs. Phil when it comes to royalty or prestige, but it’s getting to be a lot more fun in a game that could use a good old-fashioned rivalry to spice up things.
While both have won eight times on Tour, Koepka clearly has the upper hand when it comes to majors with four to DeChambeau’s one, and 14 top 10s to Bryson’s two.
This feud dates back to when Koepka started voicing his frustration over pace of play. Others were as annoyed, but none were as outspoken about it as Koepka. And DeChambeau took offense. After all, he was the poster child of slow play, especially after a video of him taking more than two minutes to hit an 8-foot putt.
“I mentioned his name once. I don’t think I’ve come at him. I just talked about slow play, and obviously he feels I’m talking about him every time,” Koepka said at the 2019 Northern Trust.
DeChambeau told Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott, that Koepka should speak to him directly if he had a problem with his pace of play, according to reports.
The two then had a talk and said the air was cleared.
Apparently not.
Last summer, as DeChambeau was pumping iron to reshape his body in pursuit of the 400-yard drive, he took a shot at Koepka’s physique on a video-game live stream, poking fun at Koepka’s abs.
One day later Koepka fired back with a tweet showing his four major trophies.
“You were right @b_dechambeau I am 2 short of a 6 pack!”
This could get to be fun. The two certainly will be in the U.S. Open field in June at Torrey Pines, but three events will be played before then. While neither is playing in the Charles Schwab Challenge this week, DeChambeau is entered in the Memorial, Jack Nicklaus’ tournament held in Dublin, Ohio, starting June 3. It is unknown if Koepka will play the Memorial.
Now, the Tour needs to do the right thing and put them in the same grouping at their next tournament.
Kyler Aubrey has shared many meaningful moments with Tour players. An interaction with Phil Mickelson in his historic PGA run is the latest.
Buried in Kyler Aubrey’s closet is a Masters flag from 2013 with the signature of just one player: Phil Mickelson. When Aubrey met Mickelson and his wife Amy that year at Augusta National, Mickelson immediately bent down to sign Aubrey’s flag. When Mickelson accidentally wrote the wrong name on it – then subsequently scribbled it out – a horrified Amy promised the Aubrey family that her husband would sign a new one and they’d have it shipped.
Sure enough, the flag showed up a few weeks later to the Aubrey’s home in Statesboro, Georgia. On Sunday at the PGA Championship, Aubrey acquired another piece of Mickelson memorabilia. He and his dad Josh were just inside the ropes by No. 5 green at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course when Mickelson holed out from the sand, securing the birdie that helped him separate himself.
“When we were there we could actually see a perfect view of Phil making the shot and we were just screaming. When Phil made it, he came up to us and said here’s my lucky ball, I want you guys to have it, thank you for coming,” Josh said.
“…We were so in the moment that we didn’t even notice that Kyler had dropped the ball. Phil turned around and picked it back up and set it on his lap.”
Kyler Aubrey, 28, has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. At Kiawah, the sand is particularly hard for him to navigate – something they realized in 2012. The Aubreys had practice-round tickets to that PGA Championship there, and then lucked into tickets for the rest of the week, too. Statesboro is only a 2 ½-hour drive from the South Carolina coast.
“While we were going around the course we kept getting stuck,” Josh said. “David Feherty came up to us and said I notice you guys kept getting stuck – this was like Sunday afternoon – he said I want to give you this all-access pass, you can go anyway you want to on the golf course.”
Feherty’s generosity made a world of difference in traversing the difficult terrain. It also helped spark lifelong friendships. Roughly an hour before McIlroy closed out his win that year, Josh and Kyler were near the scoring tent.
“I was like, I wonder if we can go up in here,” Josh remembered thinking. “We went in there and they let us through and all the golfers that finished would walk right by us.”
The Aubreys had spoken with Graeme McDowell in a practice round early week, and when McDowell saw them sitting there on Sunday, he joined them to chat with Kyler for nearly an hour. McDowell then introduced the family to Rory McIlroy.
Through the years, the Aubreys have maintained those friendships as they’ve attended Tour events all around the Southeast like the Players Championship, the Tour Championship. McIlroy always seeks out Kyler to catch up, Josh says, and the Aubreys have stayed at McDowell’s house a couple of times while attending the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Rory McIlroy and Kyler Aubrey at the 2012 PGA Championship. (Aubrey family photo)
A few years ago, Rickie Fowler, who has also become a friend, approached the Aubreys on the back of the practice range at Bay Hill and, when he found out they didn’t have Masters tickets for that year, got them tickets for the whole week.
Statesboro is also only an hour and a half from Augusta, so Kyler and Josh have frequently attended the Wednesday practice round at the Masters.
Kyler enjoys Wednesdays the most because it’s when he can interact with the players he’s developed relationships with through the years. He has been a golf fan since he was just a little boy, when Josh used to take him to the golf course and bungee his car seat into the golf cart while he played. Kyler loved to watch.
“When he was little, like 2 or 3 years old, he would get over to the TV and change the channel to the Golf Channel. Instead of watching cartoons, he was watching the Golf Channel,” Josh said.
Tiger Woods was just gaining in popularity about that time, and the Aubreys attended the Tour event in Hilton Head, South Carolina, in 1999 – the only year Woods played the event.
“Kyler was 6 when that happened, when he played,” Josh said. “That just kind of took it to a new level and then that’s all he wanted to do.”
