Day: February 8, 2020

Mickelson trails Taylor by one at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AmMickelson trails Taylor by one at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

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A low-key week for Taylor is about to turn loudA low-key week for Taylor is about to turn loud

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – As Phil Mickelson was heating up before packed six-deep galleries on the back nine at Pebble Beach on Saturday, Nick Taylor was finishing up his third round before a handful of fans at the ninth hole at Spyglass Hill. Taylor has led this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after each of the first three rounds, but outside of a little interest Friday at Pebble Beach, he’s spent this week in relative obscurity, a tournament leader seen by few of its fans. “I’m not going to draw a big crowd typically, other than people who know me,â€� said the sixth-year pro from Canada. That, of course, changes on Sunday. Taylor, at 17 under, will be in the last group at Pebble Beach, paired with defending champ Mickelson, who’s one shot back. The next closest pursuer is Jason Day, another two shots behind. Everyone else is at least six shots off the lead. Thus, all eyes finally will be on Taylor with each swing Sunday. But he doesn’t expect those eyes to be accompanied by much vocal support. RELATED: Leaderboard | Pro-am leaderboard | TOUR Insider: Five wins and Phil’s lucky silver dollar “I know who they’re going to be pulling for,â€� he said. “… Obviously if he makes a putt or great shot, the crowd’s going to go wild. I’ve just got to do my own thing, try to block all that out.â€� Mickelson will be going for a tournament-record sixth win. He’ll also be going for his 15th win in his home state; only Tiger Woods has as many California wins since 1983. And he’ll be going for the 45th win of his career. And he’s doing all this at age 49. The crowds that Taylor will see for the first time this week have been following Mickelson for nearly three decades. “It’s a special place,â€� Mickelson said after his 5-under 67 that showed off his short-game wizardry. “… Having that special connection with Pebble Beach and the Monterey Peninsula through my family going back to the first year Pebble Beach opened, my grandfather being one of the caddies, and being able to share last year’s experience with my brother (his caddie Tim) — this has been a really fun family experience.â€� It’s also been a fun family experience for Day, who has his wife and kids in tow this week. His oldest son, 7-year-old Dash, has been particularly keen to see his dad play golf. “He doesn’t really come out too much,â€� said Day, looking to finally win at Pebble Beach after top-5 finishes in his three most recent starts here, “but my wife said, did you hear him at all out there, because he can be a little loud.â€� Meanwhile, it’s been a mostly low-key and not very loud experience this week for Taylor, whose lone PGA TOUR win came in his rookie season at the Sanderson Farms Championship in the fall of 2014. Since then, Taylor has made 125 TOUR starts; his lone top-5 finish in that span came in 2016 at the Puerto Rico Open. While he didn’t enter this week as a notable name to watch, Taylor liked how his game was shaping up, and he certainly likes putting on poa annua, which he grew up on in Western Canada. An opening 63 at Monterey Peninsula, still the low round of the week, set the tone and Taylor’s been chugging along ever since. The low-key approach has worked well for him. “When you’re playing well, it’s easy to keep it low-key,â€� Taylor said. “I felt like our group has been very relaxed.â€� His amateur partner is esteemed Golf Digest editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde, a winner of the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism. For the first time in his nine starts as an amateur in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Tarde has made the team cut to Sunday. He’s definitely been impressed by what he’s seen from the Canadian this week. “He’s so calm,â€� Tarde said Saturday. “That’s the amazing thing.â€� The challenge for Taylor now is to remain calm in an environment that will be unlike what he’s seen for most of his career. He’s saying all the right things – “Just got to keep my head down, do my thingâ€� – but it’ll be much tougher to put that into practice. “I’ve played in front of big crowds – not consistent but I’ve done it enough to where it will be fun tomorrow,â€� Taylor said. “Need to kind of embrace it and see what happens.â€� Now that he’s seen Taylor play so well, Tarde was asked if Golf Digest might have any future content devoted to him. “Whenever we have a chance to meet somebody, we get to know him better and you begin to think of ways you can help him, whether it’s online or in the magazine,â€� Tarde responded. “I played golf with Luke Donald last year in a practice round and we ended up doing a swing instruction series with him on video. “So yeah, I was just talking to him. We’d love to do a swing sequence, maybe an instruction article, an interview with him. He’s an impressive guy. Really shows you the depth of field here and how guys are just a good round away from stardom.â€� On Sunday, Taylor would gladly settle for the winner’s trophy. After that, he can circle back with Tarde on what Golf Digest might do with him. Or even for him. “Maybe,â€� smiled Taylor, “he’ll give me a free subscription.â€�

