"Pebble has been a special place to me and
my family for a long, long time," he says.
Mickelson's maternal grandfather, Al Santos,
was born in Monterey in 1906, the son of a
Portuguese sardine fisherman. He dropped out
of school at 11, working as a caddie at Del
Monte Golf Course. Two years later, in 1919,
Pebble Beach opened and young Al migrated
there, making 50 cents a day if he went around
twice. Santos went on to own two tuna boats in
San Diego and helped introduce his grandson
to the game on the city's public courses.
He had a favorite expression that Phil still
quotes: "As long as you have a silver dollar in
your pocket, you'll never be poor." Its underlying
meaning, according to Mickelson: Just because
you have it doesn't mean you have to spend it.
104 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 0
Photo:
Marc
Howard
At 49, Mickelson has a new dedica-
tion to fitness and nutrition, allowing
him to rank 24th in clubbed speed
(120.1 miles per hour) on a Tour
populated by players half his age.
Photo: Marc Howard
Mickelson holed a bunch of clutch putts down the stretch at Pebble Beach but for the season ranked only 139th on Tour in the
putting stats, making that a key area of emphasis for 2020.
