His fate wasn’t decided until another putt of a similar length about an hour later also ended up with the same missed outcome.
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Mickelson, though, did not make it easy for Taylor watching from the clubhouse as, trailing by two with two to play he made a 12-foot birdie on the 17th.
“I’m certainly disappointed that I wasn’t able to put it together”, he said.
“I just lost confidence, lost a good bit of my game”.
“It tells me I need to do a little work”, Mickelson said of his final round. Taylor drained a long uphill putt on the par-four No. 16 to get to seven-under par where he would finish with a final round 65 (-7). He chipped up to five feet but lipped out his putt and settled for second at 16 under. He was listening for the cheers of Mickelson’s birdie. I made a few more mistakes in the short game around the greens. “I was prepared for a playoff”.
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.
“I wasn’t even thinking about winning”, Taylor said. “I really thought for a minute that this could be it”. Things were just – it was just magical out there. And I just can’t believe it actually happened today.
Taylor, 39, captured his third tour title, to go with back-to-back victories in the Reno-Tahoe Open in 2004 and 2005. He’s in the Masters and PGA Championship, and he gets to set his own schedule for the next two years. Zero surprises if he wins soon or if he wins a major championship this year. Because I know where I’m playing.
” I’m having more fun playing golf as I have had in years. I mean, are you kidding?”
NAPLES, Fla. – German Bernhard Langer won the Chubb Classic for his 26th title on the 50-and-older PGA Tour Champions, closing with a 1-over 73 for a three-stroke victory over Seattle native Fred Couples (66). In August 2014, he was fishing on the river in a stiff current when a tie-up rope broke and his boat capsized.
“She’s been my rock”, Taylor said. “I made some good swings”.
Along the way, he attempted to get that elusive win. I knew it broke a lot, and it’s a little uphill at the end. But here was Vaughn, ranked 447, chasing down and then surpassing everyone.
His second trip this week was much more of a joyful adventure. The round included six birdies and no bogeys.
Mickelson will move forward from this runner-up just as he moved forward from the 31 before it.
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Murray was so upset at the gawkers (who were reportedly less than 10 feet away from him) that he grabbed the phones and threw them off a second-floor balcony. It might be an even better story because Vaughn Taylor did win.
