MICKELSON, HAAS SHARE LEAD, TIGER DROPS OUT OF THE HUNT

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The way Phil Mickelson likes to play golf, he didn't have much fun Saturday at Torrey Pines.

Based on how he needs to play the South Course, Phil was thrilled.
Mickelson, pictured, gave up on his swashbuckling style by playing it safe in the Farmers Insurance Open, making eight pars and a birdie on the back nine for a 4-under 68 that gave him a share of the lead with Bill Haas.
"This course doesn't reward you for taking on any challenge," Mickelson said. "A more conservative approach into the greens, albeit boring, has led me to be on top of the leaderboard."
He was joined by Haas, who kept one shot ahead of Mickelson for most of the back nine until his wedge hopped hard on the firm green and went just over the back on the par-5 18th. He missed a 4ft par putt and had to settle for a 1-under 71.
They were at 12-under 204, a stroke ahead of Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson, who each made eagle on the 18th.
Tiger Woods, who has not lost at Torrey Pines in seven years, was nowhere to be found.
His start to a new season brought out a familiar result. Just like so much last year, Woods goes into a final round out of contention on a course where he once dominated. Woods made bogey from the second fairway with a wedge in his hand, and his day didn't improve. He shot a two-over 74, ending his streak of 21 straight rounds at par or better on the South Course in a tour event.
"I did not play well at all today," said Woods, who was eight shots behind. "It was a struggle all day, and I finally found something at 16. But 15 holes already had gone by, so that was pretty frustrating."
Mickelson's frustrations are entirely different, only at least he felt like he was winning the battle.
Torrey Pines always felt like home to Mickelson, who grew up in San Diego playing this public gem along the Pacific bluffs. He won the Buick Invitational three times, the last title coming 10 years ago. And then Rees Jones came in to revamp the South Course to get ready for the U.S. Open in 2008.
Since then, Mickelson has not finished better than fourth, and he has criticised Jones for changing the nature of Torrey.
Mickelson, whose reputation has been built on taking on risks, decided to go a different route.
"I love playing aggressive," he said. "I think people want to see birdies and they want to see bogeys. They want to see us attacking holes, trying to get it close. And this course just doesn't reward you for taking any risk. In fact, it penalises you. That's why I've kind of steadily worked my way up without too many mistakes."
Even with his long-time nemesis out of the way, Mickelson doesn't see an easy path to winning.
Mahan and Watson each had 69 and are at 11-under 205. Another shot back is Anthony Kim, showing signs of turning his game around. Kim escaped with only a bogey on the 15th after an adventure through the eucalyptus trees, and birdied the 18th for a 71.
John Daly, who pulled within one shot of the lead early in the third round, fell apart with a string of bogeys and shot 76.
Mickelson made only one birdie on the par 5s, and one birdie on the back nine, although it was a dandy. With a breeze in his face, the left-hander hit 4-iron with a slight cut just in front of the green and saw it roll 6 feet away to the front flag.
Haas was paying attention to that one, a sign of what he faces in the final round.
"It was a shot that I don't have," he said. "And if I did have it, I wouldn't try it."
He is satisfied with his own game, and Mickelson is equally impressed, saying Haas has a "simple, beautiful swing" with good touch around the greens.
Haas didn't make too many mistakes, and pulled ahead with two good birdies. With the tee back in U.S. Open territory on the 13th, making it play over 600 yards, Haas nearly got home with a 3-wood that set up and easy up-and-down birdie. All that kept him out of the lead was a wedge that bounced over the firm 18th green into the rough.
Woods started the third round only five shots behind, and that was as close as he got.
It what has become a troublesome theme for Woods this week, the wedge is what held him back. From just over 100 yards in the fairway, he dumped a wedge into a bunker and left himself no shot, blasting out to 20ft for bogey. That was followed by a three-putt bogey, and a bunker-to-bunker bogey on the fifth hole.
He picked up birdies on the par 5s on the front nine, and played one over par the rest of the way. When he was in the fairway with a short iron or a wedge, he never gave himself many looks at birdie.
The star of his group was Jhonattan Vegas, the Venezuela rookie coming off a play-off win at the Hope. He made his first meeting with Woods seem like an ordinary round. With some good par saves and a two-putt birdie at the end, he wound up beating Woods by five shots and still has a chance to win the tournament.
Vegas was at 9-under 207, only three shot out of the lead.
"I felt comfortable playing with him," Vegas said. "And the crowd was crazy, but it was fun. I enjoyed it."
Few people are having more fun than Mickelson, who hopes to have discovered how to win at Torrey Pines, and is relishing in having his wife, Amy, mingling in the crowd at a golf tournament for the first time since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2009. She showed up at the 18th green at the Masters when Mickelson won last year, and spent much of her time in a golf cart at the soggy Ryder Cup in Wales.
"I love playing well in this tournament, and I've missed it," Mickelson said.

