DAVIS LOVE AWARDED BOB JONES AWARD BY USGA

Davis Love III, who captained the United States team in a losing effort against Europe in last year's Ryder Cup, was awarded the 2013 Bob Jones Award on Saturday at the USGA's annual meeting.
The award is considered the governing body's highest honour.
"Through his actions on and off the course, Davis has inspired a generation of golfers with his passion for the game and respect for its history," USGA president Glen D. Nager said in a statement. 
"He exhibits the traits of honesty and sportsmanship displayed by the award's namesake."
Love has 20 career US PGA Tour victories, including the 1997 PGA Championship.

MICKELSON WINS PHOENIX OPEN BY FOUR FROM SNEDEKER

 FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

By PGATOUR.COM wire reports

SCOTTSDALE, AriIzona -- Phil Mickelson's 5-iron shot sailed long and right on the par-3 seventh, stopping an inch from the fringe and leaving him in danger of losing at least a stroke to playing competitor Brandt Snedeker.

Mickelson ended up leaving Snedeker shaking his head and went on to complete a wire-to-wire victory by four strokes on Sunday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. 

  

Final leaderboard  Interview transcripts   

Fifty-five feet away, with a mound and a 20-foot swath of fringe between his ball and the hole, Mickelson decided to putt through the taller grass rather than chip over it. He had caddie Jim Mackay remove the flagstick so that it wouldn't deflect the ball if it had too much speed, a move that proved wise when the ball raced into the cup.
"The challenge of that was to judge the speed where half the putt is through fringe and half is on the green," Mickelson said.
 "I got lucky to have made it, obviously. I was just trying to two-putt it. It was going fairly quickly when it got to the hole, probably would have been 6, 8 feet by. With Brandt in there close, that was a big momentum change."
Snedeker joked with Mickelson for a moment before holing his own birdie putt.
"Are you kidding me?" Snedeker said about his reaction to the putt. "I fully expected Phil to hit a flop shot from there. He didn't have much of a putt, and he putted through it.
"I hit a great shot in there close and I thought, `Hey, I can get one on him here and put some pressure on him.' He makes that, and he let me hear about it before I putt, and he let me know that I needed to make that to tie. We had fun with it. That's Phil being Phil."
Mickelson shot a 4-under 67 to finish at 28-under 256, two strokes off the US PGA Tour record of 254 set by Tommy Armour III in the 2003 Texas Open. The 42-year-old left-hander and former Arizona State University star won after struggling the last two weeks -- tying for 37th at La Quinta in his opener and 51st at Torrey Pines -- and making news by talking about tax increases.
Mickelson moved to No. 3 in the race for the FedExCup after earning 500 points for his victory at TPC Scottsdale.
"It's an important one for me, because it's been a while since I won, been a while since I've been in contention," Mickelson said. "I was certainly nervous heading into today. I think the thing I'm most excited about was the way I was able to regain control of my thoughts after a few shots early on that I didn't care for."
Mickelson missed a chance for a 59 in the first round when his birdie putt on the final hole caught the right edge of the cup, curled 180 degrees and stayed out. He settled for a 60 and followed with rounds of 65 and 64 to take a six-stroke lead into the final round. "I think that sets up the tone for the rest of the year, because I really started to play well," Mickelson said. "But for me, the rest of the year took a turn on Tuesday when I got my new driver. It just changed my whole deal." Snedeker, the reigning FedExCup champion and current FedExCup leader, finished second, four strokes back after a 65. "Sometimes you have to tip your hat and say, `Phil played unbelievable and deserved to win,'" Snedeker said. "That's kind of what this week was all about."
Mickelson took a three-stroke lead to the 17th tee, and nearly drove into the left-side water on the drivable par 4, his ball stopping a yard short of the hazard. He flopped his second shot 15 feet past the hole and made the birdie putt.
Mickelson parred the par-4 18th after another drive to the left, one that easily cleared the water he hit into Friday en route to a double bogey, and Snedeker closed with a bogey.
Mickelson had his third wire-to-wire victory and first since tMaking his 24th appearance in the event that he also won in 1996 and 2005, Mickelson tied the tournament scoring record set by Mark Calcavecchia in 2001, and joined Calcavecchia, Arnold Palmer and Gene Littler as the only three-time winners. With six victories in Arizona, Mickelson also matched Johnny Miller's TOUR record.
After three nearly cloudless days in the Valley of the Sun, the final round was played in overcast conditions. Light rain even fell for a few minutes as Mickelson finished warming up on the practice green and played the first hole. 
After the rain stopped, Mickelson bogeyed the par-4 second and birdied the two front-nine par 3s, pulling off the sensational putt on No. 7.
 Snedeker pulled within three strokes with a birdied on the par-4 9th, but Mickelson pushed the advantage back to four with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 13th, his fourth straight birdie on the hole. Snedeker saved par after his drive stopped under jumping cholla, forcing him to take a drop for an unplayable lie.
Mickelson matched Snedeker on the next two holes, saving par on the par-4 14th with a 10-foot putt and two-putting for birdie on the par-5 15th. Snedeker pulled within three again on the par-3 16th, hitting to 5 feet on the stadium hole, and matched Mickelson's birdie on 17.
Snedeker was coming off a second-place tie Monday at Torrey Pines, four strokes behind Tiger Woods in the fog-delayed event.
"I'm running into Hall of Famers every week," Snedeker said.
Scott Piercy shot a 61 to finish third at 23 under.
"These greens were amazing," Piercy said. "If you got it online, rolling, you made it."
DIVOTS: The crowd Sunday was estimated at 58,791 for a weekly total of 525,821, short of the record of 538,356 set in 2008. ... Mickelson was a course-record 9 under on the four par-3 holes and hit 63 of the 72 greens in a regulation. He has a 10-year winning streak, the longest active run on the tour, and has victories in 20 seasons, third behind Sam Snead (24) and Jack Nicklaus (21). Mickelson is ninth on the career victory list, four behind No. 8 Walter Hagen. Lefty also led wire-to-wire in 2005 at Pebble Beach. he 2006 BellSouth Classic -- a 13-stroke blowout the week before the second of his three Masters victories. He pushed his victory total to 41, winning for the first time since 51 weeks ago at Pebble Beach -- where he will go for a record-tying fifth victory next weekend.

