Mickelson, Koepka atop PGA Championship leaderboard heading into Sunday
Brooks Koepka briefly caught Phil Mickelson for a share of the lead Saturday at the PGA Championship late in the third round.
While Mickelson came back to the field with a bogey and double bogey, Koepka has surged with three birdies. The last was a two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th hole that matched Mickelson for the top at 7 under.
By round’s end, Mickelson was 7-under par with a one shot lead on Koepka.
Louis Oosthuizen is a shot behind at 5 under.
Mickelson led by five shots and reached 10-under par after his birdie on No. 10. Mickelson came an inch short of making par on the 12th as he ball stopped a roll before the cup. He had a 12-footer to save bogey on the next hole before missing that for double.
— The Associated Press
Last win for Phil Mickelson
Mickelson had two 2020 wins on the PGA Champions Tour: the Dominion Energy Charity Classic and the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National.
On the PGA Tour, he won the 2018 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Who’s leading at the PGA championship?
Top scores at Kiawah Island Ocean Course, through Saturday’s third round. Live PGA championship leaderboard here.
Phil Mickelson ........ —7
Brooks Koepka ........ —6
Louis Oosthuizen ........ —5
Oldest golfers to win a major
- Julius Boros: 1968 PGA Championship, 48 years, 4 months, 18 days
- Old Tom Morris: 1867 British Open, 46 years, 99 days
- Jack Nicklaus: 1986 Masters, 46 years, 2 months, 23 days
- Jerry Barber: 1961 PGA Championship, 45 Years, 3 months, 6 days
- Hale Irwin: 1990 U.S. Open, 45 years, 15 days old
- Lee Trevino: 1984 PGA Championship, 44 years, 8 months, 18 days
- Roberto de Vicenzo: 1967 British Open, 44 years, 93 days
- Harry Vardon: 1914 British Open, 44 years, 41 days
- Raymond Floyd: 1986 U.S. Open, 43 years, 9 months, 11 days
- Ted Ray: 1920 U.S. Open, 43 years, 4 months, 16 days
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A previous story from Friday from The State’s Bob Spear ...
Phil Mickelson stirred memories of triumphs past Friday, conquering the wind and sweeping into the lead midway the second round of the 103rd PGA Championship.
Rather than the “Recent Phil” who packed up and headed home after two-round-miss-the-cut performances, “Friday Phil” sizzled to 5-under-par 31 on his second nine Friday and stands at 5-under 139 after two trips around the Ocean Course.
With the wind howling, those in the afternoon wave faced a severe challenge to overtake the player who qualifies for AARP membership and has forged his most recent wins on the PGA’s Champions Tour.
His performance for two rounds reminded of the player who owns five major titles and 44 Tour victories. Now less than a month from his 51st birthday, he conjured up memories of 58-year-old Tom Watson at the 2009 British Open, the 58-year-old Jack Nicklaus at the 1998 Masters or Raymond Floyd, pushing 50 and collecting a pair of runner-up finishes at Augusta.
“I’m having a lot of fun, and to play well, to know I’m playing well heading into the weekend, to be in contention, to have a good opportunity, I’m having a blast,” he said. “I’m excited for the weekend. This has been a lot of fun.”
His two rounds have featured the same characteristics. He began at hole No. 1 on Thursday, went 2-over par after the sixth and played the final 12 holes 4 under for a 70. Starting on No. 10 Friday, he made the turn at 2-over 38, then charged home with five birdies for a 3-under 69.
“I think that I was patient even though things weren’t quite going well at the moment, and I had a few shaky strokes on 16, 17 and 18 where I was very tentative,” he said in assessing Friday’s round. “I was able to make an adjustment on the front and ended up making some really good putts. I putted very well.
“I’ve been able to make some adjustments and not let a couple of the poor shots or poor strokes affect the overall round, which is something I haven’t been doing as well, certainly not as well as I’ve been doing the last two days. It’s been nice to make those adjustments and be able to get those strokes back.”
Mickelson started the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago with a 7-under-par 64. He followed with rounds of 75, 76 and 76.
He cited a lack of focus for some of his recent uneven performances and said he had been working to correct the problem.
“I’m just making more and more progress just by trying to elongate my focus,” he explained. “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. Physically I feel like I’m able to perform and hit the shots that I’ve hit throughout my career, and I feel like I can do it every bit as well as I have, but I’ve got to have that clear picture and focus. So these first two days have been much better.”
Jason Day, who played with Mickelson the first two rounds, credited his driving.
“There were no foul balls,” Day said. “Usually with Phil, you can get some pretty wide ones, and he kept it straight out in front of him. And his iron play was pretty tight. There was a lot of quality iron shots into the greens. When he was out of position, he just kind of ... you know Phil, get up-and-down.
“But there were no kind of off-the-map drives that get him out of position, make it really tough on him. So he’s driving it really straight.”
Mickelson credited a 2-wood for some of the positives off the tee.
“It’s a nice club for me to have when I feel a little bit uncomfortable because I can get it on the ground quicker and the miss isn’t too bad,” he said. “I have driven it well.”
But there’s another key, too.
“I think the thing I’ve done the best is my brother Tim (his caddie) and I have done a really good job of judging the wind, judging the flight and picking clubs with the right flight to get the right distance,” he said. “So, we’ve hit a lot of iron shots pin high.”
To be leading at his age “is and it isn’t” a surprise, Day said.
“Obviously he’s worked on a lot of speed over the years, and he’s made that well known, that he can keep up with (today’s long hitters),” Day said. “He out-drove me on 9, and I don’t hit it very short. That means that he’s still got short irons in play. Like I said, if he can keep it straight and hit it the way that he’s been hitting, he’s going to be around on Sunday for sure.”
This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 2:18 PM.