We don't know if Phil Mickelson ever thought he's win another major championship in his career. But most BetOnline customers probably hasn't entertained the possibility to any considerable degree.

Yet here he is, at the halfway point of the PGA Championship, tied for the lead with former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, who surrendered a free-and-clear lead with a bogey on the final hole on Friday.

And now the 2005 PGA champion, who brought up the rear in the "Top Lefty" category at +700 when betting opened, has a chance to win the whole thing and etch his name even further into the history books.

Mickelson shot 69 in the second round and is now priced at +1100 to capture the Wanamaker Trophy. So no - not everybody is a true believer. And that isn't unwarranted, as he has finished in the top 20 just twice in the last two years.

The guys getting more respect at this point are Brooks Koepka, who's won this tournament twice and is only a shot back, and Oosthuizen. Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama is also right up there.

This is the way it looks right now as it is posted at BetOnline:

Brooks Koepka      +400
Louis Oosthuizen   +500
Hideki Matsuyama +800
Phil Mickelson        +1100
Bryson DeChambeau +1400
Branden Grace        +2000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +2000
Corey Conners        +2000
Paul Casey              +2000
Gary Woodland       +2500
Viktor Hovland        +2500

Some of those big-name players were longshots before play began on Thursday. Koepka, who's won four majors, was +5000 at the opening tee, with Oosthuizen at +7500 and Matsuyama at +4500.

We're going to have to see if Mickelson continues to have some success driving the ball. He is best in the field so far in Strokes Gained off the tee. And that would be surprising for a 50-year-old. The last time anyone that age has held the lead in a major championship was 2012, when Fred Couples led the Masters. And the oldest major champion is Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA.

With age comes wisdom, right?

And so there are some observers who would opine that the weather conditions at Kiawah Island, which are potentially such a big part of the proceedings, might afford the opportunity for Mickelson to take advantage, since he is experienced enough to be careful.

At the same time, he can blow up too. A couple of weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship, he made five double-bogeys.

As it stands now, his Putts per GIR figure (1.545) is the lowest among the 144 players who started.

The key to Mickelson's rise to the top of the leaderboard is his scorching 18-hole stretch that included the back nine on Thursday and front nine on Friday, during which he made nine birdies in 18 holes and used 64 strokes.

On a day when players did not score as well, some competitors made a big leap without burning up the course. Bryson DeChambeau (+1400), who shot 72 in the first round, jumped 19 places with a Friday 71 and is now in 12th place.

Shane Lowry, who was tied for 41st with a 73 on Thursday, shot 71 on Friday and is now tied for 19th. Lowry won the British Open the last time it was played (2019) and has two top ten finishes the last five times he's played on Pete Dye-designed courses.

Ian Poulter, who shot 74 in the first round, improved with a 70 on Friday and went from 62nd to a tie foe 19th. The biggest gain of the day came from Matsuyama, who shot a 68 and vaulted from 41st place to a tie for fourth with Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+2000), whose best finish in a major is 38th and who the announcers are probably rooting against, since his name is even harder to pronounce than Oosthuizen.

BetOnline.ag has posted over-unders on third round action for selected players on the leaderboard. Here are some of them:

3rd Round Scores - PGA Championship

Brooks Koepka
Over 72½ Strokes -120
Under 72½ Strokes -110
Bryson DeChambeau
Under 72½ Strokes -130
Over 72½ Strokes +100

Corey Conners
Over 72½ Strokes -135
Under 72½ Strokes +105

Gary Woodland
Over 73½ Strokes -115
Under 73½ Strokes -115

Hideki Matsuyama
Under 72½ Strokes -120
Over 72½ Strokes -110
Louis Oosthuizen
Over 72½ Strokes -150
Under 72½ Strokes +120

Paul Casey
Over 72½ Strokes -125
Under 72½ Strokes -105

Phil Mickelson
Over 73½ Strokes -160
Under 73½ Strokes +130

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