Phil Mickelson Beats Tiger Woods in Significant Win at Pebble Beach
Phil Mickelson secured his fourth victory at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament in California Sunday, Feb. 12, after beating Tiger Woods in the final round.
Mickelson, 41, who was elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame in Nov. 2011 and will be inducted in May 2012, closed with an 8-under 64, empathetically beating Woods by nine shots.
Woods was actually in the lead for a while when he was one shot ahead on the sixth hole after Charlie Wi made a series of mistakes, and after scoring a birdie in the final round, he went on to secure three straight bogeys, The Associated Press reported. However, he was unable to keep up the momentum as Mickelson surged back up to claim the victory.
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Woods finished the day with another three-putt on the 18th for a 75, which came far from matching Mickelson's score.
''I didn't hit it as bad as the score indicated, but I putted awful,'' Woods reflected. ''As good as I felt on the greens yesterday, I felt bad today. Anything I tried to do wasn't working. Consequently, I made a ton of mistakes on the green.''
The Pebble Beach champion, however, was naturally more buoyant after the event, and shared that he thought he and Woods had a good match and would like to see more of the same.
''I just feel very inspired when I play with him,'' Mickelson described.
''I love playing with him, and he brings out some of my best golf. I hope that he continues to play better, and better, and I hope that he and I have a chance to play together more in the final rounds," he added.
Finishing at 17-under 269, Mickelson became only the ninth player in PGA Tour history to reach 40 career wins, though it was his first one since the Houston Open in April.
''It's one of the more emotional victories for me that I've had, and the reason is I've had some doubt these last couple of weeks, given the scores I've shot,'' the Pebble Beach champion said. ''Having these great practice sessions, I started to wonder if I'm going to be able to bring it to the golf course. So this gives me a lot of confidence and erases the doubt,'' Mickelson remarked.
"It's a special place for me, Pebble Beach, and to have a win here, where my grandfather caddied, feels awesome," he concluded, according to Reuters, noting the personal significance of his victory.
