Golf roundup
Mickelson leads by seven strokes at Pebble Beach PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Phil Mickelson finally found a situation to tone down his attacking style.
With a dominant performance not seen on the Monterey Peninsula since Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open, Mickelson blew away the field Saturday in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with a 5-under 67, giving him a seven-shot lead and a tournament record for the third straight day.
Despite 24 victories on the PGA Tour, Lefty has never had a lead this large.
“I don’t want to do anything stupid,” Mickelson said. “But I don’t want to play defensive, either.”
Then again …
“With this many strokes, I also can take a few chances, too,” Mickelson said with a playful grin. “Maybe I might hit driver in a certain spot that I wouldn’t otherwise, because I’m OK if I happen to have a penalty shot or what have you. So it might lead to some different play. We’ll see.”
Either way, it appears his final round could be nothing more than a walk along the beach.
Mickelson rapped in a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach to finish the three-course rotation at 20-under 196, breaking by two shots the 54-hole scoring record set by David Duval in 1997. All he needs to do Sunday is shoot anything under par to break the 72-hole tournament record that Mark O’Meara set that year.
“Fabulous. It feels terrific,” Mickelson said.
Only an eagle by Greg Owen kept Mickelson’s lead from being even larger.
Owen, a 32-year-old from England who made it through all three stages of Q-school last year, hit a 4-iron into 12 feet on the par-5 18th at Poppy Hills for a 67.
Mickelson’s seven-shot lead was the largest on the PGA Tour since David Toms led by the same margin last year in Memphis. And it had the same feel as Woods’ record-setting performance at Pebble in the 2000 U.S. Open, when he took a 10-shot lead into the final round and won by 15.
Women’s World Cup
GEORGE, South Africa – Catriona Matthew and Janice Moodie combined for a 4-under 69 in alternate-shot play to give Scotland a share of the second-round lead in the Women’s World Cup.
Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Rui Kitada had a 72 to match Matthew and Moodie at 5-under 140 on Fancourt’s Links course.
New Zealand Open
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – England’s Oliver Wilson shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the New Zealand Open.
Wilson, seeking his first European tour title, had a 17-under 199 total on the Gulf Harbour course. England’s Miles Tunnicliff was second after a 70.
The event is co-sanctioned by the PGA European Tour and the Australasian PGA Tour.