Mickelson, who will turn 51 next month, became the oldest winner of a major golf tournament.
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Weathering a riveting, roller coaster test of nerve over five hours, Phil Mickelson, who turns 51 next month, won the P.G.A. Championship by two strokes on Sunday to become the oldest golfer to win a major championship. The record was previously held by Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 P.G.A. Championship. Mickelson shot six under par for the tournament, finishing ahead of the runners-up, Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen. Mickelson becomes the latest in a growing group of sports stars who have defied traditional retirement ages for athletes and proved that championships can still be won in careers that last into middle age. Mickelson has followed the lead of Tom Brady, who won his seventh Super Bowl three months ago at 43. Serena Williams has remained consistently in the hunt for elite titles at 39, an age that historically has seen tennis players recede to a senior circuit. Tiger Woods, although seriously injured in a February car crash, won his fifth Masters tournament two years ago at 43. Mickelson’s achievement, his sixth major title, could prove to be a bookend to three decades in golf’s spotlight. A four-time college all-American, he won his first professional tournament while still an amateur and was unable to cash the hefty check for his accomplishment. After turning pro, he racked up victories on the PGA Tour, but soon became better known for his failure to win his first major championship. Mickelson has also had the misfortune of playing most of his career in the shadow of the superstar Woods, who won six major championships before he was 26. But Mickelson did not break through until he was 33, when he claimed the 2004 Masters during his 13th year on tour. Two other Masters championships followed, in 2006 and 2010, as well as a victory at the 2005 P.G.A. Championship, but there were also frequent, dispiriting setbacks, including six second-place finishes at the United States Open, American golf’s national championship.
