Birdie binge puts Casey 3 up on Mickelson at Pebble
Paul Casey was far away from all the antics and quietly put together another solid round Saturday for a 5-under 67 that gave him a three-shot lead over Phil Mickelson going into the final day of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif.
Casey had four birdies over his last 10 holes at Spyglass Hill in a mixture of rain, sunshine and wind. He finished at 15-under 200, the fourth time on the PGA Tour had he has led going into the final round.
“I am having a blast,” Casey said.
Mickelson was part of the celebrity rotation at Pebble Beach and put on a show on the back nine, stuffing a wedge to 3 feet on No. 13, and following with a 4-iron to 4 feet on the par-5 14th hole for eagle. He also made a tough save on the par-3 17th and shot a 2-under 70, giving him a good chance to match Mark O’Meara’s record of five AT&T Pebble Beach titles.
Casey and Mickelson have done their best with so many shots to back pins, typically set to the highest point on the three courses to avoid any saturation from the hit-and-miss rain.
“The little half-shots to get back to some of these pins, a lot of guys struggle with and it’s been a strength of my game,” Mickelson said. “So I’ve been able to make a few more birdies on some of these holes.”
Jordan Spieth was tied for the lead after a birdie on the par-3 fifth hole and remained in range of Casey until Spieth pulled his tee shot so badly on the 13th hole that he didn’t know where it was until it was spotted 140 yards behind where he was looking, under a cluster of trees. He wound up making double bogey, and then after a three-putt bogey from the wrong side of the 17th green, Spieth pulled his tee shot into the ocean on the 18th hole for another double bogey and a 74. He went from being in the mix to eight shots behind.
Lucas Glover had a birdiebogey finish at Monterey Peninsula for a 1-under 70 and was at 11-under 204, along with Scott Piercy (69 at Spyglass Hill).
At Boca Raton, Fla., Bernhard Langer eagled the par-5 18th for a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Oasis Championship.
Langer rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 17th with the eagle to reach 12-under 132. The 61-year-old German won the 2010 event and was second last year, two shots behind Mark Calcavecchia.