Nick Taylor withdraws from Mickelson to win at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, California – Nick Taylor had more trouble with the wind than with Phil Mickelson. Taylor, a Canadian, both did well on Sunday and won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am for his second career victory.

With the gallery that wanted to see Mickelson add a record sixth win over Pebble Beach, Taylor showed a lot of moxie in building a five-shot start at the turn and then sustained when 40-mile-hour gusts of wind the Monterey Peninsula. about Kevin Streelman (68). Mickelson, who closed two shots with four holes to play, shot 74 and only finished third. He has won, twice in second place and finished third in his last four starts at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Taylor won in his fourth start as a PGA Tour rookie at the Sanderson Farms Championship 2015 in Mississippi, at the time a counter field event where none of the top players were on it. He went 146 starts on the PGA Tour until his next victory, and it was a big one.

The victory brings him to the Masters for the first time, along with the P.G.A. Championship along the coast in Harding Park in San Francisco in May. In his sixth year on tour, Taylor played only two majors as prof.

"That was great," Taylor said. "I believed I could, because I did it before. But to do it that way, playing with Phil, gives me a lot of confidence in the future."

Taylor started the final round with a one-time lead over Mickelson, and they were tied up after Mickelson got up – down from a bunker in the par-5 second.

Seven holes later, Taylor had a five-shot lead.

He drilled a 15 foot birdie-putt on the fourth, a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fifth, and then he made an bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 sixth hole, the kind of short-game shot everyone expected from Mickelson

And then Mickelson got ugly.

He went over the green at number 8 and played an aggressive chip that rolled through the flag, down the slope and back into the fairway. threw the next one too far and made double bogey, and then made bogey on the ninth while Taylor ran a 7-foot birdie to advance five shots.

Thanks to the wind, it was not completely over.

Five holes later, Mickelson had reduced the lead to two, despite having only one birdie putt, a tap-in at No. 10. Taylor ran into trouble with the tee at No. 11, the green flew into a rear bunker at No. 12 and then took double bogey on the par-5 14th hole when he found a bunker off the tee, it was only about 100 meters ahead and took five to reach the green.

The wind was blowing so fast at that moment that Taylor & # 39; s cap blew his head off and he had to chase it down the fairway before he hit his third shot from 227 meters.

Mickelson, however, missed his chances of capitalizing Taylor & # 39; s mistakes.

He was short on the 11th green of just under 100 meters with Taylor in trouble. He didn't hit a green in regulation after his tap-in-birdie on the 10th until his tee-shot on the par-3 17th who put 40 feet away.

Taylor seized control by chipping for birdie on the 15th for a three-shot lead, and the knockout punch was his tee-shot up to 6 feet below the hole for birdie on the 17th.

He finished 19-under 268 and earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

Mickelson was not the only player who struggled. Dustin Johnson shot a 78. Matt Every, in the penultimate group, shot 80. Jason Day finished with a 75.

The best lap and the best finish was Jordan Spieth, who managed to save par on his last hole for a 67. It was the low round of the day and enabled him to finish in ninth place. That brings him back to the top 50 and makes him eligible for a golf championship in Mexico City in two weeks.

Streelman also leaves with a trophy. He worked with Arizona Cardinal's receiver Larry Fitzgerald to easily win the pro-am for the second time in three years.