+First prize is worth $1,044,000.

JUSTIN ROSE LET DOWN AGAIN BY HIS PUTTER
FROM THE BT YAHOO SPORTS SERVICE

Justin Rose fumed with frustration after he undermined a superb display of shot-making with a balky putter in the third round at Torrey Pines, San Diego.
A double winner on the US circuit, the 30-year-old Englishman coped well with the firm, fast-running fairways on the Southe Course but he totalled 32 putts on the greens, which might please a club golfer but is no use to a pro competing at the highest level.
"I am so frustrated," Rose said after he carded a level-par 72 to finish a sun-drenched day 10 strokes off the lead.
"I am playing so well right now and that should have been a 66 for me out there today. I must have missed 12 putts inside six feet this week."
Rose offset two birdies with two bogeys, one of them a three-putt from seven feet at the par-five sixth where he had lined up a birdie chance.
"I know everyone is missing one or two (putts) but this is unbelievable," he said after posting a two-under total of 214. "I am so frustrated with the putter right now and it's hard to be positive about that.
"I am playing so well but it's hard to keep foraging forward in the tournament when you are kicking yourself in the teeth so many times. I am trying to be patient out there."
Rose, who clinched his first US Tour title at last year's Memorial tournament before adding a second at the AT and T National the following month, said the speed of his putts was the problem.
"There's nothing wrong with the stroke," he added. "My speed's not good. I am hitting through the break and then I try and over-read one and then I die (lag) it too much.
"Like that last hole," he said, referring to the par-five ninth. "I had eight feet right up there (for birdie) and I leave it an inch short in the middle.
"I'm just not running the ball with the right speed and obviously speed is critical when you are choosing your line."
Rose, also a four-times winner on the European Tour, said his putting has been streaky in recent years.
"I've just got to be patient," he added. "It will get hot. I know I am a good putter. It's just that I have high expectations. I read the greens well and I do a lot of things well. It's just not quite adding up right now."
After finishing the third round, Rose sought out American Brandt Snedeker for some advice on how to putt the poa annua (grass) greens at Torrey Pines.
"Got some good insights! Hope they pay off! He can roll it!" Rose tweeted.
Snedeker, who will start Sunday's final round in a tie for seventh place, needed only 25 putts in the opening round at Torrey Pines and has a good track record on the greens at the coastal venue. He is also much sought-after for sorting out other people's putting problems.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)

Players from US unless stated
204 Phil Mickelson 67 69 68, Bill Haas 67 66 71.
205 Hunter Mahan 69 67 69, Bubba Watson 71 65 69.
206 Anthony Kim 68 67 71.
207 Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) 69 69 69.
Selected scores:

212 Tiger Woods 69 69 74, Brian Davis (England) 68 68 75 (T24).

214 Justin Rose 72 70 72 (T46).

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PAUL O'HARA JOINT FIFTH DESPITE SHORT-HOLE BLUNDERS

Paul O'Hara bogeyed three short holes in his second round today but the good news from Turkey is that the Motherwell man salvaged a two-under-par 67 and is joint fifth on three-under 135 with Sunday's final round in the Sueno Duens Classic at Belek to come.
O'Hara birdied the first, short fourth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 18th in halves of 33 (one under) and 34 (one under). He bogeyed the second, short seventh, short 12th and short 17th.
The Scot is four shots behind the joint leaders on seven-under 131,
Marek Novy (66-65) from the Czech Republic and Germany's Sebastian Buhl (67-64).
They are two shots ahead of Damien Perrier from France (67+66) so even if the joint pacemakers are perhaps out of reach for O'Hara, he could well finish third with another sub-par round on Sunday.
Novy made only one bogey but five birdies in his second round. Buhl was on his way to a record round today with seven birdies after 12 holes but a bogey on 15 and a double bogey on 17 dropped him back to a 64 in the end - after he birdied also the last hole.
The final round of the 2011 Sueno Dunes Classic will start at 8 am local time on Sunday.
The total purse of the tournament is 30,000 Euros. The winner will get a cheque for 5,000 Euros.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 138 (2x69)
131 Marek Novey (Czech Republic) 66 65, Seb Buhl (Germany) 67 64.
133 Damien Perrier (France) 67 66.
134 Daniel Wunsche (Germany) 68 66.
135 Max Glauert (Germany) 64 71, Paul O'Hara (Scotland) 68 67, Stephan Gross (Germany) 67 68, Alex Knappe (Germany) 68 67, Gareth Davies (England) 71 64.

