Vaughn Taylor: Captures victory at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro

“There were a lot of holes I just had to fight for pars”. And I just can’t believe it actually happened today. “I’m just at a loss for words”.

It was a stunning conclusion for both.

With his caddie toting a carry bag, Taylor became an unlikely victor at Pebble Beach and won for the first time in 11 years with a 7-under-par 65 to finish at 17-under 270 on another bright day by Carmel Bay and Stillwater Cove. Last week, he withdrew from a Web.com event in Colombia. None of the six players behind him on the leaderboard was among the top 100 in the world, and they had combined for four career PGA Tour titles.

Taylor will be characterized as a deserving champion with a rich backstory of his own, but this round – this tournament – has been about Mickelson. He hadn’t finished first in two-and-a-half years, and after he came so close in this AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, just missing a five-foot putt on the final green which would have forced a playoff, you can wonder if he’ll ever again finish first. Mickelson bent over with his hand on his knee.

“It never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t make that one”, Mickelson said after his 72.

Mickelson, 45, has not won since the Open Championship in 2013 and was desperate to end a 938-day drought since that victory.

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is one PGA Tour event that players and celebrities look forward to each season, if for no other reason than to see what insane clothes Bill Murray is wearing. Taylor was one of four rookies in Tom Lehman’s team.

Hiroshi Iwata, who started the day in second, two strokes back at the iconic seaside links, carded three birdies and three bogeys in the final round.

It had been more than a decade since he won.

Greller, stepped to the tee box on the stunning par-3 seventh hole, and hit a full on shank.

With Jordan Spieth – the top golfer in the world – warming up on the putting green, he got some unexpected help.

He chipped to 5 feet and needed that birdie putt to force a playoff. “I didn’t think it would happen”.

“Tomorrow I’m just going to try and have fun, enjoy Pebble”, he said.

He missed two good birdie chances on the last two holes, but still wound up a victor. That no longer is a problem. The Augusta, Ga. native is now also qualified for the Masters and the PGA Championship. His victory check of $1.26 million Sunday more than doubled that, and it was by far the biggest payday of his career.

The magnitude 5.7 quake rattled the area about 10 minutes before Ko began play. He gets all the air time and he definitely plays to the CBS cameras.

Not only has Mickelson gone 31 months since his last victory, he hasn’t really come close to winning very much. Taylor shot a 70 (-2) in round one, a 68 (-4) in round two, and a 67 (-5) in round three.

Couples (66) made $140,800.

Langer completed his sixth wire-to-wire triumph.

Charl Schwartzel won the European Tour’s Tshwane Open by eight shots in his home country of South Africa and moved up from 43rd to 31st.