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Phil’s short game produces an all-timer at Pebble BeachPhil’s short game produces an all-timer at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – It was during Friday’s second round at Monterey Peninsula, and Phil Mickelson had just escaped potential trouble with another magical bunker shot. The reaction from his amateur partner, Hall of Fame 49ers quarterback Steve Young, was either a look of disbelief or a look of awe. Probably both. Mickelson then turned to Young. “I’m pretty good at this,â€� Mickelson said. “I have a DVD out.â€� It was a funny moment, but Mickelson is showing this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am that he’s deadly serious about defending his title. After his Saturday 5-under 69 at Pebble Beach, he’s 16 under and in solo second, one behind leader Nick Taylor. The two will be paired for Sunday’s final round at Pebble Beach, with Mickelson seeking a record sixth win in this event. RELATED: Leaderboard | Pro-am leaderboard | TOUR Insider: Five wins and Phil’s lucky silver dollar Driven by his competitive juices, Mickelson is even more serious in proving that at 49 – his 50th birthday is just four months away – his golf skills will not be hampered by his age. Certainly his skills with a wedge in his hands remain unequaled by anybody on the PGA TOUR. One day after his joke to Young, Mickelson displayed a short game that goes down as one of his best for a single round. Time and time again, he delivered that’s-just-Phil magic. He holed out twice for birdies on the back nine – from the bunker at the 13th and from 90 feet away at the 14th — and successfully scrambled eight of nine times, including memorable shots around the fifth green (from the rough), the sixth (from the fairway), and the 18th (after he was given relief when his second shot landed in pine straw near an obstacle). Oh, and he produced a shot for the ages out of the back bunker on the iconic 110-yard par-3 seventh. With his ball plugged into the sand, he told his caddie, brother Tim Mickelson, that he thought he could hit it low and catch the rough in order to slow down the ball and let it trickle to the pin. Few would’ve tried it, but he pulled it off, leaving him 2 feet to save his par. Mickelson called it, “No. 2 in my all-time greatest bunker shots.â€� And No. 1? “I made one in the final round at Memorial, Muirfield Village, the old 16th hole from under the lip, plugged, and I holed that one,â€� Mickelson said. “This one didn’t go in, but it was the second best I’ve ever hit. “I was just trying to not make 5. I was trying to get on the green and just make a 4, give myself a putt at a par. But it came out great.â€� Brandt Snedeker, the other pro in the foursome, didn’t see the shot. But he knew it was plugged – and he wasn’t surprised that Mickelson pulled it off. “For Phil, that’s probably run of the mill,â€� Snedeker said. “For most of us out here, it’s once in a lifetime.â€� But as Young found out in these first three days playing next to Mickelson, it’s no accident. Mickelson may be producing art, but there’s a science behind it. “If that was me, I would’ve just hit into the ocean and dropped,â€� Young said of the plugged lie at 7. “But he kind of thought about it. … It’s not like he lucked into it. He’s calling it. That’s what he wanted to do.â€� “As someone who can appreciate other athletes,â€� Young added, “for me this has been a special three days. I’ve never seen anything like this.â€� The fact that Mickelson is doing it at age 49 is a testament to his will to win and his ability to continually reinvent himself. Currently, that means a dramatic weight loss due to a nutritional diet. He’s doing what it takes and is motivated to prove that he’s not finished winning. “If you think it’s over at 45, 50, 55, he’s going to press into those numbers,â€� said Young, who played in the NFL until concussions forced his retirement at age 38. “It shows you how much he cares,â€� added Snedeker. “… I wish more guys out here had the passion he does for the game of golf. He really loves it. Loves the competition.â€� And he loves producing short-game magic. After all, he’s got the DVD to prove it.

