Then along came Vaughn Taylor, a gangly 39-year-old who was ranked 447th in the world, who hadn’t won in over 10 years, and whose usual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am partner, Toms shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, was forced to find a new pro when Taylor lost his Tour card.
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“I just wanted to finish top 10”, Taylor said of his goal at Pebble, where he began the day six shots behind leader Mickelson.
He is 20-1 to win with a fifth of the odds available for a top-three finish, but 5-4 about him finishing in the top five looks a more solid punt.
He played at Pebble Beach with the rest of the celebrities, which is a tradition on this course, except that he teed off on the back nine and was on the opposite end of the golf course from the dancing, clowning, and raucous atmosphere on a gorgeous day once the fog lifted.
But he let his two-shot lead get away after only five holes, and it might have gotten out of hand if Mickelson had not made tough par saves in the 8-foot range on No. 3 and No. 9.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable”, Taylor said of winning the tournament.
Mickelson fought back after two early bogeys to go out in 36 and with Taylor in the clubhouse, he needed back-to-back birdie in the final two holes to force a play-off. He earned $1.26 million for his third PGA Tour victory and rose to No. 100 in the world. “It’s disappointing not to play a little bit more mistake-free on a final round with the lead. Weather was great, I enjoyed everything about it. I’ve heard all the negatives throughout the years, and I didn’t experience one of them”.
Phil Mickelson is close to breaking the longest victory drought of his career at Pebble Beach.
“I can’t believe it happened again”.
“I fought hard today”, he said after a round that included six birdies without a bogey.
“There are so many ups and downs in this career”, Leot Taylor said after wiping her tears. I just lost a lot of confidence, lost a good bit of my game. His short game was weak Sunday by his standards, particularly out of the bunker on the par-5 second (that cost him an easy chance at birdie) and the fourth and 14th holes (that cost him easy pars).
Mickelson required only 21 putts to leave him 16-under, two ahead of Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata, who shot a 69 at Spyglass Hill. I didn’t think it was going to happen. I know how close I am to being where I want to be, and when I get there, I’m excited about what the result’s going to be.
But the fading hopes changed when he sank a lengthy birdie on No. 17 to put him one shot back. “As nervous as I was and as disappointed as I am that I didn’t win, this was so much fun for me to get back in the thick of it and feel the pressure”.
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Having been subjected to the errant hacking of television presenters, comedians and captains of American industry over the last few days, it is all about the serious business of who is going to win the Pebble Beach Pro-Am from now on.