Padraig Harrington made the top 10 - tied 9th to be precise - with a 70 for 267, the same total as Matt Every. 

LEADING TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
256 Phil Mickelson 60 65 64 67
260 Brandt Snedeker 64 66 65 65
261 Scott Piercy 70 66 64 61
262 Ryan Moore 66 66 65 65
265 Ryan Palmer 64 73 66 62
266 Bill Haas 65 64 70 67, Brendon De Jonge (South Africa) 66 67 67 66, Brendan Steele 69 65 65 87
267 Matt Every 65 67 69 66, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 64 70 63 70.  

VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND CHECK
THE SCORECARDS 

CLICK HERE           

LEADING SCORES FROM SCOTTISH JUNIOR GOLF TOUR AT DRUMOIG

FROM WALTER BURNS

Here are the results from the Scottish Junior Golf Tour event at Drumoig today. It was a level 5 event. 

Drumoig, as usual, was in great condition for the time of year for an inland course. Like last year it was very cold and windy, a good preparation for the kind of conditions they will probably experience at Monifieth during the Scottish boys' championship at the beginning of April. 

The standard scratch went up from 72 to 74. 

Chris McLean from Clydebank won the Under-18s with a three-over- par 75. 

Calum Fyfe from Cawder won the Under-16s with an excellent 76 on a day when most of the younger group struggled with the conditions.

LEADING SCORES

Under-16

76 Calum Fyfe (Cawder)

79 Conor MacCallum (St Andrews)

81 Paul Delaney (Balmore)

82 Andrew Webber (Lenzie)

Under-19

75 Christopher McLean (Clydebank)

76 Stewart Boyd (Hayston), Kieran Mackay (Inverness), Alasdair Ross (Fort William)

Michael Brodie from Strathmore won the short game skill challenges.

