Mickelson's Monday Win At Pebble Beach

Red Hot Lefty Holds off Casey For 50th Worldwide Win

Phil Mickelson captured his 50th career worldwide title on Monday, finishing off the last two holes of his darkness-halted final round to win the US PGA Pebble Beach Pro-am 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 three-foot par putt at 16.

Before darkness halted play, Phil was closing in on a fifth Pebble Beach Pro-am title in the final round of the weatherhit US PGA Tour tournament. Red-hot Mickelson and Casey had opposing views on whether to continue as darkness fell, Mickelson putting out for a par at the 16th, said he was ready to head to 17 as Casey opted to call it a day with a three-foot putt for par in front of him.

"I can see fine," Mickelson told a rules official on the 16th green. But he said he understood Casey's perspective. "I get exactly where Paul's coming from," Mickelson said. "It's dark and we're going to have a good chance tomorrow to come out on fresh greens. They got pretty rough this afternoon so I totally get it.

It was the fifth career PGA victory at Pebble Beach for Mickelson, who matched the all-time record set by fellow American Mark O'meara. He also became the oldest-ever PGA winner at the famed California coastal layout. "It has been a special week for me," Mickelson said. "This is a special place for me. Every time I come here I have special feelings." It's the course where his grandfather worked as a caddie and where he began his pro career.

Mickelson claimed his 44th US PGA Tour title and has also won three European Tour titles, the 2004 Grand Slam of Golf and 2004 Skins Game and a 1993 Challenge Tour event in Paris. The last time he won on US soil, it was the 2013 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 the course we'll see," Mickelson said. "The rough will be so deep and the greens will be so fast it will be a totally different course."

Scott Stallings, the American who held the clubhouse lead at nightfall Sunday on 15-under, was on hand in case he might be involved in a playoff but settled for third.