Three tied for lead at HSBC Women’s Champions (AP)
SINGAPORE (AP)—Katie Futcher of the United States and South Korea’s Jenny Shin
each shot 5-under 67s to join a three-way tie for the lead after Friday’s second
round of the $1.4 million HSBC Women’s Champions.
Futcher and Shin both shot six birdies and one bogey to reach 8-under 136
along with first-round leader Angela Stanford, who had a 70 on Friday.
Three players were tied three shots back at 5-under at Tanah Merah Country
Club.
World No. 1 Yani Tseng shot a 72 to be 1-under and seven strokes off the
lead while American Michelle Wie was an extraordinary 24 shots behind at
16-over.
The 63-player field includes 18 of the top 20 in world rankings.
Stanford grabs lead at HSBC Women’s Champions (AP)
SINGAPORE (AP)—Angela Stanford of the United States shot a 6-under 66 to take
a two-stroke lead after Thursday’s opening round of the $1.4 million HSBC
Women’s Champions.
Five players were tied for second at 4-under, a stroke ahead of a group of
seven at 3-under at Tanah Merah Country Club.
World No. 1 Yani Tseng shot a 1-under. She’s seeking her second win of the
year after her victory at last week’s LPGA Thailand.
Karrie Webb, who won last year’s tournament in Singapore, shot an even par
72.
The 63-player field includes 18 of the top 20 in world rankings.
Mickelson takes wild ride into share of the lead (AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Phil Mickelson hit one tree, threaded a shot through five
trees and hit a drive that wound up in a spectator’s shorts. He somehow managed
a 1-under 70 on Saturday to share the lead with PGA champion Keegan Bradley in
the Northern Trust Open.
Bradley, inspired by a Riviera course that is one of his favorites, took
only five putts over the final five holes, including a 10-footer for par on the
last hole, for a 5-under 66 that assured him being in the final group.
The par was meaningful because he wanted to play Sunday with Mickelson, a
mentor to him.
There’s no telling what to expect in the final round. The phrase “routine
par” was not part of Mickelson’s vocabulary on a beautiful afternoon off Sunset
Boulevard.
Mickelson played one chip well past the hole on the par-3 sixth so it would
roll off the bank some 25 feet behind the cup and roll back. He made a 12-footer
for his par.
The only disappointment was not taking advantage of enough birdie chances,
twice missing birdie putts inside 8 feet and failing to give himself a good look
on the par-5 17th when his wedge rolled off the front of the green.
Mickelson and Bradley were at 7-under 206, though this is hardly a two-man
race at Riviera.
A dozen players were within four shots of the lead going into the final
round, including defending champion Aaron Baddeley (66), Dustin Johnson (67) and
FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas (68).
Johnson was tied for the lead until he botched the end of his round. He made
bogey from the bunker on the 16th, then three-putted for bogey from just outside
3 feet on the 17th. He finished with a birdie and a small measure of redemption.
“I’m going to come out tomorrow and give it everything I’ve got,” Johnson
said.
Pat Perez still has a shot, too. He three-putted from 10 feet for bogey on
the third hole, then took four putts on the next hole. His long birdie try from
60 feet on the fringe came up 5 feet short, and Perez took three more putts from
there.
But he kept his patience, made a few birdies and shot 70. Perez was in the
group one shot out of the lead along with Jonathan Byrd, who had a 69, and Bryce
Molder, who one-putted his last eight greens for a 66.
Bradley surged into a share of the lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 16th,
and a pitch to tap-in range on the next hole. From the right rough, he came up
short of the 18th and chipped to 10 feet to set up the important closing par.
“That’s kind of why I was excited to make that putt on the last hole. I
figured that might be to get in the final group with Phil,” he said.
Bradley always has looked up to Mickelson, and the four-time major champion
invited him to play in one of his money games at The Players Championship. The
idea is for young players to learn to play under pressure, and it paid off for
Bradley when he captured the PGA Championship at the end of the year.
They have played together in a tournament only once, the opening two rounds
of The Barclays.
“Nothing like this would be,” Bradley said.
There was a stretch where Mickelson lived up to his “Phil the Thrill”
reputation at Riviera.
He pulled his tee shot so far right on the par-3 sixth that it was headed
for the ivy-covered fence until clipping a tree and dropping down. Then, instead
of hitting a lofted chip that could run to the pin, he chose to chip some 25
feet past the hole, have it run up the bank and come down. It rolled 12 feet
past the hole, and he made it for a par.
