Vaughn Taylor wins at Pebble Beach after Mickelson misses on No. 18

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIF. – Vaughn Taylor is headed home to the Masters with his first PGA Tour victory in more than a decade, and he can't believe it.

Neither can Phil Mickelson.

Taylor, who hasn't had a full PGA Tour card for the past the three years, ran off four consecutive birdies on the back nine to close with a 7-under-par 65 and won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday when Mickelson missed a 5-foot putt on the final hole.

"It's been a long time. I didn't think it was going to happen," Taylor said. "I worked so hard. I kept getting knocked down, knocked down. I'm just at a loss for words."

A week of spectacular weather on the Monterey Peninsula ended with a stunning conclusion for both players.

Taylor is No. 447 in the world and won his first PGA Tour event against the top players. His previous two victories were the Reno-Tahoe Open (2004 and 2005), which is held opposite a World Golf Championship. He just returned from South America and a pair of Web.com Tour events.

And then there was Mickelson, going for his 43rd career PGA Tour victory and his record-tying fifth at Pebble Beach, staked to a two-shot lead with no one near his pedigree within five shots of the lead.

His pitch came up 5 feet short, and the birdie putt to force a playoff hit the left edge of the cup and spun out. Mickelson bent over with his hand on his knee.

"It never crossed my mind that one on 18 wouldn't go in," he said.

Mickelson closed with a 72, extending the longest victory drought of his professional career dating to the 2013 British Open.

Taylor is a longtime resident of Augusta, Ga., and the perks of this surprise victory start with a spot in the Masters for the first time since 2008. The 39-year-old Taylor also gets a two-year exemption, meaningful for a guy who lost his card after 2012.

"Just absolutely amazing," he said.

Taylor hit his approach to 3 feet on the 13th and to 12 feet on the dangerous par-5 14th hole. Coming out of the rough on the 15th, his ball hit the golf ball of Matt Jones and settled 2 feet away for a third straight birdie.

The real blow came at the 16th, a 30-foot birdie putt on one of the toughest greens at Pebble. He rammed it hard enough and watched it break back into the cup, and Taylor ran around the green to celebrate.