5th title in hand, still great at age 48
Mickelson will return to Pebble an Open favorite
PEBBLE BEACH — Jack Nicklaus made only nine starts at age 48, with no wins or even top-20 finishes. Arnold Palmer made 15 starts, but he was five years removed from his final PGA Tour victory.
That offers some context for Monday morning’s scene: Phil Mickelson standing triumphantly on the 18th green at Pebble Beach, smiling widely and holding a sparkling trophy.
This is not normal. Mickelson matters in golf, at an age at which most players — even all-time greats such as Nicklaus and Palmer — have started to fade gently into the twilight.
Mickelson completed a bogey-free, weather-delayed, final-round 65 (7-under-par) to close out his fifth AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am title, matching Mark O’Meara for the most in tournament history. Paul Casey (71) came along for the ride, making birdie on No. 18 to earn sole possession of second place.
Monday’s outcome — on a
spectacularly clear, crisp morning on the Monterey Peninsula — was decidedly anti-climactic, given the way Mickelson surged past Casey on Sunday. So there stood Tim Mickelson, Phil’s younger brother and caddie, contemplating wider-scope questions.
Namely, how long can “Lefty” remain relevant at the game’s highest level?
Tim Mickelson invoked New England quarterback Tom Brady as an example of an athlete staying productive in his 40s. Tim Mickelson suggested his brother prepares more diligently, and more wisely, than he did five years ago.
“I think his nutrition is better and his flexibility is really good. It’s a lot better than mine, which is sad because I’m seven years younger,” Tim said, chuckling.
Phil Mickelson seemed to drift back to the pack following his unexpected British Open triumph in July 2013. He didn’t win again on the PGA Tour until March of last year, when he took the World Golf Championship event in Mexico City.
Now he has two victories in 11 months. Mickelson and Tiger Woods have won tour events more recently than Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, a startling statement for the old guard amid a wave of dynamic, 20-something players.
Make no mistake, age eventually will catch Mickelson. But he’s giving Father Time a stout stiff-arm, absolutely. Mickelson’s average driving distance this season (316 yards) ranks fifth on tour, and he ranked 26th in the 156-man AT&T field in strokes gained/putting.
“Historically, two things decline when guys get in their 40s: their putting and swing speed,” he said. “My putting has increased in the last three years and is the best it’s been in my career, and my swing speed is as fast as it’s ever been.
“It’s been a lot of work to get there, but I had a 5-to-6 mile-anhour jump in the last year. … So there’s no reason I can’t play my best, but I cherish any victory because I’m competing against so many great young players.”
It’s easy and logical to connect Mickelson’s sparkling play the past four-plus days to the U.S. Open in four-plus months. Pebble Beach will host the Open — the one glaring blank spot in Mickelson’s career — June 13-16.
He will arrive as one of the favorites, given his history of success at Pebble. But course conditions will be dramatically different in June than they are in February — penalizing wayward drives, still Mickelson’s biggest weakness — and the field will be much stronger.
For the record, he tied for 16th in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and tied for fourth in 2010. To win the Open on his 49th birthday — Father’s Day, the same day as the final round — seems a bit much to ask.
“I really don’t think there’s any carryover from here to the U.S. Open,” he said. “It’s a totally different golf course. The greens will be firm and the rough will be high . ... There’s really no carryover, other than I just really enjoy this place.”
He enjoys Pebble in part because of its deep connection to his family’s history. Mickelson’s maternal grandfather, Al Santos, grew up in the Monterey area and was one of the resort’s original caddies in 1919. That’s why Mickelson uses a 1900 silver dollar, which Santos gave him, to mark his putts during events at Pebble.
Santos died in January 2004, about three months before Mickelson secured his first Masters win.
“I think every win is special,” Tim Mickelson said, “but we were talking about it today, about how our grandpa caddied here exactly 100 years ago.”
Monday’s 32-minute “round” was quick, clinical and uneventful. (Sunday’s final round was suspended for darkness, with Mickelson having completed 16 holes.) Usually the master of thrill rides, he closed out his 44th PGA Tour victory with impressive efficiency and oh-solittle drama.
He made par on No. 17 and birdie on No. 18 (after hitting an iron off the tee). Casey made his short par putt on No. 16, couldn’t convert his birdie putt on No. 17 and matched Mickelson’s birdie on No. 18. Casey and amateur partner Don Colleran won the pro-am competition.
And then it was time for Mickelson to cradle another trophy, and peer ahead to the rest of a 2019 season bubbling with uncommon possibilities.