Lefty’s Solid as Rock at Pebble

Is there anything that Phil Mickelson can’t do? Can he walk on Carmel Bay to pet the sea otters? Can he wave his golf club like a magic wand and make the ball disappear? Can he pull a birdie out of a hat?

At this point, Mickelson seems he’s capable of anything he can imagine, which must be quite a lot, because he’s making a running joke out of the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

The Mickelson bandwagon rolled all over Pebble Beach on Saturday, its namesake smiling and waving from the driver’s seat, firing a five-under-par 67 at the place and piling up a third-round lead that can be counted as either a touchdown and an extra point or seven shots, take your pick.

Mickelson’s rounds of 62-67-67 are 20 under par, matching the tournament record with 18 holes still left to go. His 54-hole total of 196 is a tournament record. His seven-shot lead after 54 holes is a personal best.

“It’s been a lot of fun, obviously,” the left-hander said.

What really has been obvious is that Mickelson is playing at a very high level. He has had only four bogeys in his last 108 holes. He is a combined 58 under par in his last two tournaments, plus three rounds here. He won last week at Scottsdale, Ariz., and he’s on the verge of doing it again this week.

Phil World is really spinning.

“He’s been a great player since he was 5, so this isn’t a big shock,” Billy Andrade said.

Actually, maybe the biggest shock of all is that the closest player to Mickelson is a 32-year-old former junior tennis player from England named Greg Owen, a qualifying school graduate coming off back surgery who had never played Pebble Beach before.

“I’d seen it on PlayStation,” he said.

Owen eagled the last hole at Poppy Hills to finish off a round of 67; his 13-under total of 203 is seven shots in arrears of Mickelson’s lead. A group of five is in third, nine shots behind: Paul Goydos, Tim Clark, Jose Maria Olazabal, Kevin Sutherland and Andrew Magee.

Goydos, who had a two-under 70 at Spyglass Hill, said the only way to catch Mickelson is to be aggressive.

“Waiting for Phil to struggle is a defeatist attitude,” he said. “I need to go get him.”

Andrade, who shot a 63 at Pebble Beach but still trails by 11, said Mickelson could be run down from behind.

“It’s doable, versus not being doable,” he said.

In the meantime, Mickelson showed no signs of slowing. He had three birdies on the front, including birdie putts of 18 feet at the seventh and 12 feet at the eighth. At the 327-yard, par-four fourth, Mickelson’s drive was 40 yards from the front of the green. He hit a wedge to three feet and made the birdie putt.

His only bogey of the day was at the 10th, when his eight-iron drifted into the left greenside bunker, but he birdied three more coming in. At the 13th, he hit a seven-iron to five feet and made the putt, then birdied the 16th when he hit a nine-iron to 15 feet.

Mickelson closed it out with a birdie at the 543-yard, par-five 18th. He hit a driver, then a three-wood 59 yards short of the green. His wedge left him a three-foot putt for birdie, which he dropped in the hole. Then he sat back and let it all soak in.

“If you’re playing well, it feels great, and I think it adds a little bit to it that the tournament has so much history,” said Mickelson, who won at Pebble Beach in 1998.

“I grew up in California watching this event and wanting to play well here, having won in the past. But it doesn’t really matter which event it is, as long as you’re playing well.

“I know the guys right behind me are coming after me. I don’t want to do anything stupid, but I don’t want to play defensive either. I know that I have to go out and play a good, solid round, shoot four-under or five-under again. If somebody shoots nine-under or 10-under, it’s not enough.”

Owen, who had a back operation last year to correct a disk injury, won the British Masters in 2003 and played seven years on the European Tour before deciding he needed a change of scenery.

He has never met Mickelson but didn’t sound intimidated by him, either.

“Phil is obviously going to need to slip up a little bit for me to catch him, but it’s golf; anything can happen.

“That would be a nice scalp, wouldn’t it?”

Until that actually happens, the bandwagon is getting ready to roll once more. Mickelson is 13-4 when holding the 54-hole lead in tournaments and has won his last four with that lead, including last year’s Masters.

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Leaderboard

Leaders through the third round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Today’s final round is at noon on Ch. 2

*--* Player 1st 2nd 3rd Tot. Par Phil Mickelson 62 67 67 196 -20 Greg Owen 67 69 67 203 -13 Paul Goydos 67 68 70 205 -11 Tim Clark 67 71 67 205 -11 J. Maria Olazabal 70 67 68 205 -11 Kevin Sutherland 65 70 70 205 -11 Andrew Magee 67 68 70 205 -11

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