Photo courtesy of Darren Carroll/PGA of America
Phil Mickelson is turning back time through the first two rounds of The PGA as the 50-year-old sits tied on top of the leaderboard following a 3-under-par 69 Friday.
Mickelson is tied with Louis Oosthuizen for the lead at 5-under-par on The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island.
No golfer has ever won a major at the age of 50 or older and the last time someone over 50 held the lead after 36 holes of a major was in 2012 when Fred Couples had the lead at the Masters.
Couples went on to finish 12th that year.
Brooks Koepka looms a dangerous one shot back at 4-under. First round leader Corey Conners fell back to 2-under following a second round 75.
Mickelson didn’t exactly go out strong on Friday, shooting a 2-over 38 on his first nine – he started on the 10th tee – but then found his groove on his final nine holes.
Birdies at 1, 4, 5, 7, and 9 led to a 31 and the lead at the time of his finish in the morning round.
It was the second straight round where Mickelson’s final nine was better than his start.
“I don’t know if I have a great answer for you,” said Mickelson when questioned about playing better on his last nine holes. “I’ve been able to make some adjustments and not let a couple of the poor shots or poor strokes affect the overall round, which is something I haven’t been doing as well, certainly not as well as I’ve been doing the last two days. It’s been nice to make those adjustments and be able to get those strokes back.”
Oosthuizen is no spring chicken at 38-years-old, but his fluid swing looks as strong as ever and the former Open champion sits tied for the lead at the midway point following a 4-under 68.
“No, probably not,” said Oosthuizen when asked if he could have played much better. “Drove it as good as I can drive it, and ball-striking was pretty good with the irons. With really windy conditions, you need that ball-striking to be on song. Probably gave myself, I don’t know — I think I hit 14 or 13 greens around this golf course in today’s conditions is pretty good.”
Koepka, who had knee surgery earlier this year and has returned to the course faster than a doctors’ diagnosis, is eerily sounding like Tiger Woods in his prime – right there but not happy with his round Friday.
“C-plus,” said Koepka when asked how he rated is round of 71. “I missed that short one on 4, missed a short one there again on 16. I thought I struck it great. I drove it a lot better. But it’s tough to putt in this wind, man. Sometimes you’re playing the wind, and sometimes you don’t. The wind might take it a little bit, but you’re also not trying to firm it, either, and have another three-footer coming back. I understand everybody else is probably going to miss a few short ones with this wind, but I ball struck my way around this golf course.”
By Dennis Miller