Phil Mickelson Makes History With PGA Championship Win

Phil Mickelson did something on Sunday nobody thought he was able to do. At the age of 50, Mickelson won the 2021 PGA Championship, becoming the oldest winner in 161 years of major championship golf. The win on Sunday was also Mickelson’s first major title since 2013.

“One of the moments I’ll cherish my entire life,” Mickelson said per ESPN. “I don’t know how to describe the feeling of excitement and fulfillment and accomplishment to do something of this magnitude when very few people thought that I could.” In the final round of the PGA Championship, Mickelson finished with a 1-over 73 to win by two shots over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen. This was a surprising win for Mickelson, considering he was ranked No. 115 in the world and hasn’t registered top 20 finish in nine months.

“I’ve never been driven by exterior things,” he said Sunday evening via Golf.com. “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.” Along with being the oldest major champion in golf history, Mickelson is the 10th player to win majors in three decades. He is also the first player in PGA Tour history to win tournaments 30 years apart. Mickelson won his first tournament in 1991 when he was still attending Arizona State.

“It’s very possible that this is the last tournament I ever win, like if I’m being realistic,” Mickelson said. “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.”

Mickelson has now won 45 tournaments and six majors. With two PGA Championship wins, Mickelson has also won The Open Championship in 2013 and the Masters three times (2004, 2006, 2010).