 

Walter Burns

Scottish Junior Golf Tour

Mob: 07951 103 827

Email: walter@scottishjuniorgolftour.co.uk

Web: www.scottishjuniorgolftour.co.uk

 

ENGLAND PLAYERS SECOND AND THIRD IN NSW MEDAL

Victoria's Thomas Horan (Cheltenham GC) has won the NSW Medal, which was reduced to 54 holes after a violent electrical storm swept across Sydney.
Horan's third round of 67 at Bonnie Doon in the strong southerly leap frogged him into the lead after three rounds.
It was then announced that the 54-hole totals would be the final positions after the conditions became too dangerous for play to continue.
Englishmen Nathan Kimsey and Garrick Porteous finished second and third respectively.
The top 32 have qualified for the NSW Amateur Championship (match play) being held at The Royal Sydney Golf Club, from Sunday to Tuesday.

TO VIEW ALL THE STROKE-PLAY TOTALS

CLICK HERE 

LATER NEWS
Top seed Thomas Horan was beaten in the first round of the match-play and No 2 seed Nathan Kimsey lost in the second round.
Garrick Porteous and Neil Raymond are through to the quarter-finals.

TO VIEW THE MATCH-PLAY CHART

CLICK HERE    

McARTHUR FINISHES SECOND IN CHALLENGE TOUR OPENER IN INDIA

Andrew McArthur studying the line of a putt during his final round in India 
Picture by courtesy of Karolina Gembara 

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT 

FROM NEIL AHERN, European Tour Press Officer

Andrew McArthur came agonisingly close to claiming a second European Challenge Tour title at the Gujarat Kensville Challenge in India but had to settle for runner-up spot as home favourite Shiv Kapur sealed a two-shot victory.

Kapur entered the final day with a four-shot cushion over the Glaswegian but McArthur launched a late title tilt at Kensville Golf and Country Club, outside the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, closing the gap to two shots going down the last.

It was all set up for a tense finish and a sweet second shot from McArthur gave him a makeable birdie putt on the final green while Kapur’s approach bounced into the rough over the back.

But the challenger missed his 15 footer and Kapur held his nerve to get up and down for par and finish on 14 under for the tournament, two clear of McArthur – whose three under par 69 meant he finished the week on 12 under.

Despite coming so close to a second Challenge Tour title, McArthur was still happy with his start to the season and is hoping to push on from here in his search for one of the 20 European Tour cards on offer via the Challenge Tour.

“At the 18^th I was thinking if I hole that putt, he has still got a little knee-knocker to win but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” said the 33 year old.

“I just under-read the putt on the last. I knew it was going to come back from the outside right of the hole and then it just kept going left and slipped past but it was a good putt.

“I just kept doing the same things as I have done all week but I didn’t play quite as well tee to green today. I holed out really well sometimes but I threw a couple of shots away at the same time and had a bad tee shot off the 14^th which gave me a silly bogey.

“I had reigned it in a little bit after a couple of bogeys on the front nine but then that bogey at the 14^th came, which wasn’t ideal.

 “It’s a good start to the season though. Obviously I wanted to win, that’s why I was here, but it’s a positive start.

“I went to see Phil Kenyon over the winter to improve my putting and all of a sudden I feel like I have a chance with every putt and all week I barely missed anything within six feet.

“I have a bit of confidence early doors now. I almost wish there wasn’t a gap after Kenya (in two weeks) but hopefully I can do well there and we’ll see where we stand then.”

Kapur, meanwhile, is now aiming to make his way back on to The European Tour via the Challenge Tour and the 30 year old believes the win could be a catalyst for the kind of success which has been somewhat elusive thus far in his career.

“Now that I have won this it might be a sign of things to come,” he said. “I am playing well obviously and I hope to play a few more Challenge Tour events and try and make my way back on to The European Tour that way.

“I played six full seasons on The European Tour and finally lost my card last year but I went through a patch where I was second guessing myself on whether I had what it takes at that level. But deep down I knew I had it in me so this is a great start to the year and positive for the future.”