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ZIMBABWE OPEN REDUCED TO THREE ROUNDS

FROM THE SUNSHINE TOUR WEBSITE
After not having hit a single shot yesterday, defending champion Jbe’ Kruger played himself into contention after completing his second round of the Africom Zimbabwe Open today.
Play was once again suspended this morning for an hour and a half after more rain waterlogged the Royal Harare Golf Club. Golf got underway once more at 08h30 with Kruger having to still wait a couple of minutes before being able to tee off.
However, once underway he quickly got into a groove with three unanswered birdies on the front nine. An unfortunate bogey on the 10th was quickly cancelled out by a birdie on the par-three 11th before he added another birdie on the 14th to sign off with his second consecutive four-under par 68.
Kruger is now alone in fourth place, five shots behind Theunis Spangenberg who luckily finished his round just before play was called off yesterday. Darryn Lloyd is still alone in second on 11-under par with Deane Pappas a further stroke adrift.
Kruger actually found it to his advantage that he had no play yesterday after struggling with a slight back injury which he was able to sort out before this morning.
The tournament has been reduced to 54 holes with the third and final round due to be played on Sunday - unless the rain returns!

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STONEHAVEN MAN'S TWO ACES IN NINE-HOLE ROUND

Stonehaven Golf Club member Adam Smith, 47, had time for only nine holes of golf today - and he had a hole in one at two of them! He was playing in the club's winter league singles competition along with Keith Taylor and Tom Hyder and he holed out his first shot of the day with a four-iron, at the 18th hole (163 yards). The Stonehaven winter course starts at the 18th.
Adam then went on to hole a five-iron at the seventh hole (132 yards). He had to stop after nine holes as he had to leave early to view a new car in Aberdeen.
In fact, Adam nearly did not play at all. His usual playing partner Ian Harrison had a sore ankle and had to pull out.
"I did think about whether I would go along or not - but I'm really glad I did!"
Adam, a seven-handicapper and an Aberrdeenshire Council technician, has been a Stonehaven GC member since 1994 and has had one hole in one before, at the 18th hole at Stonehaven.
The odds against two holes in one in a round are reputed to be 67 million to one. Two holes in one in nine holes? The sky's the limit! The miraculous feat has been achieved in the North-east before, believe it or not. Ian Angus of Duff House Royal aced the sixth and ninth short holes at the Banff course in 1982.

CASEY AND HANSON SHARE LEAD AT 16 UNDER IN BAHRAIN

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Paul Casey justified his position as the highest-ranked player in the field by moving into a share of the lead alongside Peter Hanson at the Volvo Golf Champions in Bahrain today.