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Nick Taylor holds one-shot lead into Sunday at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AmNick Taylor holds one-shot lead into Sunday at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson and his sublime short game delivered more entertainment than all the athletes and celebrities for the Saturday show at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Mickelson made the impossible look easy from a bunker behind the par-3 seventh green at Pebble Beach. He holed out from a bunker for birdie on the 13th, and chipped in from 90 feet for birdie on the next hole. Related: Leaderboard | Mickelson’s lucky silver dollar When he ran in one last birdie, Mickelson had a 5-under 67 and trailed Nick Taylor of Canada by one shot going into the final round. Mickelson will be going for a record sixth title at Pebble Beach, and his first PGA TOUR victory since he won this tournament last year. Taylor had a cold and relatively quiet day, away from all the hits and giggles around the celebrity rotation at Pebble. He teed off at tough Spyglass Hill with a beanie and hand warmers because of heavy marine layer, warmed up as the sun broke through and made a 25-foot eagle putt late in his round for a 69. Taylor was at 17-under 198 as he goes for his second PGA TOUR victory, and first since he won the Sanderson Farms Championship in his fourth start as a TOUR rookie. Mickelson hit a flop shot over the bunker on the par-5 18th to pull within one shot. They will be in the final group, along with their amateur partners. Mickelson has former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, while Taylor has Golf Digest editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde. Taylor and Mickelson have never played together. “It’s going to be a new experience for that reason, if I am playing with him,” Taylor said. “Obviously, if he makes a putt or great shot, the crowd’s going to go wild. I’ve just got to do my own thing, try to block all that out. Easier said than done, without having to do it before, but I’ll do the best I can.” This is a two-man show; however, Jason Day posted a 70 at Spyglass Hill and was only three shots behind at 14-under 201. For others, it was a wasted opportunity. Pebble Beach had more wind than earlier in the week, but still gentle enough that low scores were available. Dustin Johnson, a two-time winner at Pebble, was in striking range and could manage only a 72, leaving him eight shots back. Patrick Cantlay played the final six holes in 2 over for a 72 and was nine shots back. Mickelson started with a pair of birdies. He took a share of the lead with a birdie on the par-5 sixth. And then the fun began. His wedge on the 110-yard seventh hole that drops down into the Pacific went long and plugged in the back bunker, impossible because of the back pin and a fast green that slopes toward the front. He splashed out so perfectly that it took a few hops in the rough before reaching the green, slow enough to stop 2 feet away for a tap-in par. Even for Mickelson, it rates among his best. Then, his 50-foot bunker shot on the tough eighth rolled inches from the cup on No. 8. More trouble supposedly awaited on the 13th when his approach peeled into the left bunker. He raised both arms when that dropped. And on the par-5 14th, he made a mistake by not hitting his punch wedge hard enough. It rolled down the slope, off the green and back into the fairway. Mickelson’s long chip from 90 feet banged into the pin and dropped for birdie. Mickelson missed two birdie putts from inside 10 feet. And while he hit only nine greens in regulation, he usually had a reasonable angle to the pin to save par — or make birdie, as was the case twice for him. That leaves a Sunday with plenty at stake for the leading three players. Mickelson said earlier in the week he would not accept a special exemption for the U.S. Open if he needed one. A victory at Pebble — the 45th of his career — would go a long way toward solving that. Taylor can validate his first win since his rookie season, an opposite-field event at the time. The Canadian has never been to the Masters and has played in only four majors, two as an amateur. Day, meanwhile spent most of last year injured and frustrated. He has gone nearly two years since his last win, and was in danger of falling out of range for World Golf Championships events if he didn’t starting getting better results.

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