  FINAL TOTALS

   Par 288 (4x72)

274 S Kapur (Ind) 67 71 65 71

276 A McArthur  (Sco) 67 69 71 69

277 P Archer (Eng) 73 69 66 69

280 D Im (USA) 73 68 70 69

281 T Sluiter  (Ned) 70 69 70 72, M Kumar (Ind) 73 71 68 69

282 M Perera (Sri) 69 77 67 69

284 R Gangjee (Ind) 72 69 74 69, V Riu  (Fra) 68 72 73 71, G Bhullar (Ind) 71 70 73 70, R Enoch  (Wal) 71 72 70 71

285 G Murray  (Sco) 69 73 72 71, B An (Kor) 73 69 72 71, A Domingo (Esp) 66 73 72 74

286 T Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 71 73 71, R Beem (USA) 73 73 73 67, D Vancsik (Arg) 72 72 67 75

287 L Jensen (Den) 71 75 70 71, K Bhasin (Aus) 76 70 70 71, P Uihlein  (USA) 71 72 69 75, T Hatton (Eng) 73 71 73 70, J Barnes (Eng) 73 72 70 72

288 H Rai (Ind) 71 74 68 75, S Das (Ind) 73 71 72 72

289 R Ali Mollah (Ind) 76 70 69 74, J Glennemo (Swe) 68 75 74 72, S Tiley (Eng) 70 73 72 74, D Singh  (Ind) 73 73 73 70, A Pavan (Ita) 69 71 78 71

290 W Booth  (Sco) 68 71 75 76, R Murthy (Ind) 72 75 72 71, J Lima  (Por) 70 73 68 79, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 73 75 73, M Glauert (Ger) 76 70 71 73, F McGuirk  (Eng) 69 75 71 75

291 A Velasco (Esp) 76 69 73 73, C Aguilar  (Esp) 77 70 70 74

292 A Sandhu (Ind) 73 72 76 71, S Barr (Aus) 72 71 75 74, O Chouhan (Ind) 70 74 72 76, R Sharma (Ind) 72 74 73 73, A Bernadet  (Fra) 74 71 71 76

293 S O'Hara  (Sco) 71 72 71 79

294 B Parker  (Eng) 72 75 72 75, V Kumar (Ind) 75 71 72 76, A Malik (Ind) 70 73 74 77, A Singh Chauhan (Ind) 74 73 75 72

295 R Russell (Sco) 76 70 76 73, S Hutsby  (Eng) 73 71 72 79, S Chikkarangappa (Ind) 74 73 72 76, F Colombo (Ita) 71 74 76 74,

296 C Kim (USA) 73 74 75 74, B Koepka  (USA) 70 72 78 76, V Singh (Ind) 70 75 76 75

297 D Wuensche  (Ger) 72 75 78 72, F Praegant (Aut) 70 74 76 77, R Davies (Wal) 75 71 79 72, D Brooks (Eng) 74 73 73 77

299 A Sher (Ind) 73 73 75 78, G Shaw (Nir) 72 72 80 75

301 S Sharma (Ind) 75 72 74 80

302 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 73 74 79 76

303 D Kemmer (USA) 72 74 78 79

 

STEPHEN GALLACHER WINS DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

           STEPHEN GALLACHER WITH THE DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC TROPHY

                       PICTURE BY COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES(c)

 

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Stephen Gallacher ended his nine-year wait for a second European Tour title in stunning fashion with victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic today.
The 38-year-old Scot from Linlithgow holed his approach to the par four 16th for his fifth eagle of the week to finally shake off the obdurate challenge of Richard Sterne.
A one-under-par 71 gave Gallacher a 22-under-par winning total of 266 and a three-shot victory margin; but that barely told the story of a remarkable final round.
Three clear overnight, Sterne wiped out the former European Amateur Champion’s advantage within two holes, before the pair leapfrogged each other repeatedly until Gallacher holed a 110 yard wedge to the 16th.
“I’m obviously delighted,” said Bernard Gallacher's nephew, whose only previous European Tour title in 404 starts came back in 2004 at St Andrews. “It’s taken a long time but it’s sweeter now.
“I’ve holed four shots this week, but you’ve got to do that these days to win – you need that little bit of magic.”
Gallacher now looks set to climb into the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking in time for the WGC-Accenture Match Play, and has a great chance to move into the top 50 in time for a Masters Tournament debut at Augusta National.
“It’s the only Major I’ve never played,” he said. “I sit and watch it in the house with the kids every year and obviously it would be a dream to play there.”
Chile's Felipe Aguilar and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen tied for third and England's Lee Westwood joint fourth after hitting his second shot into the water on the par five last.n the European Tour, in the 2004 Dunhill Links Championship.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) Prizemoney in Euros
266 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 63 70 61 72 (309,233)
269 Richard Sterne (South Africa) 62 70 66 71 (206,153)
271 Felipe Aguilar (Chile) 68 68 66 69, Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 67 66 67 71 (104,400 each)
272 Marcus Fraser (Australia) 67 69 69 67, Lee Westwood (England) 67 71 66 68 (71,805 each)
273 Ricardo Santos (Portugal) 66 71 69 67, Robert Rock (England) 70 68 67 68, Steve Webster (England) 69 69 65 70 (47,870).
274 Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 68 67 67 83, Tommy Fleetwood (England) 65 68 69 72 (35,624)

