AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Recap: Journeyman Taylor Gets Win

Sunday at Pebble Beach began with Nick Taylor leading the tournament by a shot over Phil Mickelson and three over Jason Day. Quite frankly, things did not look good for Taylor.

And when Mickelson, the defending champion, record-tying five-time winner and overwhelming fan favorite, birdied the second hole, well, things really did not look good for Taylor. The 31-year-old Canadian was ranked in the 200s, had never been higher than 175th and had won a lone, opposite-field PGA Tour event almost six years ago.

But that's why in sports they don't pay after three rounds, or after 56 holes or even after the Atlanta Falcons lead the Super Bowl by 25 points in the second half. They wait until the end. And at the end, it was the journeyman Taylor who scored a runaway win over his far more accomplished pursuers.

Taylor won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by four strokes – and it wasn't even Mickelson or Day who finished second. It was Pebble aficionado Kevin Streelman.

In winning for the second time in 160 career PGA Tour starts, the Winnipeg native shot a 2-under 70 on a sunny but incredibly windy day on the Monterey Peninsula. Mickelson faltered to a 74, a finish that was very costly, while Day plunged to a 75. More on them in a bit.

Taylor parred the first three holes while Mickelson birdied No. 2 to tie. But then Taylor birdied 4 and 5 and eagled 6 to blow things open. There were bogies on 8, 11 and 12, and even a double on 14. But it didn't quite get as harrowing for Taylor as the CBS announcers tried to convey. After all, Mickelson doubled 8 and bogeyed 9, 12, 14 and 16. It was just a tough day to make par. 

Taylor moved from 229th in the world to 101st, by far his highest ranking ever. It also gets him into the Masters and the PGA Championship. He's played in only two majors as a professional.

When Taylor won the 2014 Sanderson Farms, he was a rookie playing in only his fourth event as a PGA Tour member (he had made nine starts between 2008-2012, six as an amateur). Certainly, the future looked bright. But it took more than 140 tournaments for him win again. 

"That was amazing," Taylor told reporters at Pebble Beach shortly after hugging his wife and newborn child. "Up-and-down day. You know, I believed I could do it, because I've done it before, but to do it in that fashion, playing with Phil, obviously gives me a lot of confidence going forward."

We wouldn't quite say Taylor had done it before. Winning an opposite-field event in the fall over Jason Bohn and Boo Weekley is far from going wire-to-wire at Pebble Beach against an all-time great. But the next time, if there is a next time, then Taylor could say he's done it before.

Fun 2014 Sanderson Farms factoids: A 21-year-old Justin Thomas tied for fourth, a 47-year-old David Toms tied for ninth and Tony Finau missed the cut.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Phil Mickelson
If we take a step back, it was an incredible week for Mickelson, giving him a second T3 in two weeks. This alters his 2020 narrative, which wasn't looking good three weeks ago. But … Mickelson was tied for the lead on Sunday with Taylor and is probably kicking himself for not closing the deal on what would've been a record sixth Pebble Beach title. On top of that, he bogeyed three of the last seven holes, a finish that cost him second place, a spot in the top-50 in the world rankings and, thus, a berth in the WGC-Mexico. He's now 55th OWGR but is playing in L.A. this week and therefore still can qualify for Mexico.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth did it! He has done it! No, he didn't win, calm down, but he got back into the top-50 in the world rankings. A big letdown? Well, yes. But that's no small accomplishment for a player whose game is amid the third year of a worldwide recession. Spieth shot the round of the day, 5-under, to climb the leaderboard into a tie for ninth. It's only his second top-10 in eight months, but it came at just the right time, lifting him to No. 49 OWGR and into the field for the WGC-Mexico. Still a long way to go, but baby steps.

Jason Day
If you don't believe in course history, Day would like to have a word with you. He plays Pebble Beach spectacularly year after year. But since last year's T4 there, Day managed only three worldwide top-10s in 52 weeks, including none in the past eight months. But there he was, finishing solo fourth on Sunday. It stems the bleeding in Day's world-rankings nosedive. He had been 46th but moves up to 38th and safely into the Mexico field. Day now has finished top-six at Pebble in six of the past eight years.

Kevin Streelman
More on course history: Streelman has top-10s the past three years at Pebble. Like Day, he also had only three top-10s in the year between visits to the Monterey Peninsula (perhaps not as good an example as with Day, who is the far superior golfer, but still). Streelman also won the pro-am for the second time with Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Streelman moves from the 130s in the world rankings back into the top-100 at 85th.

Brandt Snedeker
The two-time Pebble champion who finished fourth two years ago and 20th last year missed the cut. And it wasn't pretty. Snedeker was inside the cut line until heading to 18 on Pebble on Saturday. His tee ball landed in the "rock outline," according to the PGA Tour's online leaderboard. His second shot was still in the rock outline. After three shots, still more than 200 yards out. All Snedeker needed was a par-5 to play Sunday. He doubled.

