Equally shocking was Woods. He 3-putted for par and a 75, a whopping 11 shots worse than Mickelson. Only four other players had a higher score than Woods in the final round, none of whom started the day within range of the leader.
Woods was 2 shots out of the lead when he walked off the sixth green and then bogeyed the next three holes.
The two biggest names in golf played together in the second-to-last group, both feeling as though they were close to breaking through, both needed a dramatic charge at Pebble Beach.
That player turned out to be Mickelson. In a big way.
"To put it together this week, and especially the final round, just feels terrific," Mickelson said.
Woods attributed his collapse to his short game. His putting carried him to a 67 at Pebble Beach in the third round, giving him a chance to win for the first time since Sept. 13, 2009, on the PGA Tour. It let him down Sunday, when he missed five putts from under 5 feet.
"I could not get comfortable where I could see my lines," Woods said. "I couldn't get the putter to swing. I just could not get comfortable. It was frustrating, because I was looking to somehow getting off to 2- or 3-under par through six. Phil got off to that start. I had a chance to pick it up through the middle part of the round. Instead, it went the other way."
The win gave Mickelson his 40th career victory - his goal is to get to 50, and this will help. He also became the third straight winner on the PGA Tour to start the final round at least 6 shots behind. And to do it with Woods as a mere bystander?
"I just feel very inspired when I play with him," said Mickelson, who has posted the better score the last five times he has played alongside Woods in the final round. "I love playing with him, and he brings out some of my best golf."
Mickelson took more satisfaction over having his wife, still recovering from breast cancer, come up for the weekend and even give him a pep talk when Mickelson was going nowhere in the second round.
"I was moping. It was terrible," Mickelson said. "And [Amy] said, 'Come on, now, cheer up. Let's go make some birdies.' "
That's what he did.
After picking up birdies on Nos. 2 and 4, Mickelson got a bonus with an 8-iron that plopped down 2 feet from the cup for a tap-in birdie at the par-3 fifth. His approach to the par-5 sixth hopped onto the green and then came another break. He knew the putt broke to the right and had a line picked out.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo - Woods' partner - went first from a similar line.
"I saw that it broke more right than I thought, so I adjusted by a couple of inches," Mickelson said. The ball curled in from the right side of the cup, giving Mickelson the outright lead.