SELECTED TOTALS
277 Marc Warren (Scotland) 67 72 71 69 (T17) (21,812)
278 Scott Jamieson (Scotland) 65 72 70 71 (T26) (17,905)
280 Craig Lee (Scotland) 69 70 71 70, Paul Casey (England) 66 780 73 71 (T37) (11,875 each)
281 David Drysdale (Scotland) 69 70 69 73 (T45) (9,648)
283 Chris Doak (Scotland) 65 69 71 78 (T52)  (6,520)

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FULL SCOREBOARD   

Stephen Gallacher – With This Win

 

• His second European Tour International Schedule victory in his 404th European Tour event.

 

• Moves to sixth in The Race to Dubai with €314,269.

 

• Moves into the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 111th and in a very good position to qualify for the WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship for the first time.

 

• His first European Tour victory since the 2004 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, a gap of eight years and 116 days.

 

• Played in a total of 210 European Tour events between victories.

 

• From those 210 events played he has been second on three occasions. The events were the 2006 British Masters, 2012 Maybank Malaysian Open and tied second in the 2012 Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

 

• Victory comes in his 13th appearance in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

 

• Beats his previous best finish in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic of tied second in 2012. (Was also tied fourth on his debut in 2000 and tied tenth in 2011).

 

• Only the second Scot to win the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after Colin Montgomerie in 1996.

 

• Becomes the second Scot to win on the 2013 European Tour International Schedule, following Scott Jamieson, who won the Nelson Mandela Championship presented by ISPS Handa.

 

• His first European Tour victory where he has led going into the final round. (Made up three shots in the final round to win the 2004 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship).

 

• His winning total of 266 (-22) matches the tournament record in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, set by Thomas Björn in 2001.

 

COMPLETE SCOREBOARD

266 S Gallacher (Sco) 63 70 62 71,

 269 R Sterne  (RSA) 62 70 66 71,

 271 T Olesen (Den) 67 66 67 71, F Aguilar (Chi) 68 68 66 69,

 272 L Westwood (Eng) 67 71 66 68, M Fraser (Aus) 67 69 69 67,

 273 R Santos  (Por) 66 71 69 67, S Webster (Eng) 69 69 65 70, R Rock (Eng) 70 68 67 68,

 274 J Singh (Ind) 68 67 67 72, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 65 68 69 72,

 275 G Maybin (Nir) 69 67 69 70, M Manassero (Ita) 66 71 70 68, A Sullivan (Eng) 69 67 69 70,

 276 G Mulroy (RSA) 71 70 66 69, L Gagli  (Ita) 68 71 69 68,

 277 J Olazábal (Esp) 70 67 71 69, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 69 69 69 70, A Hartø  (Den) 67 67 71 72, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 67 71 68 71, S Garcia  (Esp) 68 67 71 71, P Lawrie (Irl) 66 70 71 70, M Kieffer (Ger) 66 68 69 74, I Garrido (Esp) 69 68 70 70, M Warren (Sco) 67 72 71 67,

 278 J Walters (RSA) 68 70 67 73, H Stenson (Swe) 69 69 71 69, S Jamieson  (Sco) 65 72 70 71, S Noh (Kor) 66 72 67 73,

 279 R Derksen (Ned) 68 72 69 70, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 68 68 73, A Noren  (Swe) 68 71 67 73, D Howell (Eng) 70 68 72 69, R Gonzalez (Arg) 71 70 69 69, A Wall (Eng) 68 72 68 71, C Wood  (Eng) 68 68 74 69,

