All hail Mickelson
Wild weather can’t stop Lefty from winning, but it will delay it until Monday morning
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. —
Phil Mickelson put himself on the brink of a fifth victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am by turning a threeshot deficit into a three-shot lead when a wild day of weather kept him from finishing Sunday.
Mickelson was bogey-free with six birdies, and he made his big run starting with a 9-iron to a foot behind the cup on the par-4 ninth. That was start of a five-hole stretch when Mickelson made three birdies and Paul Casey had two bogeys.
About the only thing that didn’t go Mickelson’s way was the timing.
The final round started an hour late because of rain, and then it was delayed two more hours when sunshine gave way to a hailstorm in a matter of minutes, covering the putting greens in a sheet of white.
Mickelson was at 18-under par through 16 holes. Casey had a three-foot par putt on the same hole when Mickelson tried to lobby for them to finish, even in the dark.
“I can see fine,” Mickelson told a rules official. “I don’t want to put Paul in a bad spot.”
Casey was at 15 under, tied with Scott Stallings ,who closed with a 66. Along with an outside chance at forcing a playoff, finishing alone in second instead of a tie is a difference of $152,000, along with world ranking points and FedEx Cup points. Casey and FedEx executive Don
Colleran had a one-shot lead in the pro-am.
“I don’t see how we can finish,” Casey said as they walked up the 16th fairway. “We can’t finish two holes in six minutes. I’d like to.”
Mickelson was standing on the 17th tee when he heard the horn sound to stop play, and he shook his head.
LPGA TOUR
BARWON HEADS, Australia — Celine Boutier of France claimed a two- stroke victory in the LPGA’s Vic Open while Scotland’s
David Law made eagle on the par-5 18th to win the men’s title by a stroke over Australians Brad Kennedy and Wade Ormsby.
Boutier shot a final-round 72 to finish at eight-under 281. Australians Sarah Kemp
(65) and Su Oh (74) and England’s Charlotte Thomas (69) were tied for second.
Law’s final-round 66 left him a stroke ahead of Kennedy (67) and thirdround leader Ormsby (70) at 18-under 270 on the 13th Beach Golf Links to win his first European Tour tournament.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
BOCA RATON, Fla. —
Bernhard Langer made himself right at home in the Oasis Championship.
Playing 10 minutes from his house, the 61-year-old German star closed with a seven-under 65 on Sunday in windy condition at The Old Course at Broken Sound for a five-stroke victory. He finished at a tournamentrecord 19-under 197 for his 39th victory on the 50-andover circuit and earned $255,000 to break Hale Irwin’s tour career record with $27,196,504.
“There’s many things to celebrate,” Langer said. “It means a great deal to win in front of your home crowd, your family, your friends. Winning at home is always extremely special, no doubt about it. It made it more special having my first win with my daughter Jackie, who’s only caddied three times for me.”
Marco Dawson was second after a 69. Bob Estes shota68to finish third at 13 under, and David Toms was another stroke back after a 70.