Phil Mickelson’s short game skills were on full display Saturday at Pebble Beach and it was that part of his game that helped him shoot 66 that staked him to a two-shot lead after 54-holes at the AT&T Pro-Am.
Mickelson’s six-under par effort got him to 16-under par and he’ll go into the final 18 holes with the two stroke advantage over unlikely contender Hiroshi Hiwata.
“I was very pleased to shoot that,” Mickelson said afterward, pointing out that breezy conditions made the iconic course play tough. “It does feel good,” Mickelson said, admitting that he feels his game is finally getting back to the point where he can win again. He hasn’t had a victory since the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield. “It’s fun to have a chance going into Sunday,” Mickelson said, but he then pointed out: “I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Mickelson worked hard during the third round. He played the back nine first. “I made a lot of good up-and-downs on the difficult holes,” he said. When he got to the more scoring friendly front nine, he ran off three birdies in a row starting at the fifth, including a nice 20-foot birdie putt at the short par three seventh.
He has won this event four times and is looking for a win that would place him with Mark O’Meara as the only five-time winners of the tournament.
Freddie Jacobson will start the final round three behind. He shot 68 at Monterey and is 13-under par. Overnight leader Sung Kang, who shot a course record 60 at Monterey on Friday, added a 70 at Pebble Beach and joined Jacobson at 13-under.
Jason Day is the only one of the highest-ranked players in contention. Day’s third-round 68 at Pebble got him to 10-under, six back of Mickelson.
Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson were in a one-under par and made the 54-hole cut on the number. Bubba Watson wasn’t as fortunate. At even par, he exited early.
Jimmy Walker, a past winner, turned in the exceptional round of the week at Pebble. He shot a nine-under par 63 and will got into Sunday at nine-under.
