While the LPGA took a week off in advance of the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open that begins this Thursday, the men on both the PGA Tour and European Tour were at it again with another exciting weekend of golf action. Golf fans in the northeastern part of the country watched the PGA Tour golf through the pristine weather of Florida as a cold, winter front hammered many of the northern states. We all wish we could have been there but watching on TV was the next best thing. Here is a our weekly golf recap of what happened both on the PGA and European Tours.
AT&T Pebble Peach Pro-Am
PGA Tour
All eyes were on Phil Mickelson heading in to the final round at Pebble Beach after he entered Sunday with a two-stroke lead ahead of the rest of the field. However, the outlook changed in a hurry when Mickelson failed to seal the win and Vaughn Taylor came out of nowhere to take the lead. Mickelson lipped out on a putt that would have forced a playoff with Taylor, allowing the latter to secure his third PGA Tour victory and first in 234 PGA Tour events. Taylor’s seven-under 65 on Sunday included nine birdies and a four-under on the final six holes. His emergence was a major surprise on the final day of the tournament but even still the bigger shock for some was Mickelson’s inability to lock in the victory. Mickelson hadn’t held a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour since 2013 and with 13-career wins at Pebble Beach, he had plenty of golfing enthusiasts running to put their money down on him heading in to that final round. He’s a big brand name with a lot of experience on the Tour, and he figured to have a big edge over a group of players with far fewer PGA Tour victories to their name. However, Mickelson does have a bit of a history of falling short in final rounds, and this will add to that.
A disappointing performance left him to settle for second place, although the silver lining is that he appears to be back in fine form. Meanwhile, world No. 1 and tournament betting favorite Jordan Spieth’s struggles at Pebble Beach continued as he labored just to make the cut. He then carded a bogey-free 66 in the final round to finish tied for 21st. The PGA Tour will remain in California this week with a trip to the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades for the Northern Trust Open.
Pebble Beach Final Scores
1. Vaughn Taylor -17
2. Phil Mickelson -16
3. Jonathan Blixt -14
T-4. Freddie Jacobson -14
T-4. Hiroshi Iwata -14
Tshwane Open
European Tour
Meanwhile on the European Tour, Charl Schwartzel cruised to victory on his home soil in South Africa with a victory at the Tshwane Open this past week. Schwartzel, who was the pre-tournament favorite, closed with a 63 to finish 16-under-par and secure his 11th-career European Tour title. The Johannesburg-native fed off the energy of the crowd at the Pretoria Golf Club and he didn’t disappoint with plenty of supporters on hand. Schwartzel finished eight strokes up on Jeff Winther, who was a surprise runner-up at this competition. Schwartzel actually had a so-so opening round of 71 but cranked it up in the final three frames with a 64, 66 and 63.
Fellow rising South African stars Zander Lombard and Haydn Porteous failed to challenge Schwartzel at the top as expected this past week. They had fans in their corner too but failed to capitalize. Lombard double-bogeyed two of the last three holes to really put a damper on his final round. He finished 12 strokes back of Schwartzel. Porteous followed up his victory at the Joburg Open with a disappointing 73. Both golfers will look to bounce back this week with an impressive field for the first brand new event on the European Tour in the Maybank Championship Malaysia, which will take place at the Royal Selangor Golf Club this week.
Tshwane Open Final Scores
1. Charl Schwartzel -16
2. Jeff Winther -8
3. Anthony Michael -5
T-4. Dean Burmester -5
T-4. Richard Sterne -5
T-4. Justin Walters -5
