Four years ago, then-50-year-old Phil Mickelson made history at the PGA Championship by becoming the oldest major champion in history, holding off Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen to take a two-shot victory at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island.
But Lefty won't be setting any records this weekâwell, at least not the good kind anyway, as the now-54-year-old opened his 2025 PGA Championship with a disastrous 8-over round of 79 at Quail Hollow Club, thus matching the worst score he's ever shot at this particular major championship.
Playing alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Jason Day, Mickelson began his round on the back nine and got off to a decent enough start, making pars at the 10th and 11th. But it was pretty much all downhill from there.
After making bogey on two of the next three holes, Phil carded one of his two birdies of the day at the par-5 15th, but followed it up with consecutive bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17 before making par at the 18th to go out in 3-over 39.
The 45-time PGA Tour winner made three straight pars to open his second nine but then made three straight bogeys.
The wheels truly came off at the 533-yard, par-5 seventh, where Mickelson had to hit not one but two shots off the tee as his first was lost to the right something severe. After taking a penalty stroke, he hit his third into the left rough, giving him no chance to go for the green.
After laying up to approximately 65 yards, Phil finally found the putting surface with his fifth but left himself more than 53 feet to the hole. After racing his bogey effort a dozen feet past the cup, he also failed to hole his double-bogey putt, finally making a two-footer for triple.
Mickelson did get a shot back with a birdie at the short par-4 eighth and kept himself from shooting 80 with a solid par save at the ninth, getting up and down after missing the green to the left with his approach.
As mentioned, the 79 matches Mickelson's worst-ever round at the PGA Championship. Oddly enough, the other instance in which he shot 79 came in the opening round of the 2017 PGA Championship, which, of course, was contested at none other than Quail Hollow Club. He was five shots better in the second round that year but still missed the cut at 11-over.
Mickelson was still well short of his worst-ever round in a major, which was a 15-over 85 in the third round of the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.