Using his power to eagle and birdie the two par-5s on the back nine - he was on the green in two at both of them - the World No. 9 shot a third-round 66 to join Ryder Cup Swede Hanson on 16 under par.
Victory for the Englishman could make it four Europeans in the top five on the Official World Golf Ranking with Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell currently first, second and fourth.
"It was fun," said Casey. "I had good control of the ball for the first time this week and drove it very nicely.
"It was only one shot lower than the first two days, but a lot more comfortable and probably should have been lower."
He missed from under six feet on the last.
Casey failed to retain his Ryder Cup spot last year, and went through the season without a win in either Europe or America.
"It's difficult,” he added. “I'm playing in the best events in the world and I do need to step it up, but I'm not worried about it."
Hanson, one of four halfway leaders, shot a second successive 67 to go with his opening 66 as he and Casey took a one stroke advantage over Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke and South African James Kingston.
An eagle on the ninth for the second day running was the obvious highlight for Hanson.
It followed birdies on the two previous holes and then came a 35ft putt holed for another at the 11th.
"I had high expectations in Abu Dhabi last week, but then went down with the 'flu," he stated.
"I still have a bit of a cough, but no fever and I'm very happy how I'm playing. It's going to be a tough final day, though, and it's all about trying to make as many birdies as you can."Clarke led the way after an opening 32, but then reeled off eight pars in a row before boosting his hopes of a 13th European Tour title with a closing 14ft birdie putt.
The 42-year-old is working on a putting tip from Ryder Cup captain José Maria Olazábal and commented: "It's definitely been an awful lot better.
"Even the ones I miss have been quality strokes, which is a pleasant change. José Maria told me it would take a while."
Miguel Angel Jiménez was back with a putter in his bag after breaking one into two pieces during a second-round moment of anger, but it did not do him much good.
Jiménez made three birdies yesterday, using a lob-wedge instead, but from a 65 and a share of the second-round lead he slipped back to fifth spot with a 69.
Round of the day was a course record-equalling 64 from 2004 Open Championship winner Todd Hamilton.
The American, who has switched to the European Tour after losing playing rights for the US Tour, had made the cut with only a shot to spare and still had five strokes to make up.
Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington went in the opposite direction with 73s - they are seven under and five under - and Colin Montgomerie remained three under with a 72.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 216 (3x72). Yardage 7,243
200 Paul Casey (England) 67 67 66, Peter Hanson (Sweden) 66 67 67.
201 Darren Clarke (N Ireland) 69 66 67, James Kingston (S Africa) 67 67 67.
202 Miguel A Jimenez (Spain) 68 65 69.
203 Matteo Manassero (Italy) 67 70 66, Johan Edfors (Sweden) 64 71 68, Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 70 64 69 (35-34), Francesco Molinari (Italy) 66 69 69, Alex Noren (Sweden) 67 70 67, Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 68 65 71, David Horsey (England) 69 70 65.


REST SCOTS' THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
207 Richie Ramsay 72 68 67 (33-34) (T21).
210 Gary Orr 71 70 69 (34-35) (T43).
213 Paul Lawrie 68 73 72 (36-36), Colin Montgomerie 72 69 72 (34-38) (T56).






READ ALL THE THIRD-ROUND TOTALS AND CHECK THE SCORECARDS

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WOODS, MICKELSON IN THE HUNT AT TORREY PINES

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
By Cameron Morfit, Senior Writer, GOLF Magazine
SAN DIEGO — Tiger Woods found seemingly every bunker on the South Course, twice failing to get out of traps, while Phil Mickelson found only two of 14 fairways on the North.
Still, the top two draws in American golf are tantalisingly close to the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
"I'm confident heading into the weekend," said Mickelson, who fired a second-round 69 despite struggling off the tee.
He and six others were at 8 under, three behind leader Bill Haas, who fired a 66 on the South on Friday.
Haas is coming off a second-place finish at the Bob Hope Classic last week, and a two-win 2010 (Hope, Viking Classic).
Anthony Kim, finally playing without pain in his thumb, birdied his first four holes and shot a 5-under 67 on the more difficult South Course. He was in second alone at 9 under.
Playing with Kim and Rocco Mediate, Woods birdied four straight holes on the front nine, but faltered by going three-over in a five-hole stretch that could have been worse.
Twice he failed to escape greenside bunkers, on the 11th and 14th holes, but splashed out and saved bogey both times.
The six-time Farmers winner recovered with birdies on 16 and 18, and his second-straight 69 put him at 6 under, five back.
"I lost it in the middle part of the round," Woods said, "and then I got it back at the end."
The widely reported demise of the American Tour pro has been slightly exaggerated, if Friday's results are to be believed.
Six of the seven at 8 under are Americans, including not just Mickelson but also John Daly (69), Rickie Fowler (71), Hunter Mahan (67), Bubba Watson (65) and defending champion Ben Crane (66). Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson (69) also was at 8.
"Feel solid," said Daly, who made a double bogey after four-putting on No. 4, his 13th of the day, but bounced back with a birdie two holes later. "Hitting the driver real solid and everything's just solid. That is something that I haven't had in a while. I think a lot of that is trying to overcome injuries and stuff."
A year after only three of the top 20 ranked players bothered to show up, the Farmers could be heading toward an epic weekend.
Woods, who was headed to the driving range after his round to make a few corrections, was pleased with his finish after bogeys on 11, 14 and 15 knocked him off the first page of the leaderboard.
His swing change under new coach Sean Foley is still a work in progress, but all things considered it seems to be working.
"I have to be patient with the process," he said. "It doesn't happen overnight. I know it's in there because I can hit some really sweet shots like I did at 18, but it's a matter of more work, more reps, and more comfort."
Mickelson's inspired play has been a particularly pleasant surprise, given his bittersweet 2010, when he won the Masters but couldn't seem to get it together anywhere else but Augusta.
With his wife, Amy, watching the first two rounds from outside the ropes, Phil has scored well despite not having his "A" game. Now the three-time Farmers champion, who limped in at 19th here last year, has to find a way to win on the South Course, which he hasn't done since Rees Jones redesigned it for the 2008 U.S. Open.
"I am looking forward to it," Mickelson said. "I feel like I have a decent idea of how I want to play the golf course."
As it did in the first round, the South Course played nearly two shots tougher than the revamped North.
Fowler, who tied for fifth last season when he was Rookie of the Year, made four birdies and three bogeys on the South, posting a relatively pedestrian 1-under 71 after shooting 65 on the North.
Bubba Watson, who missed the cut at the Hope last week, matched Fowler's 65 on the North on Friday, the low round of the day.

