It has been more than two weeks since that stunning PGA Championship win by Phil Mickelson and my guess is, the indelible image you have is Lefty working his way through thousands of fans as he moved to the 72nd green.

Not me. I am stuck on the vision of Lefty working his way through a tray of chocolate eclairs 18 years earlier. Yes, a tray.

Bizarre imagery, yes, but allow me some latitude. After all, in the universe of Phil Mickelson, the incomparable (like winning a major at 50) run parallel to the inexplicable. The eclairs, for instance, so let’s go right to the sweet spot of this story from Oak Hill CC and the 2003 PGA Championship.

Mickelson, then 33, was, per usual, front and center.

Storyline No. 1 was being 0-for-45 in the majors.

Storyline No. 2 was his defiant defense of his aggressive mentality in these majors. “I may never win a major playing (aggressively) . . . (but) I won’t ever change – not tomorrow, Sunday, or at Augusta or the U.S. Open, or any tournament.”

Storyline No. 3, was yet another eccentric pre-tournament move; instead of a Wednesday practice round, Mickelson went to work out at the Buffalo Bills training camp. Wrote Orlando Sentinel columnist David Whitley: “0-for-4 in the Super Bowl meets 0-for-45 in Super tournaments.”

Promptly, Mickelson took us on beguiling roller-coaster ride. He opened with 66 to share the lead with Rod Pampling. At the time, Lefty was infatuated with the power game and while he was long (at 306 yards he finished third in average driving distance that season) he was laughably crooked (48.96 percent, he ranked 189th in accuracy). It was the year he tweaked Woods by saying: “He hates that I can fly it past him.”

But ’03 had been miserable up to that point. Start with Mike Weir winning the Masters, so Mickelson wasn’t even the highest-ranked lefthander in the world. Mix in the unheard-of Ben Curtis taking the Open. Now toss in rounds of 75-72-75 that sent Mickelson crashing into a tie for 23rd at Oak Hill, and sprinkle in Shaun Micheel – a guy who was 159 spots behind Lefty in the world rankings – won that ’03 PGA and . . . well, you had a recipe for a prime meltdown.

Especially since Mickelson, who was T-12 through 54 holes, had warmed up for Sunday’s fourth round by playing 18 holes in the morning at the Country Club of Rochester. “Who does something like that?” laughed an incredulous playing competitor.

Mickelson does, of course, but after two early birdies at Oak Hill, Lefty bogeyed five of his last eight holes. Lost, tired, and frazzled, Mickelson disappeared into the clubhouse for a long, long time and took refuge next to a tray of chocolate eclairs.

“He was eating them like they were pigs in a blanket. It was incredible,” said a playing competitor. “Just sitting there all by himself.”

Other players confirmed the story, so “death by chocolate” echoes in my mind every time I consider 2003 to be the end of Mickelson’s first chapter to his storied PGA Tour career. Yes, he had won 21 times at that point, but he had penned 2,100 unfathomable “Phil being Phil” moments to overshadow all that.

Oak Hill ’03 resonates not only for being rich in Mickelson bizarreness and chocolate, but also the end of his Majorless Era. Eight months later, Mickelson leapt into another chapter of his pulsating career by winning the Masters. Finally, in his 47th try, he was a major champion.

It’s the sixth win in his 111th major start, the 2021 PGA at Kiawah, that still grips the golf community, of course, and for good reason. But as he regaled his legion of supporters with short-game mastery at the Ocean Course, my thoughts circled back to Oak Hill ’03 and how all those eclairs ushered him into a new era.

No disrespect to those who think Woods at the 2019 Masters and Mickelson at the 2021 PGA are defining moments. I’ll take the 2004-05-06 seasons.

In that span, they combined to win seven of 12 majors – Mickelson two Masters and a PGA; Woods a Masters, a PGA, and two Opens – and if you play the “if only” game, imagine that they could have won all four in 2005 and 2006 and maybe all 12, to be honest.

In 2004: After winning at Augusta, Lefty staggered to the finish at the U.S. Open, was just one shot out of a playoff at the Open, then played his last 10 holes in 1 over and was two strokes short of a playoff at the PGA.

In 2005: The only major they didn’t win was the U.S. Open when Woods’ charge at Pinehurst was derailed with bogeys at 16 and 17. Michael Campbell was the winner.

In 2006: Again, only the U.S. Open escaped them, and while a healthy line of other players think they should have won at Winged Foot, it’s Mickelson’s double-bogey at 18 to finish one behind Geoff Ogilvy that resonates loudest.

What put this resurgence in motion was Mickelson’s commitment to tidier golf. He fell to 30th, 26th and 17th in driving distance, but improved to 10th, 47th and 21st in greens in regulation.

As for the eclairs, who can quantify their contribution. But I’m thinking they unlocked the secret to success.