On the par-4 eighth, which gives players the option of two fairways,
Mickelson found his own route. He blasted a tee shot so far left it went over a
white fence and landed at the base of the stairs of a corporate tent. After
getting a free drop, he threaded a 9-iron through five eucalyptus trees to 12
feet.
It would have been one of the more amazing birdies in his career, except he
missed the putt.
He was introduced to a Bottle Brush on the 10th. That was the name of the
tree between the pin and where his tee shot landed. Mickelson caught a tiny
branch and didn’t reach the green, but hit a skillful pitch to 3 feet for par.
And on the 15th, Mickelson blocked a tee shot into the gallery and
discovered a man lying on his back, fearful of moving. The ball landed inside
the hem of his shorts, and he remained still until Mickelson could remove the
ball and take his free drop. He managed another par.
Haas birdied two of his last three holes and was in the group at 5-under
208, along with Johnson and Baddeley.
“I’m in a good position for tomorrow,” Haas said. “I don’t know what the
leaders are going to do, but I’ll be in striking distance.”
14-year-old Ko tied for lead in New Zealand (AP)
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP)—Fourteen-year-old amateur Lydia Ko shot her
second straight 3-under 69 on Saturday for a share of second-round lead in the
New Zealand Women’s Open.
Ko, the world’s top-ranked amateur, became the youngest winner of a
professional tour event last month in the Women’s New South Wales Open in
Australia. She briefly held the outright lead before a bogey on the par-17th
dropped her into a six-way tie at 6 under at Pegasus Golf Club.
“I was like 12th or something overnight, so it’s good to be up with the
leaders,” the South Korean-born New Zealander said. “I’ll try hard tomorrow
and, hopefully, play good like I did at New South Wales.”
Ko was tied with Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe (68), Australia’s Lindsey Wright
(68), South Korea’s Haeji Kang (69), American Alison Walshe (70) and Spain’s
Carlotta Ciganda (69).
Canadian star Lorie Kane (67) was a stroke back along with Americans Cindy
Lacrosse (67) and Gerina Piller (71) and Australians Julia Boland (68) and
Stephanie Na (69).
Ko, two strokes out of the lead entering the round, birdied her opening
hole. She bogeyed the par-4 third, then birdied the fourth and fifth holes. She
overcame gusty conditions to birdie the par-3 11th and moved into the outright
lead with a birdie at the 13th.
Tour Report: Leaderboard update: Phil takes lead (PGATOUR.com)
Just over two hours ago, Phil Mickelson teed off on the opening hole at Pebble Beach six shots off the lead. Now he leads the field by two strokes.
Mickelson rolled in a 21-foot eagle putt at the par-5 sixth hole and is now at 14 under. That puts him two up on Tiger Woods, Kevin Streelman and 54-hole leader Charlie Wi, who has dropped three strokes in his first five holes.
Wi has dropped three strokes in his first five holes, while playing partner Ken Duke is 1 over in the final group.
“This is fairly predictable, sad to say,” Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee said about the struggles of Wi and Duke with bigger names breathing down their necks. “We’re reminded once again how hard it is (to win a TOUR event).”
Mickelson is 5 under on his round, having also birdied the second, fourth and fifth holes.
Streelman is also 5 under on his round as he makes the turn.
Charlie Wi’s shaky start with his four-putt double bogey on the opening hole obviously has brought a lot of players back into contention.
Making the most of his round thus far is Aaron Baddeley, who is 4 under through six holes and has birdied his last three holes. That leaves him at 11 under, just two shots off Wi’s lead.
Another player with a big start is Jimmy Walker, who is 4 under through nine holes. Walker is at 10 under.
Greg Owen, Kevin Streelman and Ryan Moore also have started strong and are also each at 10 under.
Two-time AT&T Pebble Beach champion Dustin Johnson is 1 under on his first four holes but he bogeyed the par-5 second hole, which could come back to haunt him.
Wi’s playing partner, Ken Duke, is even through three holes and is the only player one shot off the pace.
Charlie Wi, the 54-hole leader, got off to a horrible start. He just four-putted from 35-1/2 feet for a double bogey on the first hole at Pebble Beach.
