PGA Championship 2021: Phil Mickelson Becomes Oldest Major Winner in PGA Tour History

Phil Mickelson made history Sunday, becoming the oldest golfer to win a men's major championship.

Mickelson pulled away from the field to capture his second PGA Championship title at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. The 50-year-old carded a one-over 73 in the final round to finish at six under for the tournament.

Louis Oosthuizen and Brooks Koepa tied for second at four under.

PGA Championship Leaderboard

1. Phil Mickelson (-7)

T2. Louis Oosthuizen (-4)

T2. Brooks Koepka (-4)

T4. Padraig Harrington (-2)

T4. Shane Lowry (-2)

T4. Harry Higgs (-2)

T4. Paul Casey (-2)

T8. Abraham Ancer (-1)

T8. Justin Rose (-1)

T8. Collin Morikawa (-1)

T8. Jon Rahm (-1)

T8. Will Zalatoris (-1)

T8. Scottie Scheffler (-1)

T8. Tony Finau (-1)

T8. Rickie Fowler (-1)

T8. Kevin Streelman (-1)

Full leaderboard available via the PGA Championship

Given both his age and history of occasionally unraveling in the final stage of major events, some fans likely went into Sunday expecting Mickelson to fall apart eventually. However, one shot more than any other showed this wouldn't be another Winged Foot.

Mickelson's tee shot on the par-three fifth hole sliced to the left and into a waste bunker. That was no problem for the Hall of Famer, who holed out from 51 feet.

Back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14 opened the door for the rest of the field. With things getting a bit nervy, Lefty stepped up to the 16th tee and bombed his drive down the fairway. The 366-yarder was the tournament's longest on the hole.

More importantly, that allowed Mickelson with a golden opportunity to solidify his lead on the par five. He overshot the green with his approach but got on with his third shot and sank his birdie putt to improve to seven under.

Getting that stroke back helped as he bogeyed No. 17. The damage could've been far worse after his tee shot sailed past the green and into the thick stuff in the native area. He opted for the safe approach on his chip and played for the bogey knowing he'd still have a sizable advantage with one hole to play.

In general, once Mickelson took control early into the day, he didn't let go.

He didn't need to be perfect in the final round since many of the top contenders wilted around him.

Kevin Streelman birdied his first two holes and went four over on the next 16. A bogey on No. 10 and double bogey on No. 13 effectively took Oosthuizen out of the race.

Oosthuizen did his best to make things interesting and narrowly missed out on an eagle on No. 16. Unfortunately for the South African, a birdie didn't provide a ton of help at such a late stage in the round.

In terms of those chasing Mickelson, nobody saw his fortunes evaporate in quite the same way Koepka did.

The four-time major champion birdied No. 1 but double-bogeyed No. 2 to set the tone on what proved to be a Sunday to forget.

Despite an uneven front nine, Koepka made the turn at five under to leave himself with a reasonable shot of chasing down Mickelson. Bogeys on Nos. 10, 11 and 13 did him in, though.

Koepka was a mess on and around the green. According to PGATour.com, he lost 0.677 strokes with his putter.

The 31-year-old made a quick return from knee surgery and made the trip to Kiawah Island on the back of missed cuts at the Masters and AT&T Byron Nelson. One can't help but wonder whether the surgically repaired knee played a role in his performance Sunday.

As was the case in the years preceding Tiger Woods' triumph at the 2019 Masters, many fans probably thought they had seen the last of Mickelson winning a major championship. Since his victory in the 2013 Open Championship, he had three top-five finishes and eight missed cuts.

But the stars aligned for the legend at Kiawah Island.

The Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club is the next stop on the PGA Tour.

Only three events are on the docket before the third major championship of the season. The U.S. Open is slated to tee off June 17 at Torrey Pines in San Diego.