Bombing drives like he will have to do against the younger set on the PGA Tour, Mickelson shot a 7-under 65 and became the third player — and second this year — to win his first two starts on the tour for players 50 and older. He slammed the door on
“It’s fun for me to come out here and play well and this is a good start for me as I try to build a little bit of momentum heading to
He finished at 17-under 199, one off the event record set by
“I put a new driver into play this week, trying to get a little more pop, a little more carry. It was a little wayward at times, but it was also effective in allowing me to play this course the way I wanted to, which was aggressively,” Mickelson said.
Mickelson beat fellow left-hander and second-round leader Weir, from
“I haven’t been in this position in a while, but I felt very confident," Weir said. "I hit one poor tee shot on No. 7. Outside of that, I played really well and just didn’t get anything really out of it.”
The winner in late August at Ozarks National in
Mickelson said earlier in the week he came to
"I felt like the last six holes I had an opportunity with the two short par 4s and two par 5s to make something happen,” he said, noting the advantage of his length. “... I was able to have two putt birdies on three of those holes and that was very helpful.”
He got the lead when Weir three-putted the par-3 14th green, doubled his edge with a birdie on the next hole, then highlighted his distance advantage over the 2003 Masters champion by driving the green on the 274-yard, par-4 15th. He two-putted from 30 feet, then reached the par-5 16th in two and made birdie, cancelling out Weir's birdie.
Mickelson's chance to work on his competitive side came right away. He erased a three-shot deficit with birdies on three of the first six holes while Weir made a string of pars, but it was on the back nine that he was really tested, and delighted with his response.
After going a shot behind on the 12th hole, he pulled even at No. 13 and kept pushing.
Mickelson, who hasn't won on the PGA Tour since early 2019 at
Weir three-putted the par-5 18th, but still hung on to beat
It was Weir’s third top-10 finish in eight starts on the tour.
“I was low right hander this week,” Goydos quipped.
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