Mickelson Sails through Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach showed its teeth today with strong winds, cold temperatures, and light rain. However, none of this phased Phil Mickelson whose one-over-par round of 73 was enough to allow him to capture the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am title. Alternating between his old “go for broke” and new “play it safe” strategies, Mickelson showed flashes of brilliance and questionable choices throughout the round, placing his seemingly insurmountable lead in jeopardy. Fellow lefty Mike Weir fought hard to challenge Mickelson, shooting a 67 despite the poor conditions. At one point, Weir trimmed the lead down to 4 strokes. However, some crucial putts were left short and some lipped out which prevented Weir from coming back. Mickelson’s win was his first back-to-back win on Tour and marked the first wire-to-wire winner at the AT&T Pro-Am.

Although Mickelson was playing for the tournament scoring record and his first back-to-back win, he didn’t feel much pressure, saying “It was weird. I didn’t feel the normal intensity, the normal stress. It was a very enjoyable round.” Phil’s two wins and two course records should validate any further questions about his decision to move to Callaway clubs. Mickelson’s win was his 25th victory on the PGA Tour, tying him with Vijay Singh on the all time list of career victories. Furthermore, this win has now cemented Mickelson’s rank as 4th in the world, and has given him a 45-point lead over Tiger Woods in the lucrative West Coast Swing.

In the pro-am competition, Joel Kribel and amateur partner Barry McCollam won with a final score of -35. Bill Murray, the Clown of Carmel, finished 4th with partner Scott Simpson. While he provided tons of entertainment interacting with galleries and joking with playing partners, he also brought about allegations of sandbagging his 15 handicap after hitting some impressive shots including a 297 yard drive and an approach to 5 feet of the pin which left the professionals in his group in awe.

The final standings of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am:

Pos   Player             Total   R1     R2     R3     R4   Total
 1     Phil Mickelson      -19    62     67     67     73    269
 2     Mike Weir           -15    66     67     73     67    273
 3     Greg Owen           -13    67     69     67     72    275
 T4    Paul Goydos         -12    67     68     70     71    276
 T4    Tim Clark           -12    67     71     67     71    276
 T6    Darren Clarke       -11    70     66     70     71    277
 T6    Arron Oberholser    -11    71     66     69     71    277
 8     Graeme McDowell     -10    68     69     70     71    278
 T9    Davis Love III       -9    65     72     71     71    279
 T9    Jeff Sluman          -9    71     66     69     73    279
 T11   Joel Kribel          -8    72     70     68     70    280
 T11   Luke Donald          -8    71     70     68     71    280
 T11   Charles Howell III   -8    65     71     72     72    280
 T11   Robert Gamez         -8    70     71     66     73    280
 T11   Billy Andrade        -8    74     70     63     73    280