Nick Taylor chips in for eagle, is heating up at Pebble Beach

Phil Mickelson returned to Pebble Beach Sunday morning hoping his brilliant third round performance would pave the way for a historic victory at the AT&T. Through the first half-dozen holes, it appears as though Nick Taylor has other plans.

Taylor entered the final round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 229th in the Official World Golf Rankings, but atop the leaderboard at 17 under. After a Mickelson birdie on the par-4 2nd hole knotted the two, Taylor took off.

The Canadian (and one-time PGA Tour winner) made back-to-back birdies on the 4th and 5th holes (dropping a LONG birdie putt on five) to build a cushion on Mickelson. Then, buried in a bunker after trying to reach the green on the par-5 6th in two shots, he one-upped Mickelson’s spectacular sand game with his best shot of the day.

The hole-out gave Taylor an eagle and a commanding two-shot lead over Mickelson heading into the turn at Pebble Beach on Sunday. The Canadian still has to survive the back-nine with Lefty hot on his tail if he’s going to spoil Phil’s date with destiny. But with swings like the one from the bunker on 6, Taylor is well on his way.

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