LEADERBOARDPar 144 (2x72)
Prize fund: $5.8 million. Winner gets: $1,044,000.
Players from US unless stated
133 Bill Haas 67 66.
135 Anthony Kim 68 67.
136 Fredrick Jacobson (Sweden) 67 69, Bubba Watson 71 65, Rickie Fowler 65 71, Phil Mickelson 67 69, John Daly 67 69, Hunter Mahan 69 67, Ben Crane 68 68.
137 Brian Davis (England) 69 68, Chris Kirk 66 71.
Selected scores:
138 Tiger Woods 69 68, Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) 69 69 (jt 12th).
142 Justin Rose 72 70.
MISSED THE CUT (143 or better qualified)
148 Martin Laird (Scotland) 73 75.
151 Michael Sim (Scotland/Australia) 78 73.

THE WAY IT WAS: STONEHAVEN GOLF CLUB IN THE 1920s

E-mail from Brian Ewen.

Reference Duncan Mitchell's picture-story (Scottishgolfview.com, Friday, January 28) about his grandfather George Mitchell who was Stonehaven Golf Club professional from 1920 to 1925.
I also have some old hickory clubs from the days of George Mitchell.
I am under the impression that he never made these clubs, but was the retailer.
There should be some sort of other mark on Gordon's putter, that will indicate who the maker was.
Among my collection of old photos of Stonehaven Golf Club, I have the one below, which shows Mr. Mitchell's name above the Professional shop, which would have been situated under the clubhouse, and is now used as one of the locker rooms.
Brian Ewen

Stonehaven Golf Club house during George Mitchell's days as club professionals (1920-25). If you enlarge the picture by clicking on it, you will be able to see the surname "Mitchell" over the pro shop entrance.

+IF you have any old golf pictures, and stories to go with them, you can E-mail them to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

FOOTNOTE FROM COLIN FARQUHARSON: Stonehaven Golf Club has particular memories for me because as a cub reporter with Aberdeen Journals - the year before I went off to do my National Service - I was sent on my first golf-reporting assignment, the Stonehaven 36-hole men's open of  1955. I can remember taking the bus out to Stonehaven and keeping the ticket for the return journey in the evening.

Wallace Anderson, who was a Glenbervie GC member and played football professionally for Falkirk, won the event. A lot of pro footballers of that era were very good amateur golfers - probably because they had so much free time in the afternoons after training. Max Murray of Rangers and Aberdeen's Tommy Pearson were other footballer-golfers whose names I recall from way back.

Being only a lad of 17, I was still very shy and stood or sat outside the Stonehaven clubhouse all day. I never spoke to anyone, not even Wallace Anderson - which would be a "no-no" in golf reporting these days. I copied down all the scores for the tournament which was run from the little starter's hut to the left of the clubhouse which has not changed at all in outward appearance in the 50-odd years since then. Golden memories.