Phil Mickelson falls agonisingly short at Pebble

• Phil Mickelson winless streak continues with one-shot defeat
• Vaughn Taylor shoots final round 65 for his first win in 11 years
• “I’m certainly disappointed,” said the 2013 Open champion

Phil Mickelson’s near 1,000-day wait for an elusive PGA Tour win continued in agonising fashion as he missed a 5ft putt to force a play-off at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The 45-year-old, who hasn’t tasted victory since the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield, held a two-shot overnight lead but could only manage a level par final round, leaving Vaughn Taylor to grab his first PGA Tour win for almost 11 years with a seven-under-par 65.

“Well, I’m certainly disappointed that I wasn’t able to put together, but it makes me a little bit more determined to get this back to where I want it,” said Mickelson. “Obviously, I’m not quite there yet.

CONTINUES BELOW…

“Today I played a little bit tighter than I wanted to. I made a few more mistakes in short game around the greens. I didn’t salvage some pars the way I wanted to. And it just tells me I still need a little bit of work. But I’m also very close.”

How Phil lost it

Mickelson fought back after two early bogeys to go out in 36 and with Taylor in the clubhouse, he needed back-to-back birdie in the final two holes to force a play-off.

He succeeded at the 17th, but came up just short on the 18th with this nervy 5ft miss. The reaction said it all.

Phil to force a playoff… #QuickHits https://t.co/tOX6E8Gm6i

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 14, 2016

What they said

Vaughn Taylor: “It feels absolutely amazing, awesome. Reno was really good to me for a couple years there and it’s still a smaller event as well, and I had always dreamed of winning – I wanted to win a regular Tour event. And it’s happened. It’s pretty special.”

Justin Rose: “Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I couldn’t have asked for more from my first couple rounds at Pebble and certainly, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am first time. Weather was great, I enjoyed everything about it. I’ve heard all the negatives from all the players throughout the years and I didn’t experience one of them.

Key stat

The putt that defined it – and not one which Lefty will want to be reminded of…

Mickelson is 23-for-23 on putts inside 7 feet at Pebble this week (2 rounds). 5’1″ to force playoff.

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) February 14, 2016

On social

That’s why you keep grinding, you just never know when it’s your turn. Very happy for @VaughnTaylorPGA on his 1st PGA Tour victory

— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) February 15, 2016

So happy for @VaughnTaylorPGA on the big win today.. Couldn’t have written a story like his if you tried.. Well done

— Brandt Snedeker (@BrandtSnedeker) February 14, 2016

Reminder: Tiger Woods has won more recently than Phil Mickelson. I can’t get enough of that stat.

— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) February 14, 2016

Final leaderboard

1 Vaughn Taylor (70, 68, 67, 65) -17
2 Phil Mickelson (68, 65, 66, 72) -16
3 Jonas Blixt (67, 69, 67, 69) -15
T4 Freddie Jacobson (65, 69, 68, 71) -14
T4 Hiroshi Iwata (66, 66, 69, 72) -14

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Phil Mickelson :: Winless streak continues

After his near-miss at Pebble Beach, when do you think we’ll next be seeing Phil Mickelson in the winner’s circle? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.