Phil Mickelson is not the greatest golfer in history, but he is almost definitely the most exciting.

Golf fans love Mickelson for the same reason they cannot get enough of shows like “Homeland” and “Breaking Bad” — the suspense and uncertainty around every corner is addicting. And his performance Sunday at the Scottish Open was like a mid-season episode — it answered some of the major questions about Mickelson, but also posed even more maddening ones.

It took a double-bogey on the first hole, a smattering of birdies, a mental-lapse, a three-putt on the 72nd hole and a magnificent playoff up-and-down birdie, but Mickelson finally broke his second most maddening career schneid to his U.S. Open shortcomings: European winlessness. And he did not do it at one of the many Americanized courses the European Tour now puts on its schedule, but at Castle Stuart Golf Links, the North Sea-side firm-and-fast modern classic designed by Gil Hanse that opened just four years ago.

Surely there’s some mistake, most golf fans wonder. Phil Mickelson winning on a firm, windy links course?

Yes. This victory comes better late than never for Mickelson, who seems to be learning new tricks even in his 40s. It cracks open a door of possibility long thought closed by fans and pundits alike: the Open Championship. Mickelson could not have won Sunday at Castle Stuart without both a mature understanding of how to play links golf and the ability to execute the shots that it requires.

But fans and analysts have been sucked in before by the “Phil’s on form; he’s going to win a(nother) major!” narrative before, only to be disappointed by a relative dud of a showing. Mickelson’s radical inconsistency is so hard to accept because the golf world knows just how scary good he can be.

On top of all that, the adage about it being all but impossible to win the week before a major and then win that major hangs over this victory. Die-hard Mickelson fans may well have been rooting against him late Sunday in order to have that extra little bit of zeal for this week’s Open Championship at Muirfield.

And yet — surprise, surprise! — Mickelson’s career defies that nearly iron law as well. He is one of the few players who has made a major championship his second win in as many weeks. In 2006, he took the BellSouth Classic on April 2. A week later, he captured his second Masters. It turns out that the course that held the former event, the TPC at Sugarloaf outside Atlanta, is similar in key ways to Augusta National– very little rough, scooped-out bunkers, lots of water, large and undulating greens.

Castle Stuart is a very true links course. There is perhaps no truer links in the world, save The Old Course, than Muirfield. Will Phil make his first Open Championship an encore? Tune in later this week for the thrilling conclusion to his career’s latest act, but do not be surprised to be left scratching your head once again.