AT&T PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM: Stellar short game carries Mickelson into the lead

By Jeremy Harness

AP photo Phil Mickelson from the 17th tee at Spy Glass Hill in first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am

If you ask any player what the key ingredients to success on the PGA Tour are, they will point right to short game and putting. Phil Mickelson showed why those two facets are so very important on Saturday.

Mickelson hit only nine of the 18 greens in regulation and only hit seven of the 14 fairways during his third round at Pebble Beach, which means that a lot of pressure was placed upon the short-game prowess that he is widely known for.

His deft touch around the greens came through for him when he needed it the most, as his bogey-free round of 66 included a chip-in for birdie at the par-5 18^th and gave him an overall score of 16-under and a two-shot lead heading into Sunday.

This is Mickelson’s first 54-hole lead in more than two years.

“I fought hard (Saturday),” Mickelson said. “I thought the golf course was playing much more difficult with the firm greens and the wind picking up. I was very pleased to shoot that round, but there were a lot of holes I just had to fight for pars. It wasn’t a pushover by any means.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in contention, and it would mean a lot to me to be able to play a good final round.”

In the process, he shot right past Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata, who himself shot a three-under 69 at Spyglass Hill Saturday to keep himself in contention, only a pair of strokes off of the lead and will be in the final pairing with Mickelson on Sunday.

The co-leader along with Iwata on Saturday was South Korea’s Sung Kang, who shot a two-under 70 at Pebble in the third round and ended up falling into a tie for third place.

“I tried to play very conservatively (early on), and then I think I played all right,” Kang said. “I missed a couple of short putts but still finished all right.

“If the weather is good (Sunday), we’ll play more aggressively. If the weather is bad, like (Saturday), we’ll play a little more safe. We’ll see how it is (Sunday), and I’ll just try my best.”