AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
The charismatic man affectionately known as Lefty has finally struck again, proving that age is only a number and skill doesn’t fade if you’re willing to dedicate yourself to your craft.
In a career that boasts 44 PGA Tour victories, the last time Phil Mickelson had won a PGA Tour event on American soil was in February of 2013, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
A week after failing to make the cut at the Waste Management open, an event where the Arizona State alumni is a local crowd favorite, Phil cleared his mind and set his sights on the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a place where he’s enjoyed a good deal of success throughout his career.
The event features two competitions, the professionals played their standard stroke-play format, while simultaneously many professional players played alongside amateur teammates in a best ball competition. With the cut for the event set after 54-holes instead of 36, each player/team was guaranteed three rounds, one round each at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterrey Peninsula.
On day 1 of the event that features celebrities like the legendary Bill Murray and wildly successful comedian Larry The Cable Guy, Brian Gay and Scott Langley took an early one stroke lead at 7-under, but a murderer’s row of players, including Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, all found themselves within 2 shots of the lead.
Temperamental conditions caused havoc all week long and on day 2 players battled wind, rain and cool temperatures before play was ultimately suspended until the following day.
Though some players were able to finish up their second round on Friday, Phil Mickelson, Lucas Glover, Paul Casey and Scott Langley were all able to finish before the tournament officials stopped play, posting 10-under par and a share of the lead heading into day 3.
Day three belonged to Paul Casey. While Mickelson only managed to shoot a 2-under 70, Casey opened up a 3 shot lead on Phil and the rest of the field heading into the final round.
As I mentioned above, mother nature continually tested the patience of tournament officials and players alike. On Sunday, a hail storm descended on the normally picturesque course along the Pacific Ocean, blanketing greens in ice pellets and standing water.
Live look at Pebble Beach 😲☔⛳ pic.twitter.com/1E7kak1erX
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 10, 2019
Once the storm passed and the crews were able to clear the ice from the green surfaces, they were still too saturated to begin play. Workers began using squeegees to roll the excess and standing water off the greens and play eventually was able to resume.
For everyone involved, the PGA Tour does everything in its power to guarantee a Sunday finish, but after the lengthy delay, the course was beat up and only the leaders left out there. Standing over a 3 foot par putt on 16, Paul Casey declared he wanted to finish in the morning. There was no way they could complete the final 2 holes in 6 minutes, it would simply be too dark.
A visibly annoyed Phil was ready to trek on in the darkness, but Casey did not feel comfortable continuing. Unable to continue because Paul Casey did not want to continue, the players packed it in for the night and prepared for an 8 am finish on Monday morning.
On a cool Monday at Pebble Beach, Phil showed no sign of frustration as his tee shot on the par-3 17th landed about 8 feet from the cup. He went on to finish 18 in style with a birdie putt from 8 feet to capture his 5th career victory at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
After the round completed on Monday morning, Phil sang Casey’s praises for not only making a sound personal decision, but for also protecting Phil from himself.
Casey, after all, had more than himself to think about since he was participating in the Pro-Am competition. He and his partner had a chance to win and Casey wanted to give them the best chance to finish the job. With a birdie on 18, they would secure the Pro-Am title, and that’s just what they did.
At one point in his career, Phil was considered the greatest player to NOT win a major. Mickelson has re-invented himself more times in his career than anyone else. He is not afraid to tinker or try something new and always thinks outside the box. For these reasons he’s been able to enjoy a prolonged career on the PGA Tour.
A player on the home stretch, his tenure in golf’s highest echelon has without question had its share of highs and lows; but, when he finally signs the card on his professional playing career he will undoubtedly be regarded as one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
These are the clubs that Phil Mickelson used to win the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (As reported by PGATOUR):
Callaway Epic Pro 4-iron
Shaft:
KBS Tour V 125
Odyssey Versa No 9
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Oasis Championship
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, Bernhard Langer wins on the PGA Champions Tour. Playing mere minutes from his home in Boca Raton, Florida, the PGA Champions teed it up in the Oasis Championship, played on The Old Course at Broken Sound Golf Club.
This marks the 13th year in a row that Langer has won an event on the PGA Champions Tour, a record. He trails Hale Irwin by only 6 for the most career victories on the over-50 tour.
There was a Jack Nicklaus sighting at the event in Florida, but he’s not making a comeback, he was there as a spectator and supporter. He was in attendance for the event because his son, Gary Nicklaus, made his first career start on the tour. He finished +1 for the tournament, 20 strokes behind Langer.
Keith Schneider
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