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10 things to know about 300/1 Phil Mickelson’s record-breaking PGA Championship win

Phil Mickelson with the 2021 PGA trophy

A look at some of the incredible stats and facts that emerged after the 50-year-old defied Father Time and the odds to score a two-shot victory at Kiawah Island.

Phil Mickelson is a Major champion again!
Many presumed the left-hander's winning days were over at the very top level as he slid down the world rankings and struggled to make an impact even in regular PGA TOUR events.

But Mickelson rolled back the years at Kiawah Island to defy popular opinion and claim his sixth Major title and first since the 2013 Open Championship.

Here, Planet Sport looks at what his thrilling PGA Championship win did to the record books

The oldest Major champion in history

Mickelson was exactly 50 years, 11 months and seven days when he hoisted the Wanamaker trophy aloft. That made him the oldest Major winner in history.

The previous record of 48 years, four months and 18 days had stood since 1968 and belonged to Julius Boros.
But not anymore. All hail Phil!

Longest span between wins

Mickelson has always pulled off incredible feats and he won his first PGA TOUR title, the Northern Telecom Open, while still an amateur.

That was 30 years, four months and 10 days ago which means he now breaks the previous record (28 years, 11 months, 20 days/Raymond Floyd) for longest spans between first and last victory in PGA TOUR history. And who's to say he won't extend it further.

Sixth major win surpasses Seve

Winning five previous Majors had put Mickelson alongside Seve Ballesteros and Byron Nelson on the all-time list.
But a sixth takes him into an even more exclusive club with Phil now just one of 14 players to have won six or more.

Most Major wins: 18 Jack Nicklaus, 15 Tiger Woods, 11 Walter Hagen, 9 Ben Hogan, Gary Player, 8 Tom Watson, 7 Harry Vardon Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, 6 Phil Mickelson, Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo.

Joins Hagen on win list

Mickelson's victory at Kiawah Island was his 45th PGA TOUR victory and bumped him up to tied eighth on the all-time list alongside another great, Walter Hagen.

Most wins: 82 Tiger Woods, Sam Snead, 73 Jack Nicklaus, 64 Ben Hogan, 62 Arnold Palmer, 52 Byron Nelson, 51 Billy Casper, 45 Phil Mickelson, Walter Hagen.

That's some company to keep.

Wins in four different decades

One great measure of Phil's longevity is that he's now won a PGA TOUR event in four different decades.
He won 13 times in the 1990s, 24 times in the 2000s, seven times in the 2010s and now this victory in the 2020s.
Three others have achieved the feat: Davis Love III (1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s), Ray Floyd (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s) and Sam Snead (1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s).

World ranking wrecker

Majors have been carved up by players high up the world rankings in recent times.

Before Kiawah, the last 36 Majors had been won by golfers ranked inside the world's top 50, a run stretching back to 2011.

But Phil defied that trend in style. He entered the PGA ranked way down at 115th in the Official World Golf Rankings, making him the lowest ranked player to triumph since Shaun Micheel 18 years ago.
With the win, he's vaulted back to World No.32.

Mickelson writes the story Watson and Norman couldn't

We've seen two recent instances of a legend holding the 54-hole lead in a Major.

Greg Norman, aged 50, led the 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale after three rounds but had to settle for tied third while Tom Watson, then 59, went even closer to a fairytale win when losing the 2009 Open at Turnberry after a play-off with Stewart Cink.

Along with Boros in 1973, they're the only 50-somethings to have led a Major after 54 holes since 1934 and all three came up short. Not Phil though; he saw it through to the finish.

Bookie buster

Mickelson came into the event without a top 20 on the PGA TOUR since last August.

But there were some hints. He'd finished tied 21st in the Masters and had opened with a 64 in the Wells Fargo Championship earlier this month before drifting to finish tied 69th.

It meant his odds were huge: Mickelson was 300/1 with regular bookies before teeing off and matched at an enormous 540 on the betting exchanges. In fact his exchange odds drifted to 1000 after he slipped to 3-over early on day one.

Mickelson is now 66/1 with Paddy Power to land the US Open at Torrey Pines next month. It's the one Major he's yet to win.

The secret to success: staying the present

Mickelson looked less excitable than usual on the course at Kiawah and, as he revealed later, it was a deliberate policy.

"I've not let myself kind of think about the results until now, now that it's over. I've tried to stay more in the present and at the shot at hand and not jump ahead and race.
"I've tried to shut my mind to a lot of stuff going around. I wasn't watching TV. I wasn't getting on my phone. I was just trying to quiet things down because I'll get my thoughts racing and I really just tried to stay calm. I don't want to get all spiritual but that's kind of been the biggest thing for me."

Phil's epiphany

So did anyone in Phil's camp have any idea that he might have something special up his sleeve?
In fact, they did! Look at this from Mickelson's sister Tina.

READ MORE: The Dye is cast - Pete Dye's Kiawah Island

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