Phil Mickelson wins at Pebble Beach: Is U.S. Open next?
Phil Mickelson returned to Pebble Beach on Monday morning to close out his fifth career title at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Phil Mickelson had to wait an extra day to finish off his win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Monday. It’ll be another four months before he sees if this win leads to the career Grand Slam.
Mickelson shot a bogey-free 65 in the final round at Pebble Beach, erasing a three-shot deficit to beat Paul Casey by three shots. It’s his 44th career PGA Tour title, and fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O’Meara for most in the event’s history.
Mickelson can thank the weather for having to come back to play on Monday morning. Just as he and Casey were about to tee off for the start of their round on Sunday, severe weather hit the Monterey Peninsula, covering Pebble Beach in hailstones. Play was delayed for three hours. As darkness descended on the course, Mickelson had just tapped in on the 16th green with Casey still to putt. Mickelson wanted to see if they could finish the last two holes; Casey, however, insisted they stop.
It was a decision Mickelson clearly disagreed with, visibly shaking his head when the horn blew to officially halt play. He seemed undaunted on Monday, though, hitting his approach to the par-three 17th close before finishing with a birdie at the par-five 18th to get to 19-under for the tournament.
After playing the 17th and 18th on Monday, Mickelson admitted Casey was right. “I thanked Paul this morning for having us finish in the morning because I get sometimes in my own little bubble that I don’t see the big picture,” he told Golf Channel’s Peter Kostis after the tournament. “He really protected both of us. The greens were beat up. We had a chance to come out today on fresh greens, better weather and being able to see a lot better. I was very appreciative of that, and I told him that.”
The victory, Mickelson’s first since the WGC-Mexico Championship last March and first on U.S. soil in six years, carries special significance for him. Mickelson marked his ball all week with a silver coin given to him by his grandfather, Al Santos, one of the original caddies at Pebble Beach in 1919. And in 1992 he made his first start as a professional at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. “This is a special place for me,” he said. “Every time I get here I have such feelings of gratitude for all this place has done for my family, starting with my grandfather. And to have my pro career start here, to have this victory, means a lot.”
It won’t be the last time Mickelson gets to play Pebble Beach this year. The U.S. Open, the one jewel of the Grand Slam that’s eluded Mickelson in his career, is returning there in June. To have Mickelson complete the Grand Slam at the course that means so much to him, and where he’s had so much success, would be a fitting cap on his career. Mickelson has been runner-up at the U.S. Open six times in his career and finished fourth the last time the tournament was at Pebble Beach, in 2010. Two players have won the Pro-Am and the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in the same year: Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Mickelson, however, doesn’t think the win this week will give him an edge in June. “[It means] absolutely nothing,” he said. “Very simply it’s nothing like the course we’ll see. I’m hitting drivers and trying to bomb it down there and hit wedges in, and the rough will be so different and the greens will be so firm it will be a whole different golf course. But I’ll deal with that in [four] months.”
The 24-hour delay didn’t bother him, but now he has wait until June to see if that momentum carries over when he returns to Pebble Beach to join golf’s most elusive club.