A superstar broke through at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Sunday, but not the one everyone had anticipated.
While Tiger Woods melted down in a bid to end a PGA Tour victory drought of more than two years, Phil Mickelson turned in a molten round for the ages and repolished his own tarnished star.
Mickelson, six shots behind third-round leader Charlie Wi when the day started and two behind Woods, was electric from start to finish in carding a bogey-free 8-under-par 64 to win his fourth AT&T title. He finished at 17-under 269, two strokes better than Wi.
While it wasn’t a major, the dynamic performance might go down as one of the greatest of the 41-year-old Mickelson’s career. For starters, he was paired in the next-to-last group with Woods, who appeared primed to return to the winner’s circle and resume his long-held status as golf’s pre-eminent player.
But on this day, Woods’ chief American rival flat-out embarrassed him, and Woods embarrassed himself as well while shooting a 3-over 75 that included five bogeys and numerous missed short putts at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Despite his ghastly start, Wi gathered himself and played the back nine in 3 under to salvage second place. Stockton native Ricky Barnes shot a 5-under 67 to finish third, four shots out of the lead, and Aaron Baddeley was another shot back in fourth after a 67.
Mickelson was fabulous, jumping out of the gate with three birdies and an eagle over his first six holes to quickly grab the lead from Wi, who had opened the door on the first hole when he four-putted the first hole for a double bogey.
When Mickelson eagled the sixth with a 21-foot putt from the front edge of the green, he was almost shocked to be up by two.
“It threw my whole round plan into a whirlwind,” he said. “The tough part about that was I had to stay aggressive, because there were a lot of holes left and a lot of guys still right there just a couple back.”
But Mickelson appeared to have no problem making the adjustment. He had no lulls through the rest of his first nine, and once he made the turn, he staged an almost ridiculous putting show on the back nine to lock down his 40th career victory with gusto.
Mickelson made four consecutive one-putts at one stage, including a 30-foot par save on the par-3 12th that effectively doused the impact of Woods’ best shot of the day, a holed bunker shot. He followed that with a 38-foot par save at the par-4 15th that served notice the day was going to be his and his alone.
For the cherry on top, Mickelson hit an approach shot on the 72nd hole, the par-5 18th, to within three feet and made it. It capped a round in which the shortest putt Mickelson missed was from 13 feet, while Woods missed five from inside five feet.
That proved to be the most dramatic difference between the two men. Phil was wielding a magic wand, Tiger a rattlesnake.
“My putter just feels really good,” Mickelson said. “I still miss them, but from the last couple of years when I wasn’t making hardly any, now I feel like I’m making a bunch. All mechanics are out the window. I just feel like I’m putting like I did when I was a kid – without thought, without all the mind clutter.”
It was the opposite for Woods, who looked as if he had never seen a putter before.
“I didn’t hit the ball that bad,” he said. “But I made nothing today. You saw that. I don’t know how many three-putts I had, but I had a lot. I also missed my share of putts that I hit in there close.”
Mickelson had started the year poorly, with no top-25 finishes in three starts, and he won only one tournament in 2011, the Shell Houston Open in April. He clearly took more satisfaction in just playing such a terrific round than in beating Woods, something he has done with frequency in recent years when they have been paired together.
He said his focus was the biggest key, but he did maintain that playing with Woods brings out the best in his game nowadays.
“I need to preface that although I feel he brings the best out in me, it’s only been the past five years,” he said. “Before, I got spanked pretty good. Let’s not forget the big picture here.”
As it related to Woods, Mickelson saw a positive big picture for his rival despite his disappointing round.
“It can change in one week,” he said, citing his own example. “Watching him play today, it’s going to change in one week. You could tell that he’s really close.”
