Phil Mickelson Wins Pebble Beach Pro-Am

The young guys are everywhere.

Jason Day. Brooks Koepka. Jordan Spieth. Dustin Johnson.

Well, almost everywhere. They weren’t standing up there on Monday with Phil Mickelson, 48, as he collected a delayed victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Play was suspended due to darkness on Sunday with Mickelson leading this event by three strokes. Two holes remained, and Mickelson closed out the deal in the morning to win Pebble Beach for the fifth time in his career. He is also now the tournament’s oldest winner.

A par on the 17th hole and a birdie on the 18th secured the 3-stroke victory for the resurgent Mickelson.

At this stage of his career, he knows he cannot just rely on talent when he tees off. The PGA Tour is loaded and being prepared to play is as important as playing. He is careful about nutrition now and staying in shape.

“It’s a lot more work off the course, it’s more time in the gym, it’s more time eating, it’s more time focusing – it’s all these things that go into it, and so it’s very gratifying to see the results and to finish it off the way I did,” Lefty said after pocketing his second Tour win in 11 months. He also finished in a tie for second last month at the Desert Classic.

Pebble Beach has long been a favorite of Mickelson’s, and he gets another great opportunity to play it in June when the 2019 U.S. Open rolls around. A victory in that event would give Lefty a career Grand Slam.

On Monday he called Pebble Beach “a special place.” It could become even more so.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman