Nick Taylor was on the verge of having his lead whisked away by strong afternoon winds, but he bounced back to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am while foiling Phil Mickelson’s bid for a record sixth win in the tournament.
Taylor, a 31-year-old Canadian, shot a two-under par 70 for a 72-hole total of 19-under par 268 to win for the second time on the PGA Tour, six years after his first victory, in the Sanderson Farms Championship. He became only the second wire-to-wire winner of the event, joining Mickelson, who accomplished the feat in 2005.
“That was amazing,” Taylor said. “Up and down day. I believed I could do it because I’d done it before. But to do it in that fashion, playing with Phil, I see only confidence going forward.”
Taylor, who won his second PGA Tour event, owned the front nine, going out in four-under 32 and made the turn leading by five over Mickelson. But his lead was down to two after he played the first five holes of the back nine in four-over, including a double-bogey on the par-5 14th hole.
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1226635222093045767
But he finally stopped hemorrhaging strokes when he chipped in for birdie at the 15th hole to go ahead by three, then birdied the par-3 17th to go four ahead, allowing him to take a victory stroll down the 18th fairway.
Mic drop for @NTaylorGolf59.
A birdie at 17 and the lead is 4.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/ADZ4nLhnn9
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 9, 2020
Mickelson was undone by three bogeys in a five-hole stretch on the back nine. He finished with a two-over 74 and finished third, five strokes back. Kevin Streelman, who closed with a 68, was the runner-up, three shots behind.
Jason Day began the final day within reach of Taylor but endured an uncharacteristically bad day on the greens. The Queenslander closed with a 75 to finish alone in fourth place – his best result since the same tournament last year.
