THE US PGA/Kiawah Island
Phil Mickelson became the oldest golfer at 50 to win a major, his sixth.
Only 11 have won more.
Fans and followers will recall a wonderful last round duel with Henrik Stensen in the Open and at Kiawah Island he had to hold off the challenge of 4-time major winner Brooks Koepka.
Perhaps it was the meditation but Lefty kept his cool and when he birdied the par three fifth by holing out from a bunker one felt the tourney was his.
I can only think of Seve Ballesteros as better round the green and Gary Player in a bunker. As Phil the Thrill he might be concentrating on the Senior Tour but over 4 days he showed he could mix it with the young Turks.
Normally it’s Rory McIlroy who gets the headlines but another Irishman – and a senior to boot – Pádraid Harrington finished top five as did Shane Lowry.
Justin Rose – one of my picks – rewarded me with a top ten each-way finish after carding 67, this following 3 rounds when he did not break par.
Paul Casey was another who featured high up the leaderboard which augurs well for the Ryder Cup.
The automatics look nailed on (Rahm, McIlroy, Fleetwood, Hatton, Novland, Perez, Westwood, Casey and Fitzpatrick).
With only 3 captain’s picks (American captain Steve Stricker has six) – and Harrington already strongly hinting at Garcia and Poulter – this leaves Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Bernd Wiesberger, Danny Willett and Francisco Molinari vying for the final position.
