Mickelson is going for his 43d.
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But let’s not get carried away. He admitted that some of his frustrations in recent weeks stem from the high bar he set at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, where he barely seemed to break a sweat en route to an eight-shot win.
There were a number of great stories at this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Dressed in red on Valentine’s Day, Leot held her 2-year-old blond son, Locklyn, close to her face and sobbed uncontrollably.
Mickelson at least left Pebble believing he was closer to ending the longest victory drought of his career that dates back to the 2013 Open.
South African star Charl Schwartzel shot a 4-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead in the European Tour’s Tshwane Open at Pretoria, South Africa.
While Jacobson is an established Stateside competitor, Iwata has made little impression in America and has never posted a top-ten finish there on the PGA Tour, though he did finish third in the HSBC Championship in elite company in 2014.
The event was sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and Australian Ladies PGA. Just wonderful. I’m at a loss for words right now. “A few more mistakes in the short game around the greens”. And then came a script right out of Hollywood, starring Vaughn Taylor as himself.
The key moment came on the 16th, a 30-foot birdie putt on one of the toughest greens at Pebble.
The chip was fine.
“Just absolutely fantastic”, Taylor said of his one-shot victory over Mickelson, a five-time major champion already in the World Golf Hall of Fame. “I was trying to kind of free it up, but I didn’t salvage pars on some holes that I needed to salvage pars”.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve been in contention and it would mean a lot to me to be able to play a good final round tomorrow”, Mickelson told reporters.
“That gives me hope that I can probably pursue with this style and still do very, very well”.
And then, abruptly, Mickelson sprung to life. With his win, the one-time Ryder Cup player punched his ticket to the Masters.
Want more? Taylor almost drowned a couple of years ago in a boating accident near his home in Augusta, Ga. – where he has qualified for this year’s Masters. He shot 72-65-73-65 and finished T6.
Spieth struggled on the par-5s for the third straight round, playing them at 1 over at Pebble Beach. No harm there. He still shot 68 and changed back.
For Padraig Harrington a disappointing final round 74 saw him finish on seven under par in a tie for 21st while Shane Lowry was a further five shots back in a tie for 41st.
Mickelson was gracious as ever in defeat, and he left Pebble with as much optimism as disappointment.
Perry and Scott Dunlap were tied for second.
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But this was the first time he stood on the 18th hole with a chance to win in 18 months.
