Phil Mickelson’s ball picked up by spectator during final round of PGA Championship

The eventual champion received a free drop on the 11th hole after the bizarre incident

Phil Mickelson on the 11th hole (Getty Images)

Before Phil Mickelson made history by becoming the oldest man to win a major at the PGA Championship, a bizarre incident occurred on the 11th hole at Kiawah Island.

After taking a four-shot lead with just eight holes to play, the 50-year-old pushed his drive into the crowd that lined the left rough. As the spectators huddled around the ball, one fan appeared to pick up Mickelson’s ball before throwing it back into the grass.

As Mickelson approached the area, one fan told him: “It was right here, then she picked it up and it rolled to right there.”

Mickelson called over a rules official and told his playing partner, Brooks Koepka, to hit first if he was ready. “I’m under the understanding that somebody picked it up and put it back in the general vicinity,” Mickelson said to the rules official.

Mickelson was informed that he would get to replace the ball in the area where the spectators said it had originally come to a halt, which brought something of a better lie, too, even if he did joke that he should get a free drop within one club length.

From there, Mickelson was able to hit a low punch out of the rough that bounded down the fairway of the par-5 11th and he went on to make par and maintain his lead.

Despite bogeys at 13, 14 and 17 on The Ocean Course’s fearsome back-nine, Mickelson held his nerve to finish two shots clear of Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen to claim the sixth major of an already illustrious career.