Unexpected make sports special

It’s been a while since I made a point to sit down and watch golf.

That changed Sunday.

With Phil Mickelson seeking to become the oldest playing to win a major tournament at the age of 50, I was back.

I’ve watched plenty of great golf over the years; Guys like Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Fred Couples, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Mickelson and, course, Tiger Woods. I vaguely remember the Golden Bear’s run into the history books when he won The Masters in 1986. (I was 7.) One of my favorite sports photos is from 1996, when Nicklaus, Palmer and Woods were paired for a practice round together at The Masters.

But I haven’t watched much golf in recent years.

As you get older and other things become more important in your life, time available to watch sporting events decreases. At least, that’s been the case for me.

With the exception of the NFL, which has been my favorite for as long as I can remember, I don’t watch all that much. I keep general track of what’s going on. I listen to sports podcasts. But my days of watching Major League Baseball and NBA games every evening, committing entire Saturday’s to college football or locking in to golf or tennis grand slams are over.

At least, that was true until Sunday. 

With Mickelson walking toward history, I was compelled to tune in.

I had the PGA Championship on my screen from the time Mickelson teed off Sunday afternoon as I got some work done in an effort to get a jump on the week. (Full disclosure, I had glanced away when Mickelson holed out from the bunker on No. 5 for the second of his five birdies on the day and had to catch it on the replay.)

And as the tournament made the turn to the back nine, my focus turned more and more to the tee shots and putts and away from this week’s “Todays in History” and opinion pages.

I got worried for Mickelson when his approach on No. 17 hopped into the long grass. But he got out of the mess and two-putted for a bogey. It left him with a two-stroke lead over Brooks Koepka, who is 19 years his junior, and Louis Oosthuizen.

The crowd erupted when Mickelson hit his approach soundly onto the green on 18. He triple fist pumped after the shot and needed about a half dozen security personnel to escort him to the green after Koepka’s approach.

After Koepka missed his birdie putt to the left, the result was all but locked up.

Mickelson’s birdie putt was on line but lacked the power to make it all the way home. There was no doubt, however, about the par putt that cinched the championship.

As it rolled in easily, I put both arms in their air in celebration, the same pose Phil would strike a second later before hugging his caddy in celebration.

“Phil defeats father time,” said Jim Nantz on the CBS broadcast.

That, he did. He became the oldest player to win a major tournament at 50 years, 11 months. (He’ll turn 51 on June 16, a day before the U.S. Open begins at Torrey Pines.) The previous record was 48 years, four months, 18 days, by Julius Boros in the 1968 PGA Championship.

I can’t say that I’ve ever been a huge Mickelson fan. I simply appreciate these moments, the ones that aren’t supposed to happen, the ones in which an athlete or team overcomes the odds.

It’s incredible to watch someone return to their former greatness, if only for a weekend. Mickelson’s last major championship was The (British) Open in 2013. He had not finished in the top 20 on the PGA Tour this year.

To echo Nantz’s words, no one saw this coming.

That’s what made it so special. That’s what had fans mobbing Mickelson as he made his way down the 18th fairway. That’s what drew me back to watching golf on a Sunday afternoon.

And left me wondering, just an hour after the final putt fell, what will be the next sports moment that pulls my attention when I least expect it.

Whatever it may be, I’m looking forward to it.