Tiger trying to hold off son for 18: ‘Day is coming’

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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JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The wave of athlete protests that began with Colin Kaepernick, then picked up steam in recent days after President Trump urged NFL owners to single out players who refuse to stand for the national anthem, is not expected to spread to the Presidents Cup at Liberty National. Steve Stricker, captain of the U.S. team that will take on the International side in this biennial team competition Thursday through Sunday, said he and his players met about the issue and unanimously agreed on how to approach it. “Right away,� Stricker said Tuesday, when asked when he’d met with his four assistant captains to talk about the matter. “We were on it. We were talking about it Sunday night, and then we met with the players a little bit last night, and then on the bus again this morning before going to the TODAY show, because we knew it was going to come up there.� The American team’s plan, Stricker said, is to stand, remove their caps, and respect the flag as usual during Thursday’s playing of the national anthem, which will be sung by Darius Rucker during the opening ceremony. The issue of athlete dissent picked up new momentum recently when Golden State Warriors star Stephan Curry was asked, hypothetically, whether he would visit the White House. His hesitation brought a tweeted response from President Trump, which itself brought a response from Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James. The issue quickly crossed over into other sports, with NFL players, coaches and even owners taking a stance on the issues of free speech and the role of politics in sports. Winter Olympic athletes weighed in. Stricker wanted to make sure his team discussed it and allow any member the opportunity to weigh in. “I asked the guys this morning on the bus: ‘How do you want to handle it? What do you want to do?’� Stricker said. “There was no hesitation. It is what it is. It’s hard for me to speak about it. To me, I’m very passionate about the flag and what it stands for, and respect it, but I know there’s inequalities and injustices going on all around us. “I read a great article by a retired general in USA Today, about how he used to watch sports, and how excited he was to watch sports for the national anthem, that three or four minutes where players come together, people in the stands come together, and forget about their differences.� Stricker said he liked the piece so much, he made copies for his whole team, sparking what he described as a good conversation on the matter. “It was up to them,� he said of his players.

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• COURSE: TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, 7,139 yards, par 70. Once an annual PGA TOUR stop, the facility returns to host duties with a new look that followed a two-year, $20 million overhaul. The original 1986 layout was designed as host of the old Kemper Open, but players never warmed to the course, which also was plagued by drainage and turf issues. The tournament’s demise after 2006 paved the way for massive renovations, with every hole modified in some fashion and major changes to at least a dozen. The new course opened in 2009 and staged the Senior PLAYERS Championship a year later to positive reviews. This will be the Quicken Loans National’s first visit, as the tournament ventures away from Congressional CC in odd-numbered years. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. • CHARITY: The Tiger Woods Foundation, with proceeds earmarked for two Tiger Woods Learning Center campuses in Washington, D.C., along with 25 Tiger Woods Scholars who come from the D.C. area. • FIELD WATCH: Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas, both top-10 finishers at the U.S. Open after contending early in the final round, give the QLN two of the top dozen players in the current world rankings. … Si Woo Kim, winner at THE PLAYERS six weeks ago, also will tee it up along with PGA Championship titleholder Jimmy Walker. … The lineup includes 16 PGA TOUR winners from this season, including recent winners Billy Hurley (AT&T Byron Nelson) and Kevin Chappell (Valero Texas Open). … Arjun Atwal, winner of the 2010 Wyndham Championship, tees it up for just the fifth time anywhere in 2017. … Recent college stars Wyndham Clark (Oregon) and Sam Horsfield (Florida) both make their second professional starts. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 266, Troy Merritt (2015 at Robert Trent Jones GC). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Troy Merritt (3rd round, 2015 at Robert Trent Jones GC). • LAST YEAR: Billy Hurley III produced perhaps the top feel-good victory of 2016, winning not only in home territory but following a year of adversity that included his father’s suicide. With old (Vijay Singh) and young (Jon Rahm) pursuers making a run, Hurley holed out from 35 yards for birdie at Congressional’s 15th hole, then drained a 27-foot birdie putt at No.16 to seal a three-stroke triumph. The Naval Academy graduate finished at 17-under-par 267, one off Troy Merritt’s tournament record and tying Woods (2009) for the QLN’s best total at Congressional. Singh, 53, fired a final-round 65 for the Hall of Famer’s best finish since taking second at the 2013 Frys.com Open. Rahm tied for third in his professional debut, four shots back alongside Bill Haas. • STORYLINES: Fowler, who lost a playoff to Troy Merritt two years ago, seeks the elusive trophy again in his first start since tying for fifth at the U.S. Open. He already has won once this year at the Honda Classic. … Thomas, who missed the cut at the Travelers Championship after final-round struggles at Erin Hills, seeks a bounceback at TPC Potomac. A top-two finish would vault him to the top of the FedExCup standings past Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama. … Hurley seeks to become the first back-to-back winner in the tournament’s 11-year history. Anthony Kim came closest, following his 2008 victory by finishing third in ’09. • SHORT CHIPS: Woods, who has served as tournament host even when unable to tee it up, may not be in attendance at all this year after announcing he is seeking help to manage a reliance on prescription painkillers. … Hurley became the sixth winner in the past eight editions to convert at least a share of the 54-hole lead. The others: Troy Merritt (2016), Bill Haas (2013), Nick Watney (2011), Justin Rose (2010) and Woods (2009). … As at Congressional, TPC Potomac will feature the “We Salute Our Heroes� tribute wall where fans can leave personal messages of thanks for those who serve in the nation’s military. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS). • PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (featured groups), 3:30-6:30 p.m. (featured holes). Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured holes). Sunday, 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured holes). • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-7 p.m.; Saturday, 1-6 p.m.; Sunday, 1-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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