Fifteen minutes earlier, Wi started his round with a three-shot lead. Now it’s one shot over playing partner Ken Duke.
It was Wi’s first double bogey of the week. He had bogey-free rounds at Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula but suffered four bogeys (against five birdies and an eagle) in his earlier round at Pebble Beach this week.
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are paired together in Sunday’s final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. The two PGA TOUR stars are in the penultimate group and will start the day behind 54-hole leader Charlie Wi. Woods is four shots back; Mickelson is six back.
Here are a few things to consider as Woods and Mickelson prepare for the 30th time they’ve been paired together as pros:
> Of those previous 29 times, nine have been in the final round. Woods has gone on to win three times; Mickelson has emerged the winner two times. Outside of their first final-round pairing — the 1997 PGA Championship, in which each finished tied for 29th — Mickelson has never finished outside the top 10 on the leaderboard when paired with Tiger in the final round; Tiger, meanwhile has only finished outside the top 10 one other time, at the 2010 BMW Championship. (see chart at bottom)
> Amazingly, their stroke averages for those nine previous final-round pairings are identical — 69.33. Mickelson and Woods have each taken 624 strokes when paired together in the final round. Mickelson has shot the better final-round score the last four times.
> No active PGA TOUR player has won more multiple-course events than Mickelson. Twelve of his 39 career wins have come at events in which multiple courses were used. Woods is second on that active list with 11. Mickelson has won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am three times; Woods has won it once, in 2000 (the same year he also won the U.S. Open when it was played solely at Pebble Beach).
> Each is hoping to get off to a good start in order to put early pressure on Wi, who is seeking his first TOUR win.
“This golf course, you can come out and get a quick start, make some birdies and when that happens, it’s tough to follow suit a few groups behind,” Mickelson said. “So I’m in a nice situation where if I can get a hot hand early, I can make a run on the leaderboard.”
Having two par-5 holes among the first six at Pebble Beach should allow for a quick start. That might play more into Woods’ hands — He’s 8 under on the par 5s this week, while Mickelson is 4 under. On Saturday at Pebble Beach, Woods birdied the second hole and parred the sixth; Mickelson bogeyed the second hole and parred the sixth.
> According to ShotLink, no player has been better with their irons this week than Woods. Through three rounds, Tiger has hit a field-leading 43 of 54 greens in regulation (tying him with Jason Kokrak). The last time Woods hit 43 or more greens thru 54 holes of a non-major was at the 2009 Buick Open (which he went on to win).
But a note of caution — in his previous start at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the European Tour, Woods hit 46 of his first 54 greens in regulation to take the 54-hole lead, but then hit just five greens in the final round to finish third.
> Woods has not won a TOUR event since the 2009 BMW Championship, but he seems on the verge of ending that drought. He won his limited-field Chevron World Challenge event in December and has owned or shared the 54-hole lead in three of his last five starts, including at Abu Dhabi.
Woods realizes the more times he keeps putting himself in this position, he’ll eventually get back to his winning ways.
“That’s why we play is to be there and that’s why I train as hard as I do and practice as hard as I do is to put myself in those positions,” he said. “And when you’re not in those positions, it’s frustrating because the majority of the time when we play golf, we are not in those positions. That’s the tough part of our sport.
“So of late, I’ve been putting myself in these positions, and it feels good.”
> Making up four shots will be difficult, but as we’ve seen the last two weeks, no 54-hole lead is safe. Woods has come-from-behind 20 times in the final round to win PGA TOUR events; Mickelson has 16 come-from-behind wins.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson tee off at 12:29 p.m. ET on Sunday. You can follow their round on WOODS-MICKELSON FINAL-ROUND PAIRINGS * – not an official PGA TOUR event
Just over two hours ago, Phil Mickelson teed off on the opening hole at Pebble Beach six shots off the lead. Now he leads the field by two strokes. Mickelson rolled in a 21-foot eagle putt at the par-5 sixth hole and is now at 14 under. That puts him two up on Tiger Woods, […]
Golf-Westwood sinks eagle to lead Dubai Classic by one shot (Reuters)
By Matt Smith
DUBAI, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Lee Westwood was one shot
ahead at the turn on the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic
on Sunday after sinking a 35-foot eagle to stay clear of the
pack on 16 under.
