6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2021
BAKER MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL
AT 50, HE’S THE OLDEST MAJOR CHAMPION
Mickelson makes history
with thrilling win at PGA
By Ben Nuckols
AP Sports Writer
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C.
— Standing on the 18th tee
with a two-shot lead in a
championship he refused to
imagine himself winning,
Phil Mickelson took one last
violent swing with a driver
— the club that betrayed
him 15 years earlier in the
U.S. Open.
His tee shot Sunday in
the PGA Championship at
Kiawah Island landed only
a few yards off the fairway,
but it still nestled among the
people — the gallery packed
tightly between the ropes
and a row of hospitality tents
— screaming the name of
their aging hero.
After Mickelson’s approach
shot settled on the green,
assuring the 50-year-old of
becoming the oldest major
champion in history, the
crowd swallowed him up
entirely.
Phil Mickelson, the
people’s champion.
“It’s an incredible experi-
ence. I’ve never had some-
thing like that,” Mickelson
said. “It was a little bit
unnerving, but it was excep-
tionally awesome, too.”
Golf can be cruel to vet-
eran, sentimental favorites.
Ben Hogan at the 1955 U.S.
Open. Greg Norman at the
1996 Masters and the Brit-
ish Open a dozen years later.
And, perhaps most heart-
breaking, 59-year-old Tom
Watson at the 2009 British
Open.
Mickelson, too, has had as
many close calls as major vic-
tories — most of them at the
U.S. Open, where he’s been
runner-up six times. Winged
Foot — where he gave away
a one-shot lead on the 72nd
hole in 2006 — wasn’t the
fi rst, or the last.
But now, the two biggest
stars of their generation
have a signature late-career
win. Tiger Woods overcame
four back surgeries, turmoil
in his personal life and 11
years of frustration in major
championships to win the
Masters two years ago at
age 43.
Mickelson — happy at
home and injury-free —
merely stretched the limits
of what’s possible after a
half-century on Earth.
“There’s no reason why I
or anybody else can’t do it
at a later age. It just takes a
little more work,” Mickelson
said.
Nine days earlier, Mick-
elson accepted a special
exemption to play in the U.S.
Open at Torrey Pines in his
hometown of San Diego. Now
he’s assured at least fi ve
more cracks at the lone ma-
jor that has eluded him. The
victory makes him exempt at
the U.S. Open through 2025.
Already a Hall of Famer,
Mickelson joined Nick Faldo
and Lee Trevino as six-time
major winners. Only 11
players have won more. If
he somehow won another in
his 50s, he’d match Arnold
Palmer, Bobby Jones, Gene
Dawgs kick off
hoops season
The Baker Middle School boys basketball teams
kicked off their season by traveling to La Grande on
Thursday, May 20, and both the seventh-grade and
eighth-grade teams won.
Eighth grade
Baker jumped to a 17-2 lead in the fi rst quarter and
went on to beat the Tigers 52-24.
Grant Gambleton and Jaxon Logsdon each had six
points in the fi rst quarter.
Eli Long scored nine points in the second quarter as
Baker went on to lead 30-4 at halftime. Long fi nished
with a game-high 16 points. Logsdon had 10 and
Gambleton eight.
Daniel Brown had a pair of three-pointers in the
second half and fi nished with 12 points. Colton Clark
added four points, and Colton Birmingham had two.
“The boys all played great team basketball and their
defense was too much for La Grande,” Baker coach
Bryan Dalke said.
Seventh grade
This game was much closer, as Baker led 9-6 at
halftime.
Kale Dalke scored 10 points in the second half,
and Chase Roy had six to help the Dawgs hold off La
Grande, 25-17. Roy had nine points, and Tyler Wirth
had four points in the fi rst half. Ashton Carter had two
points in the fi rst half.
Sam Greenwood/Getty Images-TNS
Phil Mickelson of the United States celebrates on the 18th green after winning during
the fi nal round of the 2021 PGA Championship held at the Ocean Course of Kiawah
Island Golf Resort on May 23, at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
BULLDOGS
Continued from Page 5A
“I don’t know how to describe the feeling of excitement ing that pressure and the
nerves,” said 49-year-old
and fulfi llment and accomplishment to do something Padraig Harrington, who
when — you know, of this magnitude when very few closed with a 69 to tie for
fourth. “I’d say Phil is full to
people thought that I could.”
capacity, but that’s where he
— Phil Mickelson, after winning the PGA Championship
likes to live.”
and becoming the oldest major winner at age 50
This was Mickelson’s fi rst
major win with his brother,
Tim, as his caddie. Could
Sarazen, Sam Snead and
the crowd, which the PGA
there be more?
