Phil Mickelson explains how Tom Brady helped inspire him to late-career greatness

• Phil Mickelson says that Tom Brady helped inspire him to late-career greatness.
• Mickelson was paired with Brady for "The Match," a charity golf event in Big Sky, Montana.
• Mickelson said he saw in Tom Brady how you have to outwork others.

Earlier this summer, Phil Mickelson secured one of the most impressive wins of his career, taking the PGA Championship by two strokes at the age of 50 to become the oldest major champion in the history of golf.

According to Mickelson, the win might not have happened without a little inspiration from Tom Brady.

Mickelson and Brady were paired together for the 2021 iteration of "The Match," a charity golf event that was contested in Big Sky, Montana, this year.

On the course, Mickelson was asked by NFL great Larry Fitzgerald about his win at the PGA Championship and how he found a new level of swing speed despite being later in his career.

Mickelson said that seeing players like Fitzgerald and Brady continue their greatness helped inspire him to do the same.

"Fitz, you are one of the hardest-working players in the NFL. In the offseason, you are grinding. You are working out. You are doing things that others don't," Mickelson said. "And I saw that with Tom Brady."

Mickelson admitted that while he hadn't taken the best care of his body early in his career, changes he's made in recent years have paid off in a big way.

"If you look back at my career, I did not have that same commitment level to fitness and overall diet and so forth. Now I do because I've seen it."

"It's inspiring to watch Brady do it, to watch you do it, to watch the guys be their best later in their careers. There's nothing keeping them from performing at the highest level if you just put in that little extra work."

For Mickelson, winning the PGA was the cherry on top of an already impressive late-career resume.

"That moment at the PGA made all the effort worth it. I had been struggling for a couple years. I had not played at the level I would have liked, and you get that moment, and it all comes together, and it's worth every minute of the work."

Mickelson and Brady came up short in The Match this year, losing to Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers, but with six major wins and seven Super Bowl rings, respectively, Mickelson and Brady are leading where it matters most.