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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – On Wednesday, the eve of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Condoleezza Rice hosted a small gathering of friends that included Phil Mickelson and PGA Tour veteran Jason Bohn, who served as a commentator this week for Sky Golf, and had partnered with Rice in the team competition in previous years.
Eventually, Mickelson and Bohn got a chance to talk during which time Mickelson bragged that he had figured out his visualization skills after a slow start at the European Tour’s Saudi International last week.
“He told me he feels this is the best his game has been,” Bohn said. “I’m just in awe of what he’s doing. It isn’t easy to hang with these kids when you’re in your late 40s, let me tell you.”
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Mickelson put up a valiant fight in his effort to defend his title and win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for a record sixth time. He closed in 2-over 74 to finish in third place, five strokes behind the winner Nick Taylor.
“I got outplayed,” Mickelson said. “I mean, Nick played better than I did.”
Mickelson was 3 under through his first six holes, but the wheels started to fall off when his 2-iron at No. 8 only flew 180 yards in the wind. That left him 248 yards to the hole and he ripped another 2-iron that sailed just over the green. Mickelson tried to hit one of his patented flop shots but this time there was no magic in his wedge and he made a double bogey and fell three strokes behind. A birdie by Taylor at the ninth and a bogey by Mickelson left him five strokes behind at the turn.
Mickelson climbed within two strokes of the lead after Taylor made a double bogey at 14, but Taylor’s chip-in birdie at 15 sealed the deal.
Still, Mickelson chose to focus on the positives despite playing the final 11 holes in five over.
“These last two weeks have really given me a lot of motivation and momentum to continue doing what I’ve been doing,” Mickelson said.
Last year, Mickelson left with the trophy and then suffered through one of his worst slumps. He completed the season with only two top 10s and 12 made cuts in 20 tournaments.
“I haven’t seen good, clear pictures,” Mickelson explained. “I haven’t been as committed and as connected to the target. I just haven’t been mentally as sharp the last six, eight months.”
Mickelson said his focus was sharp on Sunday despite the windy conditions, which dried out greens and made Pebble Beach more treacherous as the round progressed.
“I just didn’t execute,” Mickelson said. “We had a few misjudgments of the wind. It was a tough day.”
Brandt Snedeker, who played with Mickelson for the first three rounds, was impressed with Mickelson’s performance and predicted better days were still to come.
“He seems excited about playing,” Snedeker said. “The way he’s swinging it right now, there’s no reason he can’t still contend out here a lot.”
Mickelson is scheduled to play this week at the Genesis Invitational, which will be his fifth straight start.
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