Phil Mickelson reveals mind games he played on Brooks Koepka at PGA

A person of the underrated pieces of The Match is the trivialities you can decide up on when some of golf’s largest names allow their hair down. Or, in Phil Mickelson’s situation, when he places his entertainer hat on and starts spinning a yarn.

In the waning times of the Brooks Koepka-Bryson DeChambeau beatdown on Friday, Mickelson revealed that he experienced a story he required to tell. He may well have been intending to help you save it for one particular of the remaining holes of the Match, but out of the blue Koepka was 4 up with 4 holes to perform and the 12-hole match experienced instantly develop into a 9-hole affair. With Koepka on the brink of victory, Mickelson required to remind every person about his individual triumph around Major Poor Brooks.

He commenced strategically: With flattery.

“Brooks has this incredible means to consider power, favourable or detrimental, and to choose the very best out of it,” Mickelson claimed. But then, like several of Mickelson’s stories these times, he steered it to the PGA Championship in May. Koepka was 1 shot again and intensely favored going into that final round at Kiawah — but it was Lefty who came out on top rated, firing a Sunday 73 to Koepka’s 74 to earn by two.

“When we were being paired alongside one another in May, I understood that I didn’t want to antagonize him or upset him in any way due to the fact it was just gonna bring the greatest out in him,” Mickelson said. “So I went into that working day imagining, ‘Alright, I’m not going to converse a whole lot to him due to the fact I don’t want to assume I’m hoping to get in his head.’”

There’s loads to unpack there previously. Specifically, the concept that Mickelson experienced a precise system for working with his opponent. Golfers commonly adhere to the occasion line, some thing about playing my possess match or getting it one shot at a time. But Mickelson was particularly imagining about how his proficient opponent was going to engage in — and how he could stay clear of poking the bear.

“And all I did was say the nicest of items like, ‘Oh, good shot!’ Or ‘Oh, what a excellent birdie!’ Or ‘Awesome up-and-down!’ Or whatsoever. Since I didn’t want to give him something to feed off of because he just understands how to switch animosity or any type of electricity from the group. Like with Tiger, when he was creating that operate at him at the PGA at Bellerive, he was equipped to harness that power and carry out the best in himself and I just did not want to give him anything at all to feed off of.

Mickelson was perfectly mindful of that Bellerive Sunday, when Woods had the St. Louis group on its toes but Koepka was unflappable, flagging solution photographs when he essential them most and closing out Woods by two shots. At Kiawah Mickelson’s possess legacy hung in the harmony if Koepka gained then the two would abruptly be tied with 5 majors apiece. If Mickelson received, on the other hand, his lead would be back again to two above any other Tour pros not named Woods.

“And as shortly as you predict that he’s likely to struggle or he goes up versus somebody that he truly wants to conquer, it provides out that electrical power and he just gets the finest out of it,” Mickelson stated. That is likely a reference to Brandel Chamblee, who doubted Koepka and lived to regret it. In his eyes, the relaxation was heritage. Even with a bogey at No. 1, Mickelson produced four birdies in the very first 10 holes to seize the guide for superior.

You bear in mind how it ended, of class: With Mickelson out in front of an tremendous, unruly mob even though Koepka got swallowed up. He remaining the working day pissed off about shedding and chippy about having dinged up by a spectator. The PGA of The united states later apologized to both equally players for not maintaining them distinct of the group. It would seem like it’s all very good now, specifically when Koepka’s 4 up. Every thing is all fantastic when you are 4 up.

Nonetheless, Koepka laughed and reported that he remembered Mickelson’s technique marginally in a different way.

“Phil just sluggish-played it,” he claimed. “We weren’t chatting to every other. But he was heading to the bathroom just about every three holes, he was executing that alpha-beta [brainwave] detail that Bryson and Phil ended up just talking about, he was sitting there and closing his eyes just before each individual shot.”

Mickelson didn’t deny all those fees, either. In its place, he laughed. It is only fitting that Koepka located a chip to set on his shoulder even when Mickelson was particularly trying to keep away from it.

“That’s why I use sun shades, so you cannot inform when my eyes are closed,” he reported. “That’s truly correct.”

They say heritage is constantly penned by the winners, so we’ll acquire Mickelson’s tale at facial area price. Soon after all, he’s the 1 with the trophy.

Dylan Dethier

Golfing.com Editor

Dylan Dethier is a senior author for Golfing Magazine/Golfing.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined Golfing in 2017 soon after two several years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a 2014 graduate of Williams College, where by he majored in English, and he’s the creator of 18 in The us, which facts the 12 months he invested as an 18-12 months-old living from his vehicle and enjoying a spherical of golfing in every point out.