Jim Nantz has watched and called some of the most iconic moments in modern golf, but his prediction for what golf fans will see this summer at Pebble Beach may take the cake as one of the best stories in sports history.
Joining the set of Golf Channel’s Morning Drive on Wednesday from the floor of the PGA Merchandise Show, Nantz was asked who and what would be the most fascinating story to follow in 2019.
“Stay with Phil. Here he is shooting 60 (at the Desert Classic) and he had told everybody he had not had a lot of practice time leading up to playing in the desert. I think he’s going to win at Pebble, how about that?,” Nantz said. “I want to put that on record right now. I think Phil’s going to win the U.S. Open.”
“The Sunday of the U.S. Open is his birthday,” Nantz continued. “I like stories; I like to figure out how history ties to the present and I’ve told this before during the AT&T — he’s won there four times — his grandfather, Alfred Santos, was one of the original caddies at Pebble Beach.
“What an American dream. You could have a grandson later walk those same fairways. Instead of what his grandfather was making, 25 cents a bag, now he’s going to close out the career Grand Slam on the sacred sod of Pebble Beach, what a story that would be.
“The story’s too good, and his record is too good there, for me to overlook it.”
Mickelson will get an early look at the 2019 U.S. Open venue when he tees it up in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in two weeks.
