| schema:articleBody
| - Phil Mickelson, trying at 50 to become golf's oldest major winner, made a bogey-birdie start to seize a two-stroke lead in Sunday's final round at PGA Championship on windy Kiawah Island. The age-defying American left-hander, chasing his sixth major title, boosted his overnight margin at the Ocean Course, the longest layout in major history at 7,876 yards. With a victory, Mickelson would erase the major age win mark set by American Julius Boros when he captured the 1968 PGA Championship at age 48. World number 115 Mickelson stood on seven-under par 209 through 54 holes with compatriot Koepka, a four-time major champion, one stroke adrift. It's the first time since the 1981 Masters with Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson that the final group in a major has two players with at least four major triumphs, and the first time at a PGA since 1974. Cheers followed Mickelson along the first fairway, receiving a thumbs-up sign acknowledging the support. But Mickelson barely reached the green from left rough and missed a 13-foot par putt while Koepka curled in a 12-foot birdie putt, aided by a read off Mickelson's effort, to seize the lead at 7-under. But Koepka found a double-bogey disaster at the par-5 second, his tee shot hitting a tree left and finding sandy marsh. He played into the fairway, found sandy rough over the green and only nudged the ball a few feet with a pitch attempt. He needed two to reach the green and two putts to finally find the cup in his first over-par score on a par-5 hole this week. Mickelson found the left rough and went over the green but pitched inches from the cup and tapped in for birdie to reclaim the lead at 7-under with Koepka, American Kevin Streelman and South African Louis Oosthuizen on 5-under. Mickelson is 3-for-5 in majors with 54-hole leads or shared leads, winning at the 2004 and 2006 Masters and 2005 PGA but sharing second at the 2006 and 2013 US Opens. His other major wins came at the 2010 Masters and the 2013 British Open. With 16 years since his PGA victory, Mickelson would own the longest gap between wins at the same major if he collects the Wanamaker Trophy and the top prize of $2.1 million (1.7 million euros). Mickelson is the oldest 54-hole leader in PGA history, surpassing 47-year-old Gene Littler from 1977, and only the fourth 50-and-over player since 1934 to lead entering the final round at any major. Mickelson's spectacular shotmaking in blustery conditions has sparked the biggest cheers from a crowd limited to 10,000 people by Covid-19 safety measures. Koepka, fighting through pain to play after right knee surgery two months ago, could become the 20th player to win a fifth career major. He took the 2017 and 2018 US Opens and the 2018 and 2019 PGAs. "I don't really think he's got his best stuff with him this week, but he obviously still has a great chance to win," said four-time major winner Rory McIlroy. Koepka would become the first player to win the same major three times in four years since Tom Watson at the 1980, 1982 and 1983 British Opens. Mexico's Abraham Ancer, aided by winds that shifted to blow from the west for the first time all week, showed low scores were available Sunday by firing a bogey-free seven-under par 65 to finish on one-under 287. "Everything played completely different," Ancer said. "I was working the ball nicely with the wind and kind of getting close to some pin placements that I couldn't get close to the previous days." Chile's Joaquin Niemann, 22, could become the youngest winner in PGA Championship history, eclipsing the mark set by McIlroy at age 23 when he won the 2012 PGA at Kiawah Island. McIlroy, who snapped an 18-month win drought two weeks ago, fired a 72 to finish on 293. American Jordan Spieth, who would complete a career Grand Slam with a victory, needed to match the best final-day fightback in PGA history to win after starting seven shots adrift. js/rcw
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)