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| Vaughn and Leot Taylor Accept the Winners Trophy at The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am |
Vaughn Taylor shot 7-under 65 Sunday to charge from six shots back and win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Here’s what happened Sunday on the scenic Monterrey Peninsula, where Phil Mickelson missed a 5-foot putt to lose by one:
Leaderboard: Taylor (-17), Mickelson (-16), Jonas Blixt (-15), Hiroshi Iwata (-14), Freddie Jacobson (-14)
This is Taylor’s third PGA Tour win and first since 2005, when he won his second consecutive Reno-Tahoe Open. Ranked 447th in the world coming into the week, Taylor got into this event as an alternate and has been making limited starts on past-champion status; he had only teed up in 17 other Tour events in the last three seasons.
But this win changes things in a big way for the 39-year-old, who earns a two-year PGA Tour exemption with his victory. The Augusta, Ga. native is now also qualified for the Masters and the PGA Championship.
Mickelson started the day with a two-shot lead but made a bogey for each one of his four birdies to shoot even-par 72 and finish one shot out of a potential playoff. After a birdie on the par-3 17th cut his deficit to just one, Mickelson had a 5-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole that would have tied him with Taylor, but his ball lipped out on the left side of the cup. Mickelson was 23 for 23 on putts inside of 6 feet this week.
That last one was the only one that didn’t fall. Mickelson remains winless since his victory at the 2013 Open Championship.
Taylor made nine total birdies in the final round, including four in a row on Nos. 13-16. After making the turn in 2 under, Taylor shot a bogey-free 31 on the back nine to overtake Mickelson, Iwata and Blixt, who all held or shared the lead at different points throughout the day.
After narrowly missing a birdie attempt on his final hole, Taylor sat, waited and finally watched Mickelson miss by fractions of inch. Patrick Reed also posted 65 Sunday to vault himself into a tie for sixth at 12 under. Excerpts appeared as Fair Use Quotes from the Golf Channel
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