Mickelson holds off Casey to win Pebble Beach Pro-Am

PHIL Mickelson (pict u red, AFP)captured his 50th career worldw ide t it le on Monday, f i n i s h i ng of f t he l a s t t wo holes of his dark ness-halted f i na l rou nd to w i n t he US PGA Pebble Beach Pro-A m tournament.

The 48-year-old American closed with a six-foot birdie putt at the par-5 18th hole to complete a bogey-free final round of seven-under par 65 and conclude 72 holes on 19-under 268, defeating England’s Paul Casey by three strokes.

Casey, who also birdied 18 to finish a last-round 71, and Mickelson were the only players stopped by darkness in Sunday’s hail-delayed final round, Mickelson with two holes remaining and a three- stroke edge over Casey, who resumed by making a threefoot par putt at 16.

It was the fifth career PGA victory at Pebble Beach for Mickelson, who matched the all-time record ecord set by fellow American ican Mark

O ’ Me a r a . He a l s o became the oldest-ever ldest-ever

PGA winner at t the famed California coastal oastal layout.

“It has been en a s p e c i a l w e e k f o r me,” Mickelson sa id. “This i s a s p e c i a l pl a c e f or me. Ever y t i me I come e here I have specia l feelings.” It’s the course where his grandfather worked as a caddie and where he began his pro career.

Mickelson cla cl imed his 44t h US PGA Tour t it le and has also a lso won three Europea n Tour To t it les, t he 2004 20 Gra nd Slam of o Golf and 2004 Skins Sk Game and a 1993 Chall e n g e To u r e v e n t i n Pa Paris.

M i c k e l - son had not won o n U S soil since t h e 2 0 1 3 Phoen Phoenix Open.

Five-time major champion Mickelson will try to complete a career Grand Slam at Pebble Beach in June at the US Open, an event where he has finished second a record six times, most recently in 2013.

And while he enjoyed the victory, Mickelson didn’t consider it meaningful in any way for the US Open.

“[It means] absolutely nothing because it’s nothing like t he course we’ll see,” Mickelson said. “The rough will be so deep and the greens will be so fast it will be a tota lly different course.”

Scott Sta llings, t he American who held the clubhouse lead at nig ht fa l l Sunday on 15-under, was on hand in case he mig ht be i nvolved i n a playof f but sett led for t hird.

Joining Casey and Mickelson on the course Monday was Don Colleran, a FedEx executive who with Casey led the two-man Pro-Am competition by one stroke at 33-under par. Casey’s closing birdie ensured their triumph.

Casey decided to stop ahead of his putt on 16 Sunday even as Mickelson pushed to start the par-3 17th hole.

“I thank Paul for having us come back out here this morning,” Mickelson said. “I get sometimes in my own little bubble and I don’t see the big picture. He protected both of us.”

When they did tee off Monday morning in cold conditions at 17, Mickelson and Casey each drove the ball about eight feet from the cup, missed a birdie putt and tapped in for par.

At 18, Mickelson put the ball in the fair way twice and dropped his approach six feet from the cup to set up his final birdie putt.

Casey was just shy of the green in two but got up and down from six feet to finish second alone.

“I take a lot from this,” Casey said. “I worked on some things, warm-up routines – I’ve worked hard on the putting and it’s starting to pay dividends.”

Casey was pleased to join Colleran as a Pro-Am champion after a near miss last year.

“Over the moon we got the win,” Casey said. “This was a big goal.”