Lefty won the US PGA at 50 in May but Steve Stricker might be better off leaving the six-times major winner out of the US team
It provided the story of this and plenty other golfing years. Phil Mickelson, only weeks short of his 51st birthday, strode to US PGA Championship glory at Kiawah Island as giddy crowds engulfed the 72nd fairway. Mickelson had done his bit for ageing sportspeople everywhere by virtue of a freakish result on account of form alone.
Mickelson balanced South Carolina “realism” the concept that he may never win again with the potential to go on a streak. By July and the Open Championship, a dejected Mickelson departed after 36 holes. “I’m having some challenges staying sharp,” he said. His focus, one assumes, was hardly helped by a needless and very public spat with a local reporter in Detroit immediately before he signed for rounds of 80 and 72 at Royal St George’s.
Related: Phil Mickelson’s glory at 50 made possible by dedication and belief
