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Mickelson on top at Pebble Beach

After three shaky starts and a dismal second half of 2006, Phil Mickelson finally answered the critics to win the £2

Mon Feb 12 2007 - 00:00

After three shaky starts and a dismal second half of 2006, Phil Mickelson finally answered the critics to win the £2.8million AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am by five strokes

Mickelson shot a final round six-under-par 66 to finish on 20 under (268) ahead of Kevin Sutherland, with John Mallinger a further shot back.

Mickelson's score tied the tournament record set by Mark O'Meara in 1997.

Getting off to a good start is usually a speciality of Mickelson's but since the debacle at last year's US Open, when he blew a golden chance to win the major championship, he seemed to have lost his touch.

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He did not have a top-10 finish during the rest of the year and performed poorly at the Ryder Cup, before taking nearly five months off and struggling on his return.

"I didn't want to think about it," Mickelson said of blowing the U.S. Open. "I looked at it at the end of the year and how I drove the ball so awfully for four days and was still in contention."

Of his final round he added: "I felt very confident in my iron play.

"I really worked on my putting. Dave Pelz came up and looked at my putting and I worked very hard at improving it."

Although he won by five, Mickelson's 30th career victory was not as easy as the score indicated.

Heavy rains overnight and early yesterday morning necessitated lift, clean and place be utilised for the fourth consecutive day, but by the time the leaders went off the skies were clear and the wind was non existent.

Before the final round, Mickelson admitted he had never met fellow San Diego resident Mallinger.

He might want to make an introduction now, although it matters little to Mallinger, who had enough family and friends there to qualify as a small gallery.

"I don't know if he does or doesn't," Mallinger said about Mickelson's knowledge of the tour rookie. "It doesn't mean that much to me. I was just happy with how I played this weekend."

England's Greg Owen made a charge up the leaderboard, shooting a final-round 67 to finish fourth after struggling at the beginning of the year.

"It's just hard work," Owen said. "I worked so hard these last four weeks and it's paying off."

Owen has had back problems but said he is getting back to normal.

"My back is in a position so I can practice," Owen said. "As long as it holds up I'll keep improving."