Phil Mickelson Claims His 40th PGA Tour Title at the 2012 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

In his first three tournaments of the year Phil Mickelson did not play the kind of golf that most people are accustomed to seeing him play. After the first three rounds of Phil's fourth event of the year though, it looked like his game was coming into form. This was especially the case after Phil shot a solid five under par 65 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Shore) in the second round. However, Phil still trailed Charlie Wi, who was the leader, by 6 shots going into the final round at Pebble Beach. Possibly even more importantly, he trailed Tiger Woods by 2 shots going into the final round. There was no doubt that Phil would have to do something special if he wanted to win.

Indeed Phil did get off to a special start as he birdied the second hole. Then he got some help from the leader Charlie Wi when he started his round with a four-putt double bogey at the first. Phil had barely started his round and he had already cut the deficit in half. After a solid par on the third, Phil made a long birdie putt on the fourth hole to go to 11 under par for the tournament. The fifth hole was where Phil really started to make a charge though. This is because Phil hit his tee shot to one foot on the traditionally tough par three and tapped in for another birdie. Then, after a solid tee shot on the par five sixth, Phil laced a fairway wood to about 20 feet and canned the putt for eagle. At this point Phil was only a third of the way through his round and already had a two shot lead thanks to his amazing play and Charlie Wi's considerably less than amazing play. Phil still had a lot of work to do as Tiger Woods, who he was paired with in the final round, as well of a host of others were only a few shots back. Phil proceeded to make solid pars on holes seven through eleven as Tiger dropped back with three bogeys during that same stretch. Then on the par three twelfth Tiger holed a bunker shot for birdie and it looked like he might still make a charge. This was especially the case because Phil hit a lackluster tee shot and an equally lackluster pitch shot that left him with a long putt for par. Phil proceeded to drain that par putt though and capped it off with a solid fist pump. On the ensuing hole Phil hit his approach shot inside of three feet and made the putt for birdie. Then after another birdie on the par five fourteenth it looked like Phil had the tournament under control. Phil hit a poor approach shot on the fifteenth though that left him short-sided in a bunker. After hitting his sand shot to about thirty feet it looked like Phil might drop a shot. This was when Phil canned another long putt for par. After two good pars on sixteen and seventeen Phil stood on the tee of the famous par five eighteenth at Pebble Beach with a two shot lead over Charlie Wi. Tiger was out of the picture at this point as he had made some more bogeys coming down the stretch. Phil laced two solid irons, which were followed by a solid wedge shot to about five feet on the eighteenth. Phil finished in style by making that putt for another birdie. It was a great sight as Phil and his long time friend and caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay embraced eachother in a hug after Phil had made that final putt. In the end, Phil shot an eight under par 64 in the final round for an overall total of 17 under par for the week, which was two shots better than second place finisher Charlie Wi.

Coming into the final round Phil needed to do something special, and there is no doubt that he did just that. Over the past year Phil definitely has not played his best golf, and his world ranking of 17 coming into this week reflected that. However, this week shows that his game is indeed back on track. Not only that, Phil further solidified himself as one of the greatest golfers of all time as this is his 40th career PGA Tour victory. The table is now officially set for Phil to have a great 2012. I would be very surprised if he did not win at least one more time this year, and I certainly would not be surprised if he won a major this year. In particular, I could definitely see him slipping on the green jacket for the fourth time.