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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Nick Taylor didn’t blink.
Not after a 63 at Monterey Peninsula gave him the lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after 18 holes, not after a 66 at Pebble Beach gave him the 36-hole lead, not after a 69 at Spyglass gave him his first 54-hole lead on Tour.
And he certainly didn’t back down in Sunday’s final round despite a pairing with Phil Mickelson, the prince of Pebble Beach and the clear fan favorite.
Looking every bit the man who is used to the Sunday cauldron of bubbling pressure, Taylor held his nerve, held on for dear life when winds started howling, and held off Mickelson and all others to win for the first time in six years.
Keyed by a birdie-birdie-eagle binge on the front nine, a clutch chip-in for birdie on the 15th and a birdie from seven feet on the 17th, Taylor finished off his wire-to-wire triumph at Pebble Beach with a 2-under-par 70 to win by four shots.
PEBBLE BEACH: Scores | Photos | Trophies | Winner’s bag
Taylor, whose only other PGA Tour title came in his rookie season of 2014 in the Sanderson Farms Championship, came into the week ranked No. 229 in the world but became the first Canadian to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
🇨🇦 @NTaylorGolf59 is the first Canadian to win wire-to-wire since 1960.
He's won the 2020 @ATTProAm! 🏆#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/ZPiTXEZCBU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 9, 2020
“That was amazing,” Taylor said. “Up and down day. I knew I could do it because I’ve done it before. But to do it today against Phil at Pebble, amazing.”
In the final round, Taylor built his one-shot advantage at the start of the day to five shots with birdies at the fourth and fifth holes, a hole-out eagle from the greenside bunker on the sixth and a birdie on the ninth. Then he never panicked when Mickelson applied pressure, especially after making two bogeys and a double bogey from the 11th hole through the 14th when winds off the sea started roaring and making golf balls do funny things.
Taylor was just two clear of the field when he came up short of the green on the 15th, but from 40 feet, he chipped in for birdie. After two-putting for par on the 16th from 50 feet, he knocked an 8-iron on the 17th to seven feet and buried the birdie putt to build up an insurmountable cushion.
Mickelson, looking for his record-breaking sixth title here, started the day one shot behind Taylor but fell five back by the turn. He got within two heading to the 15th tee, but a bogey at 16 and Taylor’s birdies ended Mickelson’s hopes of winning for the first time since he won here last year. But he did record his first top-10 on the PGA Tour since winning last year at Pebble.
Taylor finished at 19 under, four shots clear of Kevin Streelman, who stormed up the leaderboard with four birdies on the back nine to close with a 68. Streelman was still a winner as he teamed with Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to win the Pro-Am for the second time in three years.
Mickelson, trying to join Sam Snead, Raymond Floyd and Davis Love III as the only players to win a PGA Tour tournament in four decades, had a disappointing 74 to fall back into solo third at 14 under. Jason Day, who started the final round three shots back, shot 75 to finish in fourth at 11 under.
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