Harry Vardon.
of America said was limited
“It’s very possible that
“I don’t know how to de-
to 10,000 people a day. Fans this is the last tournament
scribe the feeling of excite-
pressed fi ve-deep against
I ever win. Like if I’m being
ment and fulfi llment and
the ropes, stumbled atop
realistic,” Mickelson said.
accomplishment to do some- steep dunes and clambered “But it’s also very possible
thing when — you know, of into trees on the sprawling that I may have had a little
this magnitude when very
Ocean Course.
bit of a breakthrough in
few people thought that I
Golf, which surged in pop- some of my focus and maybe
could,” Mickelson said.
ularity last year as a sport
I go on a little bit of a run.”
The record will show
with built-in social distanc-
Mickelson closed with a
ing, returned to something
1-over 73 for a two-shot win approaching normal, with
over Brooks Koepka (73)
fans celebrating an extraor-
and Louis Oosthuizen (74). dinary champion.
That doesn’t begin to de-
“It was like the Phil that
scribe the wild fl uctuations I remember watching just
of Sunday on the menacing when I turned pro and it
Ocean Course, where Mick- was great to see,” Oosthui-
elson and Koepka hit shots zen said.
that were both spectacular
The records Mickelson
and shocking, sometimes on shattered were numerous.
the same hole.
Julius Boros for 53 years
Between them, Mickelson held the distinction of golf’s
and Koepka made 16 pars,
oldest major champion. He
10 bogeys, nine birdies and was 48 when he won the
one double bogey. Five of the 1968 PGA Championship.
fi rst 10 holes had swings of
Mickelson became the
two shots or more — and
fi rst player in PGA Tour
that didn’t include the par-3 history to win tournaments
fi fth, when Mickelson holed 30 years apart. The fi rst of
out from a waste bunker
his 45 titles was in 1991,
with Koepka safely on the
when he was still a junior at
green.
Arizona State and Koepka
Even with three bogeys
was 8 months old.
in a fi ve-hole stretch on the
Mickelson joined Woods —
back nine, Mickelson hit
who sent a tweet of congrat-
enough good shots to avoid ulations — among the 10
bigger numbers and hold
players who’ve won majors
off Koepka. Then came the
in three decades.
bedlam on 18, where Mickel-
Lefty spent very little
son and Koepka fought their time talking to reporters
way through the crowd to
before Sunday’s post-tour-
get to the green.
nament news conference
There were no fans at last and refused to discuss what
year’s three major champi-
a win would mean to him.
onships. Patrons returned to Instead, he pounded extra
the Masters last month to
balls on the driving range
cheer Hideki Matsuyama’s
— even on Sunday, he was
breakthrough win. But this rehearsing swing positions
was golf’s rowdiest gallery
in between shots — and
since before the COVID-19
spent time meditating to
pandemic, and it came at a recapture the mental sharp-
time when the virus is re-
ness he said he’d lost earlier
ceding in the U.S., with well this year.
over half of adults at least
“Anybody who really
partially vaccinated.
thinks they can win on a
Masks were rare among
Sunday is going to be feel-
Other Baker athletes who competed but either
didn’t advance into or place in the fi nals include
Quintela, who set a personal record of 55.96 in the 400
meters, sophomore Thaddeus Pepera in the high jump,
sophomore Jordan Mills in the 800, Malaki Myer
in the 200, and freshman Dash Bloomer in the 300
hurdles.
Cole said she was impressed by the performance of
the underclassmen, and how they adapted to the pres-
sure of a state competition with more than two dozen
schools involved.
“They just did a great job of going with things, and
of taking care of business,” Cole said.
Keller, competing in a state meet for the fi nal time,
was also happy with the weekend and the perfor-
mance of the 17 other Bulldogs who made the trip
across the state.
“I was super proud of my teammates for showing
up, which can be very hard when you aren’t used to
the environment,” Keller said.
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