KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – In the madness that engulfed the 18th green as Phil Mickelson became golf’s oldest major winner, brother Tim Mickelson made sure to tend the flag and secure it as a prized possession.
“It’s already in the golf bag,” he said.
When it was over and Phil had claimed his sixth major championship at age 50, 11 months and 7 days, he and Tim embraced in one of the long hugs where big brother and little brother tell each other ‘I love you, man.’
Tim called caddying for his brother his third career in the game. First, he was the men’s golf coach at the University of San Diego for eight years and then at Phil’s alma mater, Arizona State, from 2011 to 2016. He left to become an agent for one of his players, Jon Rahm, who had all of the makings of the superstar he has become. Tim served in that role for 17 months until Phil and caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay split in June 2017 after 25 years of working together. What began on an interim basis became official several months later and together they have won five times together – three on the PGA Tour and two on the PGA Tour Champions.
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But this one was extra special, coming at a time when Phil was largely being written off as finished, turning 68s into 72s.
“As a coach,” Tim said, “I always used to say, ‘It’s all about the process.’ You hope that the results will come when you want them to, but you have to trust that the process will lead you to the promise land.”
And so, Tim kept the faith.
“We all knew it was there, and he actually had told me [two] weeks ago, I think it was 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.’ ”
Phil made sure of that shooting rounds of 70-69-70 to claim the 54-hole lead, and Tim remained his brother’s biggest supporter.
“As much as the fans want it, I want it more for my brother,” he said after the second round. “I see how hard he works, not just at tournaments. When he’s home, he’s playing every day. So, I see how much he wants it, and I want to do anything I can to help him have that.”
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He delivered more than just the yardages, wind direction and helping with club choice on Sunday. At the fourth tee, Phil was concerned that the 4-wood he added to the bag at the last minute on Sunday might go too far. But Tim’s reassuring words gave Phil the confidence to commit to the shot.
“I think certainly my brother has played a big part in kind of keeping me present and in the moment and not letting a couple of bad swings affect me here or there, and so I think we’re having so much fun that it’s easy to stay present,” Phil said on Saturday.
When asked after he had captured the Wanamaker Trophy 16 years after he had done so for the first time, how Tim had been critical to his success on Sunday, Phil didn’t even wait for the question to be finished before jumping into his answer.
“I’ll tell you a perfect example, and this is an intangible that makes him relatable or understand me, get the best out of me and makes him a great caddie is I’m walking off 6, I had made some uncommitted swings the first six holes. I had been striking the ball awesome the first three days. I had a wonderful warm up session, like I was ready to go and I made some uncommitted swings the first six holes. He pulled me aside and said, ‘If you’re going to win this thing, you’re going to have to make committed golf swings,’ ” Phil said. “It hit me in the head, I can’t make passive (swings), I can’t control the outcome, I have to swing committed. The first one I made was the drive on 7. Good drive on 7 gave me a chance to get down by the green and make birdie. From there on, I hit a lot of really good shots because I was committed to each one.”
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Later he added, “It was the turning part of the day for me. It was the perfect thing to say.”
Phil said his brother doesn’t say much, but this week Tim estimated he told his brother 200 times to keep a quiet mind.
“I just told him to stop thinking so much. When he would get ahead of himself, I reminded him, ‘Hey, we’ll worry about that when we get there.’ A few stories here and there. Maybe one or two might have been made up, who knows, but anything I can to keep his mind off of the shot that’s coming up when it’s not even our turn to hit,” Tim said.
And so Phil followed in the footsteps of Dustin Johnson who won a major championship (2020 Masters with Austin) with his younger brother on the bag.
Said Phil’s longtime agent Steve Loy: “I mean, he’s now going to all of a sudden be one of the Top-10 players in the history of the game, and his brother is on the bag to share it. That’s as good as it gets.”
So good that it brought Tim to tears.
“To win a major championship at this stage of his career,” Tim said, “I definitely teared up for the first time since caddying for him four and a half years ago.”
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