Golf
Mickelson shares Doral lead
2009-03-15 09:46
Joint leader (Gallo Images)
|
Miami - Americans Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney shared the lead on 16-under-par after the third round of the WGC-CA Championship on Saturday.
India's Jeev Milkha Singh (68) and Colombian Camilo Villegas (69) were tied for third place, four shots off the pace at the Doral Resort and Spa.
Watney took over at the top of the leaderboard from second-round leader Mickelson after racing to the turn in a four-under 32.
He then suffered his first bogey of the tournament at the 11th before birdies at the 12th and 16th gave him a 67 for a total of 200.
Watney, who played with Mickelson, said he was pleased with his round but did not consider the tournament to now be a head-to-head battle.
"I just wanted to go out and really get into my round and not worry too much about the scoreboard or about playing Phil directly," Watney said.
"With this kind of field and with four shots not being that many you can't talk about it being one-on-one unless it gets down to the last three or four holes."
Mickelson mixed six birdies with three bogeys as he carded a 69.
The left-hander was unlucky on the par-three fourth as he drove the green but then watched the ball gently roll off the putting surface and into water.
Mickelson's short-game has been outstanding this week but it let him down when he three-putted the seventh.
His third bogey came at the 17th when he drove left behind a cluster of trees and bushes and while he has frequently tried for a spectacular recovery, he instead opted for a safe return to the fairway.
"I felt that if I tried to hit a shot that didn't get up quick it could go in the bush and stay there and I could be looking at seven," Mickelson said.
"So I just hit a sand wedge to get back in play. Every now and then I'll make a smart play.
"I would have taken 69 at the start of the day because it was tougher and windier, but I had opportunities to make that a low round and a couple of putts didn't fall."
Tiger Woods, in his first stroke-play event since an eight-month injury layoff, produced his best round with a 68 for a seven-under total of 209.
Britain's Rory McIlroy, bidding to become the youngest winner on the PGA Tour, was one off the lead before making a hash of the closing stretch when he bogeyed three of the last five holes and made 72 for a total of 206.
American Kenny Perry, tied for third overnight, also fell away after a double-bogey on the par-three 13th contributed to a 71 for 205.
Perry's tee shot hit a rake and raced across the green into the rough. As he set up for his next stroke the ball moved forward and cost him a one-shot penalty.
Leading third round scores from the $8.5 million WGC-CA Championship at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa (par-72, USA unless noted):
200 - Phil Mickelson 65-66-69, Nick Watney 66-67-67
204 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 65-71-68, Camilo Villegas (COL) 67-68-69
205 - Jim Furyk 68-68-69, Charley Hoffman 68-70-67, Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 70-66-69, Kenny Perry 70-64-71, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 72-64-69
206 - Justin Leonard 69-69-68, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 68-66-72, Rod Pampling (AUS) 66-69-71
207 - Luke Donald (GBR) 69-70-68, Soren Hansen (DEN) 74-69-64, Dustin Johnson 70-66-71, James Kingston (RSA) 66-74-67, Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 65-70-72
208 - Padraig Harrington (IRL) 66-71-71
209 - Briny Baird 70-68-71, Paul Casey (GBR) 71-66-72, Ernie Els (RSA) 70-71-68, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 67-69-73, Ian Poulter (GBR) 69-67-73, Steve Stricker 69-70-70, Oliver Wilson (GBR) 67-70-72, Tiger Woods 71-70-68
210 - Ryuji Imada (JPN) 70-71-69, Mike Weir (CAN) 71-69-70
211 - Thomas Aiken (RSA) 74-66-71, Stuart Appleby (AUS) 71-71-69, Tim Clark (RSA) 71-71-69, Martin Kaymer (GER) 73-68-70, Justin Rose (GBR) 73-70-68
212 - Robert Allenby (AUS) 69-71-72, Mark Brown (NZL) 73-71-68, Ross Fisher (GBR) 71-69-72, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 72-72-68, Shingo Katayama (JPN) 70-70-72, Garth Mulroy (RSA) 70-70-72, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 73-69-70, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 74-69-69, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 69-72-71
213 - Stephen Ames (CAN) 72-70-71, Richard Finch (GBR) 72-72-69, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 71-70-72
214 - Retief Goosen (RSA) 65-76-73
215 - Lin Wen-Tang (TPE) 75-70-70, Andres Romero (ARG) 67-71-77, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 69-73-73
216 - Darren Clarke (NIR) 74-71-71, Peter Hanson (SWE) 70-74-72, Yong-eun Yang (KOR) 73-70-73
217 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 69-72-76, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 73-74-70, Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 69-74-74
218 - KJ Choi (KOR) 73-73-72, Richard Sterne (RSA) 70-76-72
219 - Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 76-71-72, Adam Scott (AUS) 71-76-72
220 - Lee Westwood (GBR) 71-71-78
222 - Trevor Immelman (RSA) 74-76-72
224 - Azuma Yano (JPN) 77-71-76
Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 75-69-DQ