Kyler Aubrey and Tiger Woods at the 2011 Players Championship. (Aubrey family photo)
Kyler’s younger sister Sloane, 19, also loves golf. She has played since the sixth grade, and continues to play, though not collegiately. Sunday at the PGA Championship was particularly special because Sloane was with the boys, too.
When Kyler was 22 and Sloane was 12, their brother Jordan, 17, died in a car accident. That’s when Kyler and Sloane grew closer. Golf has always brought the family together. The PGA Championship, however, marked the first time in nearly two years the Aubreys had gotten to be fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a tournament, Kyler is always an easy person for Tour players to spot.
“People would see him and he’s always in a good mood, he loves being out there, he’s always got a big smile and he always wants to give those guys hugs,” Josh said.
“I think that’s what he likes so much about golf is they’ll interact with him.”
Kyler brightens their day, just as they brighten his.
Phil Mickelson and Kyler Aubrey at a previous PGA Tour event. (Aubrey family photo)
Kyler Aubrey has shared many meaningful moments with Tour players. An interaction with Phil Mickelson in his historic PGA run is the latest.
Buried in Kyler Aubrey’s closet is a Masters flag from 2013 with the signature of just one player: Phil Mickelson. When Aubrey met Mickelson and his wife Amy that year at Augusta National, Mickelson immediately bent down to sign Aubrey’s flag. When Mickelson accidentally wrote the wrong name on it – then subsequently scribbled it out – a horrified Amy promised the Aubrey family that her husband would sign a new one and they’d have it shipped.
Sure enough, the flag showed up a few weeks later to the Aubrey’s home in Statesboro, Georgia. On Sunday at the PGA Championship, Aubrey acquired another piece of Mickelson memorabilia. He and his dad Josh were just inside the ropes by No. 5 green at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course when Mickelson holed out from the sand, securing the birdie that helped him separate himself.
“When we were there we could actually see a perfect view of Phil making the shot and we were just screaming. When Phil made it, he came up to us and said here’s my lucky ball, I want you guys to have it, thank you for coming,” Josh said.
“…We were so in the moment that we didn’t even notice that Kyler had dropped the ball. Phil turned around and picked it back up and set it on his lap.”
Kyler Aubrey, 28, has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. At Kiawah, the sand is particularly hard for him to navigate – something they realized in 2012. The Aubreys had practice-round tickets to that PGA Championship there, and then lucked into tickets for the rest of the week, too. Statesboro is only a 2 ½-hour drive from the South Carolina coast.
“While we were going around the course we kept getting stuck,” Josh said. “David Feherty came up to us and said I notice you guys kept getting stuck – this was like Sunday afternoon – he said I want to give you this all-access pass, you can go anyway you want to on the golf course.”
Feherty’s generosity made a world of difference in traversing the difficult terrain. It also helped spark lifelong friendships. Roughly an hour before McIlroy closed out his win that year, Josh and Kyler were near the scoring tent.
“I was like, I wonder if we can go up in here,” Josh remembered thinking. “We went in there and they let us through and all the golfers that finished would walk right by us.”
The Aubreys had spoken with Graeme McDowell in a practice round early week, and when McDowell saw them sitting there on Sunday, he joined them to chat with Kyler for nearly an hour. McDowell then introduced the family to Rory McIlroy.
Through the years, the Aubreys have maintained those friendships as they’ve attended Tour events all around the Southeast like the Players Championship, the Tour Championship. McIlroy always seeks out Kyler to catch up, Josh says, and the Aubreys have stayed at McDowell’s house a couple of times while attending the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Rory McIlroy and Kyler Aubrey at the 2012 PGA Championship. (Aubrey family photo)
A few years ago, Rickie Fowler, who has also become a friend, approached the Aubreys on the back of the practice range at Bay Hill and, when he found out they didn’t have Masters tickets for that year, got them tickets for the whole week.
Statesboro is also only an hour and a half from Augusta, so Kyler and Josh have frequently attended the Wednesday practice round at the Masters.
Kyler enjoys Wednesdays the most because it’s when he can interact with the players he’s developed relationships with through the years. He has been a golf fan since he was just a little boy, when Josh used to take him to the golf course and bungee his car seat into the golf cart while he played. Kyler loved to watch.
“When he was little, like 2 or 3 years old, he would get over to the TV and change the channel to the Golf Channel. Instead of watching cartoons, he was watching the Golf Channel,” Josh said.
Tiger Woods was just gaining in popularity about that time, and the Aubreys attended the Tour event in Hilton Head, South Carolina, in 1999 – the only year Woods played the event.
“Kyler was 6 when that happened, when he played,” Josh said. “That just kind of took it to a new level and then that’s all he wanted to do.”
Kyler Aubrey and Tiger Woods at the 2011 Players Championship. (Aubrey family photo)
Kyler’s younger sister Sloane, 19, also loves golf. She has played since the sixth grade, and continues to play, though not collegiately. Sunday at the PGA Championship was particularly special because Sloane was with the boys, too.
When Kyler was 22 and Sloane was 12, their brother Jordan, 17, died in a car accident. That’s when Kyler and Sloane grew closer. Golf has always brought the family together. The PGA Championship, however, marked the first time in nearly two years the Aubreys had gotten to be fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a tournament, Kyler is always an easy person for Tour players to spot.
“People would see him and he’s always in a good mood, he loves being out there, he’s always got a big smile and he always wants to give those guys hugs,” Josh said.
“I think that’s what he likes so much about golf is they’ll interact with him.”
Kyler brightens their day, just as they brighten his.
Phil Mickelson and Kyler Aubrey at a previous PGA Tour event. (Aubrey family photo)