The world number three started the day at 15 under, one shot
clear of playing partners Marcel Siem and Stephen Gallacher,
while U.S Open champion Rory McIlroy, who had been leading at
the halfway stage, started two off the pace.
Both Westwood and McIlroy had wanted tougher conditions to
make the Majlis course bare its teeth following a birdie bonanza
on a tranquil opening two days and the British duo got their
wish on the final round as swirling gusts of up to 25 miles per
hour buffeted the fairways.
Gallacher, 38, perhaps nervous at the prospect of winning
only his second European Tour title, shanked his opening tee
shot to the left of the fairway, eventually putting for a bogey
to slip to 13 under.
The short par-four second hole provides one of the best
chances for players to pick up shots on a tough front nine and
Westwood’s blistering tee shot ended 35 feet from the pin but
short of the green.
He opted to putt rather than chip, rolling the ball in for
an eagle to move 17 under for a two shot lead, while Gallacher
dispatched a birdie to move back to 14 under and Siem also
gained a shot.
Westwood made his first mistake on the fifth tee, fading his
drive into the rough to the right of the fairway and from there
he again found the rough, this time five yards from the green.
His subsequent chip ended seven-feet from the hole for a
tricky shot for par and he was found wanting, rolling his effort
wide to eventually make a bogey and slip back to 16 under.
Siem landed his tee shot just off the green within nine feet
of the flag on the tricky par-three seventh, made more
treacherous by a gusting cross-wind across the lake, but the
pony-tailed German fluffed his birdie chance and holed for par.
Westward was wayward, landing at the bottom of a steep bank
of rough some way from the pin. He played a low chip that ended
four feet away and holed on the next shot to escape with a par.
Gallacher missed a 16-foot putt, making bogey to slip back
to 14 under, two off the pace.
Siem sunk a birdie on the eighth to join Westwood on 16
under, but his joy was short-lived as he then bogeyed the next
hole to slip a shot behind.
Rafael Carrera-Bello, playing a hole ahead of the lead trio,
was one under for the front nine to be 15 under, the Spaniard
steadily building on his blistering opening round of 63.
McIlroy struggled, shooting a bogey on the first hole after
skewing an 8-foot par shot wide and the Ulsterman then sunk a
double bogey on the ninth to slip back to 10 under.
(Reporting by Matt Smith, editing by Alan Baldwin)
Westwood has 1-shot lead in Dubai; McIlroy 2 back (AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—Lee Westwood took advantage of some shaky
play from Rory McIlroy and Thomas Bjorn, shooting a 5-under 67 for a one-stroke
lead on Rafael Cabrera-Bello after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic.
Westwood was three shots behind McIlroy and Bjorn at the start of the round
but closed the gap with three birdies in his first four holes. The third-ranked
Englishman birdied the 13th for a share of the lead with Bjorn and led when the
Dane bogeyed the 15th.
“I got off to a good start,” Westwood said. “The only time I dropped two
shots was when I hit two poor drives on 6 into the left rough, got a heavy lie
and at 8 hit it into the sand on right. Other than that, very solid and gave
myself lots of birdie chances.”
Joining Cabrera-Bello at one-shot back were Stephen Gallacher (68) and
Marcel Siem (68). McIlroy, who struggled early, finished with a 72 to trail
Westwood by two shots. Bjorn was three behind the leader with a 73.
Coming into Saturday, it appeared Westwood’s biggest challengers this
weekend would be U.S. Open champion McIlroy and Bjorn, who beat Tiger Woods in
2001 to take the Dubai title.
But McIlroy’s tee shot on No. 7 went into the water for his first bogey. He
had three more bogeys on the back nine.
“It was pretty ragged to say the least,” McIlroy said. “I think the
conditions were a little tougher, the wind got up. The greens got a little
firmer, pin positions were a little tougher … just definitely didn’t come as
easy to me as it did the first couple of days.”
With McIlroy faltering, it seemed Bjorn would take advantage. He took the
lead with a birdie at No. 7 and added another birdie on No. 10. But he struggled
on the remainder the back nine after a tee shot in the bunker led to a bogey on
15. Bjorn added two more bogeys in his last three holes.
McIlroy stayed in contention, making three birdies on the back nine,
including the 18th. McIlroy said he had a similar experience in Hong Kong where
he shot a 65 to win the tournament, so he’s confident of claiming his first
victory in Dubai since 2009.
