It’s not Phil vs. Brooks on PGA Championship Sunday, but it sure feels that way

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — This Phil. What goes through his head? Why does he do the things he does? Is it for him — or for us, to bring some entertainment to our ordinary-by-comparison lives? 

Saturday, in the third round of the PGA Championship:

A warm-up session that had him talking to his brother and caddie (Tim Mickelson), his coach and friend (Andrew Getson), his own self (Philip Alfred “Lefty” Mickelson). And then, bam-bam-smack-pow. A two-putt birdie on the par-5 2nd. A stiffed-wedge birdie on the short par-4 3rd. A moved drone on 4. (Yes. A drone, Mickelson said, was in his second-shot flight plan. He had it buzz away.) A birdie on 6, another on 7, 32 going out, a house on fire.

After another birdie on 10, to reach 10 under for the tournament, Mickelson was actually in position to create a gaudy Tiger-in-his-prime type Saturday lead. The kind of lead where you really don’t have to do that much to close out a win. The sixth major win of his career. A month shy of turning 51. Because the ball doesn’t know how old you are.

If only it were that simple. 

Then came 12. The stroke on his par putt looked nothing like how he stroked it when he was 20 or 30 or 40. In other words, it was shaky. A bogey there. Then came 13. A snap-hook into a lake. A double-bogey. An open door.

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Enter Brooks. You remember Brooks. Big bad Brooks Koepka. It might seem like years ago that he last won but that’s because this pandemic has slowed time and also Brooks is golf’s ultimate big-game hunter. He won the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in February. But it’s possible his missed cut on a balky knee at Augusta in April made a bigger impression on you.

You had to wonder if all that lifting had maybe taken a toll on the man. The strut was there, Saturday at the PGA, the outer strut. But what about the inner one?

Mickelson and the South African Louis Oosthuizen were in the day’s last twosome. Koepka, 31, was in the penultimate twosome, with the South African Branden Grace. With actual crowds on the course again, Koepka could likely tell what Mickelson was doing behind him.

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But you remember Brooks. The chances of his caring were close to zero. Not on Saturday. With birdies on 10 and 12 and 16, coupled with Mickelson’s problems on 12 and 13, he was prowling again. A prowling Koepka is one of the most interesting things in professional golf. The purposeful walk was there. The silence-is-golden demeanor was back. Same no-fuss pre-shot routine we used to know. You know, step in the box and hit it.

Suddenly, it was 2019 again. That’s the year Koepka finished second in the Masters and then won the PGA in May at Bethpage Black, for his fourth major title. He had a second and a fourth in the two Opens. And then we didn’t hear from him much, not on weekends, not at majors.

Then came Saturday evening, with Koepka was on the 18th tee. The air was warm and soft, the wind was dying and he and Mickelson were tied at seven under. You were looking for Brooks to smash, stiff and tap in and get to 8, because isn’t that what Brooks in full does? Instead, he smashed, pulled, pitched and missed a six-footer for par. He finished at six under, a shot behind Mickelson.

So off they will go, these two large American men, in the day’s last group on Sunday. There’s a 90 percent chance that one of them will win. There’s a 100 percent chance that the player who makes more meaningful and timely putts will win.

So, who do you like?

Koepka, after his round, went to the putting green.

Mickelson, after his round, went to the range. Then to the putting green.

Here’s Koepka’s brutal analysis of his third-round putting, in his post-round interview with reporters:

“[I need to] hit it harder. That was the worst putting performance I think I’ve ever had in my career. Can’t get much worse. I thought 70 was about the highest I could have shot today.” It’s what he shot, same as Mickelson.

Mickelson was at the microphone 15 minutes later. He used the word swing five times and fun four. He used the word focus three times and sharp twice. He used major once.

And putter, putt and putting not at all. 

You don’t win or lose a major championship in five-minute group interviews. You do win or lose a major with your putter. That final twosome will wow you with its brawn on this windswept Ocean Course. But it will come down to things much more subtle than that. It will come down to putting. And putting is a young man’s game. Except when it’s not.

 Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com

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Michael Bamberger

Golf.com Contributor

Michael Bamberger writes for GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. Before that, he spent nearly 23 years as senior writer for Sports Illustrated. After college, he worked as a newspaper reporter, first for the (Martha’s) Vineyard Gazette, later for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has written a variety of books about golf and other subjects, the most recent of which is The Second Life of Tiger Woods. His magazine work has been featured in multiple editions of The Best American Sports Writing. He holds a U.S. patent on The E-Club, a utility golf club. In 2016, he was given the Donald Ross Award by the American Society of Golf Course Architects, the organization’s highest honor.