PHIL Leads at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson stayed away from all the celebrity commotion Saturday at Pebble Beach. More importantly, he stayed away from bogeys on the toughest day.

Mickelson took only 21 putts and shot a 6-under 66 to take a two-shot lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, leaving him one round away from tying the record with his fifth victory at this event.

"It's fun to be back in the thick of it," Mickelson said.

It's his first 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour since the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. Mickelson has gone 52 events worldwide since his last victory at Muirfield in the 2013 British Open that gave him the third leg of the Grand Slam. It is the longest drought of his career.

He was at 16-under 199 and led by two shots over Hiroshi Iwata of Japan, who had a 69 at Spyglass Hill.

FROM PGA.COM

Here's a reason why I like Phil, although I have never met the guy. I met a few guys that played on the PGA Tour. I met Davis Love 3, the first time was at one of the Mercedes Championships out at Kapalua. I just asked him, "Hey Mr. Love how'd you shoot today?" and he barked back, "Hey it's just a game!" At that time, I had no idea he played like crap that particular day, oops sorry.

And that year when Vijay Singh lost at another Mercedes Championships, I just joked with him, "Hey Vjay stop pouting, you just made more money than me and six of my friends put together for a year." He gave me that look like he wanted to chop my head off.

So I see commercials and interviews of Phil, and he seems like a together dude, like if we were in Little League he'd be the all star pitcher, but his mom was the coolest and they'd take you to get ice cream cones before going home after practice. Phil, looks like you could go up to him even if he lost in sudden death and go, "Hey Phil, maybe you need a new putter, hahahaha!" And he'd be all, "Yeah right? Have a nice day Ron."

Ron Sambrano- Golf Blogger.