“Today is just not going to be a day where you hit it well and you’re going
to make plenty of birdies and give yourself opportunities,” he said. “A day
like today, you just have to try to stay as close to the leaders as possible and
not let them get away from you. That’s what we tried to do today, and luckily
I’m only two back.”
Joining McIlroy were Martin Kaymer (70), Scott Jamieson (70) and Joel
Sjoholm (66). Bjorn was in a three-way tie for ninth with George Coetzee (69)
and Ben Curtis (67).
With 21 European Tour titles, Westwood has more experience than the three
players who trail by one shot. They’ve earned a combined three titles.
“Yeah, I know how to play with the lead. What did I win, four times last
year?” Westwood said, with a wry smile. “When I get a chance, I’m pretty good
at finishing off.
“I’ve won (38) times (worldwide). You know, that’s not somebody that’s not
good with a lead. You get used to knowing what to do; when to press, when not to
press, when to be patient.”
———
Follow Michael Casey on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mcasey1
Corey Pavin surges to Allianz Championship lead (PGATOUR.com)
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP)—Corey Pavin shot an 8-under 64 on Friday to take a two-shot lead over Fred Funk, Bernhard Langer and Peter Senior after the first round of the Allianz Championship.
Pavin, winless in 34 career starts in the Champions Tour, had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch to shoot a back-nine 29 at Broken Sound Golf Club.
He won 15 times on the PGA TOUR, including the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and set the nine-hole scoring record of 8-under 26 in the 2006 U.S. Bank Championship at Brown Deer Park.
“I don’t usually shoot a lot of low scores, so it’s kind of strange,” Pavin said. “When I get in those situations, I really try to focus without thinking of too much of what I’m doing. When you start thinking about how many birdies you’re making, you tend to mess up.”
He had two second-place finishes last season.
“I think it’s harder to win out here than on the PGA TOUR, because almost all of these guys have won lots of tournaments and they know how to win,” Pavin said.
Funk made his first start on the 50-and-over tour since July. He had a pair of thumb operations, eventually having a tendon in his left thumb fused last November. He had to grip a club in the operating room so the surgeon could make sure the thumb was fused in the proper position.
“That was a big ordeal,” Funk said. “I’m just happy to have a career again.”
Langer won the 2010 tournament on his way to Player of the Year honors and the Boca Raton resident serves as the unofficial host of the event. Friday night, he had more than 80 players and family members come to his house for dinner.
“This is like a home tournament for me,” Langer said.
Senior held a one-shot lead going into the final round last year in the event, but faded to 17th after a 77. Senior, like Pavin, is winless on the Champions Tour. The Australian came close last year with a trio of second-place finishes, including two playoff losses.
“The only goal I have this year is I want to win,” Senior said. “I probably had three or four chances to win last year, but never produced the goods coming down the stretch. It would be nice to get that out of the way.”
The first full-field event of the year started in steady rain and the sun finally broke through in the afternoon.
Mark Calcavecchia, riding a streak of 11 top-10 finishes, was a stroke back along with Chip Beck, Mark Brooks and John Huston. Joey Sindelar was at 68 along with Jay Haas, Bill Glasson, David Frost, Brad Faxon and Mike Goodes.
Defending champion Tom Lehman opened with a 71. Dan Forsman, the winner of the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii on Jan. 22, had a 72.
Cabrera-Bello takes clubhouse lead in Dubai (AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—Rafael Cabrera-Bello made nine birdies in his
first 11 holes Thursday to take the clubhouse lead in the first round of the
Dubai Desert Classic, finishing with a 9-under 63 to sit two strokes ahead of
Marcel Siem and Scott Jamieson.
The 27-year-old Spaniard said it was his consistent short game that helped
put him in contention for a second European Tour win and first since 2009. He
chipped to within three feet on his fourth hole for birdie, then sank a 20-foot
birdie putt on his fifth and made a 15-foot putt on his eighth.
“It felt simple. I know it’s not and I know it’s really hard to repeat,”
the 119th-ranked Cabrera-Bello said. “But it felt like everything was going
nice and smooth today.”
As he made the turn, Cabrera-Bello said he briefly thought about scoring 59,
one shot better than his career-best 60 which helped him win the Austrian Open.
But he ended the round with seven straight pars and said it’s too soon to start
thinking about winning the tournament.