Maverick McNealy
With a name like Maverick, a lot of eyes are going to be on you. The 24-year-old former Stanford star missed the cut in his first two PGA starts after graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour. But since then, nine straight cashes, including his best yet, a tie for fifth at Pebble, thanks to a 66-68 weekend. It comes two weeks after McNealy's previous best showing, a tie for 15th at Torrey Pines. He played his first PGA Tour event six years ago when he was still 18, but now he is showing signs of sticking.

Daniel Berger
Berger made it top-10s in consecutive weeks after going 18 months with only one of them. He tied for ninth at Pebble, a week after the same finish at TPC Scottsdale. We all know that Berger was a top-20 golfer whose career arc got derailed by a wrist injury. Going back to last June, he's now made 12 cuts in 13 starts. Berger is still ranked outside the top-100, but he may finally be turning the corner.

Ian Poulter
Poulter was ranked 50th OWGR at the beginning of the week, did not play anywhere and now stands 51st. He's also not playing this week, so it seems unlikely that he could get back inside the top-50 to play the WGC-Mexico. Poulter knows what he's doing, but this is curious scheduling, especially in a Ryder Cup year. Playing a WGC is tantamount to getting free points. No. 53 Collin Morikawa, No. 54 Scottie Scheffler and No. 55 Phil Mickelson all remain alive to climb into the top-50 this week at Riviera, as do others who are further back.

Charl Schwartzel
The veteran South African missed eight months in 2019 dealing with a wrist injury. This was only his fifth event back, but it was very impressive, as he tied for fifth – and in his first time playing Pebble. Schwartzel is only 35, was once ranked as high as sixth and has won the Masters. Those days are over, but there's no reason he can't continue along successfully for a number of more years. Schwartzel moved back inside the top-200 in the world.

Adam Hadwin
Hadwin skipped most of January for the birth of his child, even missing the American Express, where he had had podium finishes three years running. You'll remember he shot a 59 there in 2017. Anyway, Hadwin returned last week at Phoenix, missed the cut and now missed the cut again at Pebble. We shouldn't read much into it, other than he's fallen from the top-50 in the OWGR. Hadwin is in the field at Riviera, so he'll have a final shot to qualify for Mexico.

Matthew NeSmith
Another week, another good showing for the 26-year-old South Carolinian. In fact, the tie for 11th was NeSmith's best showing ever on the PGA Tour (this was only his 16th career start and 11th this season). He missed four of his first five cuts back in the fall after graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour. But since then NeSmith has made six in a row with three top-20s.

Kevin Chappell
The veteran Californian is on the rebound from a back injury that cost him much of 2019. On a Major Medical Extension, Chappell played the pro-am with former Giants quarterback Eli Manning and tied for 25th at Pebble, his best showing in eight starts this season. Coincidence? We think not.

Joseph Bramlett
At the beginning of the week, it was announced that the 31-year-old Stanford alum received the coveted Charlie Sifford Memorial exemption into this week's Genesis Invitational. Bramlett then went out and fortified that decision by climbing the leaderboard on Sunday to tie for 18th at Pebble. He also tied for 20th at the season-opening Greenbrier and has made 6-of-9 cuts this season. The Korn Ferry grad had his PGA Tour card once before, way back in 2011, but couldn't keep it.

Graeme McDowell
McDowell missed the cut at the course where he won the 2010 U.S. Open. He won last week in Saudi Arabia and probably arrived in the States via Cloud Nine, so this week's MC probably is not indicative of much. McDowell will be in the field at this week's Genesis, but Riviera is a tough assignment for such a short hitter.

Justin Suh
The former USC star arrived on Tour last year with the rest of the Class of 2019 – you know, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff. What, you don't know of Suh? Well, he hasn't fared nearly as well as the other three, missing 7-of-8 cuts last season. Suh moved on to the Latinoamerica Tour, where he recorded three top-10s to finish 2019. He got a sponsor invite into Torrey Pines and missed the cut but this week was looking better. He was well inside the cut line through two rounds only to shoot a 77 on Saturday to miss the final round by two strokes. We're not sure where Suh's next start will come from, but it's clear he's far behind the other 2019 grads.

Nate Lashley
Last year's winner at Detroit withdrew after the second round at Pebble, his third WD in six starts. He also tied for third last week at Phoenix. There was no reason for the latest WD, but Lashley has been bothered by a wrist injury (that's the third wrist injury in this story alone). Lashley is still listed in the field at Riviera this week, but there's no way you can start him unless there are absolutely no other options.

Luke Donald
Something we missed last week. Donald exhausted his Major Medical Extension last week after missing the cut at Phoenix. He immediately chose to use one of his two career money-list exemptions, for being in the top-25 all-time, and will be able to play the rest of the season. He tied for 55th at Pebble.