Tour Report: Mickelson has sense of deja vu (PGATOUR.com)
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The PGA TOUR’s ShotLink guru Alex Turbull came up with some interesting stats on Spencer Levin. Consider these tidbits:
* No one has more rounds in the 60s since the start of the 2010 season than Levin. Yesterday’s 68 was his 111th round in the 60s over this time frame.
* No one has been better with their irons this week than Levin. Through three rounds, he’s missed just 10 greens to lead the field in GIR (81.5 percent). This is a large improvement over his 2012 season average of 67.6 percent (T-109th on TOUR).
* Of the 10 greens he’s missed this week, he’s successfully salvaged par or better eight times (80 percent) to rank tied for third in scrambling. On the greens, Levin currently ranks 11th for putts gained, out performing the field by +4.5 strokes with his putter.
* He’s dominated on the par 3s this week at TPC Scottsdale. Through three rounds, Levin has made birdies on six of the 12 par 3s – which also leads the field.
* He’s nearly blemish-free this week — making just two bogeys through 54 holes (fewest over par holes in the field this week). This is impressive considering that the average player has 8.34 bogeys or worse this week through three rounds.
* He’s yet to shoot an under par final round in 2012. In his first three starts of the season, Levin has final rounds of 72, 73, 72 ranking T-110th on TOUR for final round stroke average
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — If Spencer Levin thought Sunday would be an extended victory march, Ben Crane is showing him otherwise.
Crane, who delighted the crowd at No. 16 in the third round when he donned his trademark helmet and rapped with his buddy Bubba Watson, has put his considerable golf skills on display on Sunday.
Crane, who started the day at 9 under and trailing by eight, has just narrowed the gap to four. He’s played his first four holes in 4 under with birdie putts of 12 and 8 feet and a 33-footer for eagle at the second hole.
Crane is no stranger to coming from behind to win on Sunday. He made up five strokes back in the final round to claim his last victory at the 2011 McGladrey Classic.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open got under way as scheduled on Sunday and the final group of Spencer Levin, Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson has just teed off.
Now, for the burning question of the day: Will Keegan Bradley put on his New England Patriots jersey when he gets to the 16th hole?
More importantly, though, for Spencer Levin, we’ll be watching to see if the 27-year-old Californian can win his first PGA TOUR event.
Levin is 17 under and takes a six-stroke lead in to the final round. It’s the largest advantage since Rory McIlroy built an eight-shot cushion through three rounds at Congressional Country Club and went on to win the U.S. Open.
Webb Simpson, a two-time winner in 2011, is back where he left off, contending again, alone in second at 11 under. Simpson is looking for his eighth top-10 finish dating back to his breakthrough win last year at the Wyndham Championship — he’s got two wins, a playoff loss and a third place finish during that stretch.
Bubba Watson, who lives in Scottsdale, is 10 under and tied with PGA TOUR rookie John Huh. Huh is looking for his second straight top-10 finish.
A glance at the leaderboard shows there are some birdies out there on TPC Scottsdale Sunday, too. Jarrod Lyle, who was the final alternate to make the field on Tuesday, has birdied four of his first five holes and moved to 9 under for the tournament.