“I don’t think anyone who plays good in any tournament in the first round
thinks about winning,” Cabrera-Bello said. “I’m sure that is one thing you
shouldn’t do. … You only need to think about how many times the first-round
leader ends up winning, which I don’t think is a very good percentage.”
Siem (65) started by making a long birdie putt on No. 2, then chipped in on
No. 6 for the third of his four birdies on the front. The 223rd-ranked German
challenged for the lead with three birdies on his last four holes. But then he
found the water on the 18th with his second shot and finished with a bogey.
“It was one of my best days of golf to be honest,” Siem said. “At the
beginning, I didn’t hit all the fairways. But on the back nine, I hit all the
fairways and my iron shots were all straight at it.”
Jamieson also had a strong round, with the Scot making five birdies and an
eagle in a bogey-free 65.
Four players—including Thomas Bjorn of Denmark—are three shots behind
Cabrera-Bello. Third-ranked Lee Westwood (69) is six shots off the pace.
U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, fourth-ranked Martin Kaymer and defending
champion Alvaro Quiros were still on the course.
———
Follow Michael Casey on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mcasey1
Golf-American Levin extends lead at Phoenix Open (Reuters)
* Levin ends third round six strokes in front
* In good position to clinch first PGA Tour title
(Adds Levin quotes, detail)
Feb 4 (Reuters) – Little-known American Spencer Levin
held his nerve over the tricky closing stretch to move six shots
clear after Saturday’s third round of the frost-delayed Phoenix
Open in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The cigarette-puffing Levin recovered from a bogey at the
15th with a birdie at the brutal par-four 17th to card a
three-under-par 68 on a glorious afternoon of dazzling sunshine
at the TPC Scottsdale.
In pursuit of a maiden PGA Tour victory, the 27-year-old
Californian posted a 17-under total of 196 to finish six strokes
in front of world number six Webb Simpson, who also carded a 68.
Long-hitting American Bubba Watson was a further shot back
at 10 under, a 67 putting him level with PGA Tour rookie John
Huh (69).
However no one was able to get close to the pacesetting
Levin who was five strokes in front when the frost-delayed
second round was completed earlier in the day.
“I hit a lot of good shots today and I didn’t get into much
trouble,” Levin told reporters after recording four birdies and
one bogey. “I felt like I drove it good. Until 15, I hit a lot
of solid shots, a lot of greens. It was stress-free.
“I hit a decent drive on 15, just barely left but if you hit
it barely left there it just runs off (into the water hazard).
So that was kind of a hiccup there but I made a nice putt for
par on 16 and birdied 17.
“I came back from that bogey good,” added Levin, whose best
PGA Tour finish was second place at last year’s Mayakoba Golf
Classic. “Overall it was solid. I felt I played pretty well.”
Best known for finishing joint 13th as an amateur at the
2004 U.S. Open, Levin made a solid start to the third round,
birdies at the third and fourth helping him reach the turn at 16
under, still five ahead.
COMMANDING LEAD
He also birdied the par-five 13th, after lipping out with
his eagle attempt from 22 feet, to stretch his lead to a
commanding six shots.
Though Levin recorded his only bogey of the day at the
par-five 15th after finding water off the tee, he birdied the
driveable 17th with a deft up-and-down from a greenside bunker.
A rock-solid par at the last kept him comfortably in front
of the chasing pack.
“Just go out there and try and do what I’ve been doing,”
Levin said of his intentions for Sunday’s final round.
“I know you hear guys say that all the time but if I can get
out there and shoot a good score, I should be all right.”
Phil Mickelson, winner of the Phoenix Open in 1996 and 2005,
carded his best round of the week, a five-birdie 67 lifting him
into a tie for 10th at eight under.
Though a distant eight strokes off the pace, the American
left-hander was delighted with his improved form after working
with his swing coach Butch Harmon in the morning
“We had a really good session and I was able to feel much
more confident,” Mickelson said. “I hit a lot of good shots,
especially early on, and made some birdies.
Asked what his strategy would be in the final round, he
replied: “Just shoot a good round because out here … when you
start making mistakes or hitting a bad shot, it’s very hard to
turn it around with water and trouble everywhere.
“And there’s also an opportunity to make birdies and eagles
so, if I get a hot hand and put on some pressure, you never know
what might happen.”
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by
Greg Stutchbury)