Mickelson Gets on Track With Pebble Beach Win
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Anyone worried that Phil Mickelson was emotionally scarred by that U.S. Open collapse can relax.
Mickelson finally got his season on track yesterday by closing with a 6-under 66 under surprising sunshine to tie the tournament record at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and win by five shots for the 30th victory of his career.
Mickelson overcame a double bogey with a lost ball early in the round with three birdies in a fourhole stretch along the ocean, turning a tight race into another runaway. He matched the largest margin of victory at this tournament, winning by five shots over Kevin Sutherland.
It was the 11th time in 15 seasons that Mickelson won on the West Coast Swing, and the timing couldn’t have been better. He had started his season slowly, allowing the conversation to linger on his gaffe last summer at Winged Foot, when he chopped his way to a double bogey on the final hole to lose the U.S. Open.
Now, he looks as if he’s about to hit his stride.
Mickelson finished at 20-under 268, tying the tournament record at Pebble Beach set in 1997 by Mark O’Meara. He earned $990,000, making him the third person in tour history to surpass $40 million in career earnings.
Sutherland, in the final group for the second time in three weeks, hit over the ninth green and took double bogey to fall out of contention. He also missed a half-dozen putts inside 8 feet, but his birdie on the 18th for a 71 gave him second place and kept Mickelson from the largest margin of victory since Bing Crosby created this tournament in 1937.
John Mallinger, a 27-year-old rookie, closed with a 71 and finished third. He had the lead for about 15 minutes after making birdie on the par-5 sixth, while Mickelson in the group behind him lost his tee shot and took double bogey on no. 5.
No one could keep up with Mickelson, however.
He dropped only one shot the rest of the round and easily won Pebble Beach for the third time in his career. O’Meara with five titles at Pebble is the only player with more.
“This is exciting,” Mickelson said. “I’ve gotten off to a good start. It gives me momentum, and I can’t wait for next week and the upcoming majors. I’m really excited about the year.”
When asked about his U.S. Open collapse during the trophy presentation, Mickelson referred it to as the “Winged Foot thing,” and how it taught him that he needed to improve his driving. That was what he did best this week, hitting it every shape and trajectory he wanted, usually in the short grass. He missed only one fairway in the final round.
The lost ball provided some anxious moments, but it turned out to be a mere bump on an otherwise smooth ride.
Mickelson hit 6-iron at the flag on the par-3 fifth and stared it down until he lost sight of it, and for good reason. It sailed clear over the green, and not even the marshals saw where it went. When he arrived and saw a search party combing through shin-high grass, it took a second for Mickelson to realize what was going on.
“Hey, Bones,” he called out to caddie Jim Mackay, “they’re looking for ours?”
They looked hard, but Mickelson eventually walked back up to the tee, again went at the flag and hit it to 10 feet. He missed the putt, and the double bogey dropped him back one shot behind Mallinger.
Mackay was furious with himself, although he didn’t say why. And it didn’t matter, anyway. Mickelson bounced back with a nifty bunker shot to a foot for birdie on the par-5 sixth, then poured it on along the ocean. He made a 6-foot birdie on no. 8, a 15-foot birdie on no. 10 and spun back a short iron to 10 feet for a birdie that gave him a four-shot lead.
Sutherland knew his chances came down to making putts — “It’s that simple,” he said Saturday evening — so it wasn’t hard to figure out where his round went awry.
He missed six putts inside 8 feet on the first 10 holes, including a three-putt from 6 feet on the 11th. What stung was a 6-footer that caught the left lip on no. 7, which would have put his nose out front in what had been a close race. On the next hole, he missed from 7 feet as Mickelson took the lead for good.
Mallinger acquitted himself nicely in only his eighth career start on tour, and first time in contention. He didn’t made bogey until the 11th hole, but fell too far behind with a three-putt from 12 feet on the par-5 14th.
That left Mickelson another casual stroll down the 18th fairway, the blue ocean to his left, the sunshine casting long shadows on the emerald fairways. The only suspense was whether he would tie O’Meara’s scoring record, and Mickelson didn’t disappoint.