Five of the best Phil Mickelson performances at Pebble Beach

Matt CooperMatt Cooper9 February 2021
Phil Mickelson Jan 2019

Phil Mickelson Jan 2019

Pebble Beach is one of golf's most dramatic stages and Phil Mickelson needs no invitation to put on a show there.

Phil Mickelson was always going to be a good fit for Pebble Beach Golf Links.

On the one hand there is his golfing talent, with its emphasis on short game skills, which clearly suits the challenge of hitting Pebble's famously small greens.
On the other hand the course hosts the annual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, gifting Mickelson the opportunity to schmooze with high fliers and celebrities.
A five-time winner of the event, Mickelson has thrilled and wowed the galleries on the Californian cliff tops ever since his debut there in the mid-1990s.
Here are five highlights of his career there.

1998 - the first win

To say that the 1998 edition was weird is something of an understatement.
Golf tournaments regularly suffer from weather disruption.
This particular event is even more vulnerable than most because of the early season date and the proximity to the Pacific Ocean.
Delayed final rounds are therefore far from uncommon.
Sometimes they finish late on Sunday, occasionally there is a need for everyone to return on Monday morning.
What never happens - except in 1998 - is that the field returns six months (yes, six months) later to complete the tournament!
Mickelson had a poor record at Pebble Beach to this point. He'd shot 68-81 to miss the cut in the 1992 US Open on his course bow.
Perhaps inspired by that second round he'd delayed making a debut in the Pro-Am until 1995 and missed the cut again.
In 1996 the tournament was cancelled following appalling weather whilst in 1997 he finally got to play all four rounds without troubling the top ten.
And so to 1998.
The first round took two days, but Mickelson shined with a 65, good for solo second.
In Saturday's second round he added a 70 which left him in a tie for third, one blow behind Tim Herron and Tom Watson.
Then it rained all Sunday and all Monday, too.
Rather than sign off on a second cancellation in three years the Tour announced the final round would take place on the Monday after August's PGA Championship.
The amateurs didn't return, nor did 43 of the 168 players in the original field.
The rest did.
And Mickelson, playing Pebble Beach, completed a lucky 13th victory of his PGA Tour career.
"It seems like a miracle that we finally got this thing in," he said after signing for a 67 that left him one clear of Tom Pernice Jr.
The Mickelson love affair with the Monterey Peninsula might have had some early bumps in the road, but the road was now clear.

2005 & 2007 - Domination

A week before the 2005 event Mickelson carded a 60 on his way to a five shot victory in the FBR Open at TPC Scottsdale.
He was not just in good form, he was in great form.
And he maintained it in the Pro-Am.
A first round 62 at Spyglass Hill left him three clear of the field, a Friday 67 added one shot to his advantage and another 67 on Saturday had him seven blows ahead of the pack.
He needed 73 shots on Sunday, but the win was never in doubt and he completed it by four strokes.
As he reached the final green a spectator yelled: "Tiger who?"
Mickelson couldn't wipe the smile from his face and said later: "That was funny."
"I watched this event a lot on TV," he added, "I knew it would be cool to win."
Two years later he did so again.
This time opening laps of 65-67-70 had been enough for only a share of the lead every time he went to bed, but no bother.
He'd won by decimating the field through the first 54 holes two years earlier, now he would do so by destroying them over the last 18: his 66 left him five shots clear of Kevin Sutherland.
"This is exciting," he said before explaining that the result put to bed his disappointment for losing the previous year's US Open - a crushing blow that had wrecked his form for the rest of the season.

2010 - Another US Open near-miss

By the middle of 2010, Mickelson had won three Masters and one PGA Championship - the Major monkey was well and truly off his back.

Well, kind of.
The problem was that he dearly, desperately wanted to win a US Open and he kept banging his head against the door.
He'd finished second in it five times and now it was heading back to Pebble Beach, one of his favorite courses.
Surely it was time?
A first round 75 suggested not, but he surged back into contention on Friday, firing five birdies in his first eight holes, and carding a 66 that left him in a tie for second.
Unfortunately, a pair of weekend 73s left him tied with Tiger Woods in fourth.
"All I had to do was shoot par on the back nine and I was in a playoff," he said in a sad postscript. "I wasn't able to do it. It's tough."

2012 - Win number four

Mickelson had little to prove at this stage in his career (although US Open glory was still beyond him).
At Pebble Beach he remained inspired and he added to the myth in claiming a fourth title.
The event had been dominated by the unlikely figure of Korea's Charlie Wi and Mickelson trailed him by six shots heading into Sunday.
Wi stalled in the final round, managing nothing better than a 72.
It offered the chasers an opportunity and only Mickelson took it.
That score still left Wi two clear of third placed Ricky Barnes, but Mickelson waltzed round the course in a breezy 64 that earned him a two shot win, matching his biggest final round PGA Tour comeback for a win.

But perhaps his greatest achievement that day? He trumped playing partner Tiger Woods, not only in overhauling Wi's lead, but in brutal numbers.

Mickelson's 66 blew Woods (75) away by nine shots.
"Oh my gosh! What a round," cried his wife Amy as he walked to the scorer's hut. "Are you kidding me?"

2019 - High five

The first win came via a delay and so did the fifth, although this time Mickelson had only to wait till Monday and needed to play just two holes alongside Paul Casey, the only other man who didn't complete on Sunday.
Mickelson did it in style, too, being in contention all week and then sealing the deal with a bogey-free 65 in the final lap which left him three clear of Casey.
It was a 44th PGA Tour win for him at the age of 48 and it remains his most recent victory on the circuit.
Referencing his love for Pebble Beach he said afterward: "Every time I get here, I have all sorts of gratitude for what this place has done for my family. It means a lot."

Can Mickelson win a sixth AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am title? PaddyPower rate him a 45/1 shot this week.