Winners and Losers from the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
It was a weird week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. See the guy in the picture above? He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead over the field (and a six-stroke lead over anyone of repute).
He didn't win. Phil Mickelson lipped out a putt that would have gotten him into a playoff with Vaughn Taylor. And if that's a name you haven't heard since, like, the 2006 Ryder Cup, you're not alone.
Taylor was grittier than the sands of Pebble Beach with his Sunday 65, and he's the big winner this week.
How does Taylor (sort of) rank as a loser this week? Why was Mickelson a winner?
Read on to find out.
Winner: Phil Mickelson
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Phil Mickelson hadn't held a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour since 2013. The left-hander entered the final round at Pebble Beach two strokes ahead after firing a tidy 66 Saturday.
With four previous wins at the tournament, Mickelson trailed only Mark O'Meara (five). He also entered Sunday seeking to solidify his status as the King of California, having won 13 events there.
After a lackluster performance through his first 15 holes, Mickelson nearly chipped in for birdie at the 16th before holing a clutch par. He hit a quality approach at the par-three 17th and poured in a birdie putt to give himself a chance heading to the 18th hole.
And while he came up short, Mickelson is still a winner for his apparent return to form and making a serious run at victory (with a measure of Mickelson Magic, no less).
Losers: Everyone Fading Vaughn Taylor
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Vaughn Taylor fired a seven-under 65 on Sunday to win by a stroke over Mickelson.
Anyone see that coming? Taylor, the first alternate, hasn't been a full member of the PGA Tour since 2012.
In a quick post-round interview on the CBS telecast, Taylor described himself as "at a loss for words."
Indeed, what is there to say? Taylor wasn't even in the original field. He hadn't won in more than a decade. All he did was fire a bogey-free back-nine 31, holding off a man who has won four times at Pebble Beach alone.
And as a bonus, Taylor and his partner won the Pro-Am portion as well. If you faded Vaughn Taylor, who was just $6,800 in DraftKings PGA DFS, you're likely drying a few tears.
Winner: Pebble Beach
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The creme de la public-course creme played tough, with the pros averaging 72.65 (plus-0.65) through three days, substantially tougher than the minus-1.74 the course played in 2015.
Designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant in 1919, Pebble Beach perennially tops Golf Digest's list of America's best public courses.
As Golf Digest's Ron Whitten wrote regarding the spectacular venue:
"It's not just the greatest meeting of land and sea in American golf, but the most extensive one, too, with nine holes perched immediately above the crashing Pacific surf -- the fourth through the 10th plus the 17th and 18th. Pebble's sixth through eighth are golf's real Amen Corner, with a few Hail Marys thrown in over a ocean cove on eight from atop a 75-foot-high bluff
"
So, the track was a winner both in terms of scenic splendor (naturally) and giving the pros a tough time.
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Loser: Bubba Watson
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Bubba Watson, the No. 6 golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking, came to Pebble Beach after failing to contend at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and shooting himself in the foot with some ill-considered comments.
(Note: it's generally not a good policy as a touring professional golfer to say the only reason you're playing an event is to make your sponsors happy).
The ball-bashing southpaw could only manage an even-par tally that landed him in "MDF" territory, having not made the secondary cut.
Winners: Duffers, Seals, Waves
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Now, it wouldn't be the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am without a steady dose of analyzing the amateurs' swings and shots of shimmering Carmel Bay and the seals of Pebble Beach.
And while all these things may be charming in moderation, CBS has a tendency to overdo it...like, every year.
The game's fast-growing golf media account, No Laying Up, tweeted: "Actual segment: -amateur interview -aerial shot of some seals -amateur putt -amateur chip -commercial -am putt I tried y'all. Im out."
Indeed, the coverage was tough to take at points. But it was a win for the amateurs, such as Chris Berman (shown above), who got lots of camera time.
Loser: Jordan Spieth
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Jordan Spieth, the world No. 1 and pre-tournament favorite, never really got things going this week until the final round.
You always worry about a player with significant sponsor obligations during tournament week, as Spieth, now an AT&T pitchman with his own bobblehead, was this week. Of course, the young Texan would never mention anything by way of distraction or being spread too thin, and Spieth attributed his ho-hum showing to general sloppiness and failure to take advantage of the par fives.
Spieth, already a winner in just two starts on the PGA Tour this season, needed an up-and-down from in front of the 18th green Saturday just to make the 54-hole cut.
He acknowledged he wasn't in the best of headspaces as he puttered around Pebble Beach, per Golf Channel's Will Gray: “I just had a bad attitude that first nine. I just, I have come to this golf course thinking that it’s just kind of pitch-and-putt because that’s the way it’s kind of played the last three or four rounds I played on it. Then with the conditions today, you just have to be patient."
He readjusted Sunday, carding a final-round bogey-free 66 to tie for 21st.
Still, when you're the favorite and the world's top-ranked golfer, you land on the "loser" side of the ledger when you struggle to make the cut and entirely fail to contend.
Winners: The Unknown Pursuit of 59
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Unbelievable as it may sound, Sung Kang, who carded nine birdies and an eagle en route to a second-round 60, didn't know know he had a shot at posting golf's magic number.
According to PGATour.com's Mike McAllister: "Kang revealed he wasn’t sure what par was at Monterey Peninsula, one of the three courses in the tournament’s rotation this week. His caddie, Fluff Cowan, had told him that the 16th had been lengthened to a par five. That happened two years ago, making the course a par 71."
Thus, Kang thought he posted a 61 when he really had a 60. It's interesting too that Cowan's bag, as Jim Furyk is on the disabled list, played a part in the confusion. And further, Cowan was on the bag for the last 59 shot on the PGA Tour: Jim Furyk at Conway Farms in 2013.
Loser: Poor Joe Affrunti
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We're not usually ones to kick a player when he's down, but Joe Affrunti is getting that treatment here.
The journeyman shot 81 at Spyglass, 79 at Monterey Peninsula and 88 at Pebble Beach (where he made an astonishing five double-bogeys).
What's worse (maybe?) was Affrunti's putting. While we only have "strokes gained: putting" statistics for his round at Pebble, one round of horror is enough. Affrunti lost a staggering 8.113 strokes to the field on the greens.
He would have been better off putting with his driver...or a snow shovel.
Unfortunate stuff. Affrunti missed the cut (obviously) and was 33 over for his three days of work.
All stats via PGATour.com.
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