ONE ROUND TO GO
Mickelson, 50, moves 18 holes away from becoming oldest major champion
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Phil Mickelson could have done without the thrills Saturday at the PGA Championship.
Losing a five-shot lead in a span of five holes on the back nine. One tee shot into the water and another that ended up under a cart tire. It was all part of a wildly entertaining day that ended with Mickelson nearly holing a flop shot that can test the nerves of just about any 50-year-old but him.
That brought Mickelson to the cusp of history not many could have seen coming.
That par save for a 2-under-par 70 gave him a one-shot lead over Brooks Koepka and left him 18 holes away from becoming the oldest champion in the 161 years of the majors. Julius Boros was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship.
Asked to describe what such an achievement would be like, Mickelson was too busy glancing at his watch. Sunlight was fading, and he wanted to practice. These chances don’t come along as often as they once did.
‘‘I’m not really dwelling back on what took place today,’’ he said.
Sunday should get his attention, starting with the guy who joins him in the final group. Koepka survived what he called the worst putting of his career. Statistically, he was in the middle of the pack, but he missed a sixfoot par putt on the final hole for a 70 that cost him a share of the lead.
No matter. At stake for Koepka is a shot at his third Wanamaker Trophy in four years. No one has won the PGA Championship so often so quickly since it switched to stroke play in 1958.
‘‘I’m in the final group,’’ said Koepka, who won his first two PGAs in 2018 and 2019. ‘‘That’s what you want.’’
Mickelson was at 7-under 209 after 54 holes. For all his success in the majors — five victories and runner-up finishes in all four of them — this is only the third time he has held the 54-hole lead.
Koepka, shaking off effects from ligament surgery on his right knee that has limited him to two tournaments in three months before arriving at Kiawah Island, wasn’t surprised to have another shot at a major. He already has won four of them since 2017.
‘‘It just feels good, feels normal,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s what you’re supposed to do, what you practice for. I’m right where I want to be, and we’ll see how [Sunday] goes.’’
Louis Oosthuizen started the third round tied with Mickelson but bogeyed the first hole. He never caught up, though he had his chances until missing a four-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th and a five-foot par putt on the par-3 17th. He wound up with an evenpar 72 and was two shots behind.
‘‘Probably the worst I’ve played in a while,’’ Oosthuizen said. ‘‘I was just sort of fighting to stay in it and, at the end there, started judging the greens wrong. Everything just fell apart. All in all, two behind going into Sunday, I’ve got to take a lot of positives out of that.’’
At least they have a chance. Mickelson birdied five of his first 10 holes and had a five-shot lead before making a bogey on the 12th and a double bogey on the 13th to come back to the pack.