 280 P Casey  (Eng) 66 70 73 71, C Lee (Sco) 69 70 71 70, M Siem  (Ger) 68 72 68 72, L Slattery (Eng) 69 70 70 71, G Havret  (Fra) 70 67 72 71, G Lockerbie  (Eng) 68 70 71 71, R Coles (Eng) 73 68 70 69, J Donaldson (Wal) 67 73 68 72,

 281 S Chowrasia (Ind) 69 70 74 68, S Khan (Eng) 68 73 70 70, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 70 69 73, G Bourdy (Fra) 67 71 71 72,

 282 P Larrazábal (Esp) 71 70 71 70, M Lafeber (Ned) 69 71 71 71, J Campillo (Esp) 69 71 69 73,

 283 M Nixon (Eng) 69 69 73 72, J Kruger (RSA) 70 66 69 78, M Ilonen  (Fin) 71 70 69 73, R Wattel  (Fra) 68 67 71 77, A Tadini (Ita) 70 71 71 71, S Dyson  (Eng) 70 71 73 69, C Doak (Sco) 65 69 71 78,

 284 D Horsey (Eng) 75 66 70 73, M O'Meara (USA) 67 74 71 72, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 71 68 73 72, T Hamilton (USA) 70 68 70 76, T Lewis (Eng) 69 72 74 69,

 285 T Jaidee (Tha) 68 68 73 76, J Gonnet  (Fra) 72 68 73 72, D McGrane (Irl) 68 72 73 72,

 287 O Fisher  (Eng) 69 72 73 73,

 288 E Pepperell (Eng) 68 70 72 78, K Horne (RSA) 68 71 74 75, T Levet (Fra) 68 70 77 73,

 290 J Van Zyl (RSA) 69 71 73 77,

TWO ENGLAND PLAYERS IN TOP TEN AT JONES CUP

England's Ben Stow is the leading British or Irish player after two rounds of the Jones Cup international amateur tournament at Ocean Forest Golf Club, Sea Island in the State of Georgia.
Stow shot 73-70 for 143 over the 7,321yd course to be sharing second place with Dutchman Rowin Caron, three shots behind the leader, American Cory Whitesett (68-72 for four-under 140).
Another England player, Jack Hiluta, a former US college student, shot 74-71 for 145 and eighth place with a round to go..
Jason Shufflebotham from Wales was lying T15 on 148 (76-72) with Kevin Phelan (Ireland) T13 on 149 (73-76).
Seb Crookall-Nixon (England) was T29 on 150 (76-74) two shots ahead of Dumfries-born Liam Johnston, currently a student at East Tennessee State University, who is T38 with scores of 75-77.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72) Yardage 7,321
Players from US unless stated
140 Cory Whitsett 68 72
143 Rowin Caron (Netherlands) 68 75, Ben Stow (England) 73 70
144 Alex Carpenter  72 72, Sean Dale 71 73, T J Mitchell 70 74, Davis White 74 70.
145 Jack Hiluta (England) 74 71

SELECTED TOTALS
148 Jason Shufflebotham (Wales) 76 72 (T15)
149 Kevin Phela (Ireland) 73 76 (T23)
150 Seb Crookall-Nixon (England) 76 74 9T29)
152 Liam Johnston (Scotland) 75 77 (T38)
153 Gregory Eason (England) 78 75, Ben  Westgate (Wales) 75 78 (T40)
154 Jonathan Bale (Wales) 79 75 (T55)
156 Richard James (Wales) 81 75 (T66)
Withdrew: Richard James (Wales) 79 wd.          

MICKELSON GOES SIX CLEAR BEFORE RECORD SCOTTSDALE CROWDS

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
By Wire reports, PGATOUR.COM

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- Phil Mickelson, shooting a third-round 64 to lead by six strokes, drew the loudest cheers from the biggest crowd in tournament history on Saturday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Mickelson nearly aced the par-3 16th, hitting a 9-iron to a foot to set up a birdie on the rowdy stadium hole packed with nearly 20,000 screaming fans. 

Full leaderboard     TOUR Report Video coverage     Attendance record 

"What's funny about that is 172 yards is a very tough 9-iron for me to get there, but I immediately take 5 yards off and in my head I had 167," Mickelson said. "The reason is you always have a little bit of adrenaline here, and the ball goes a little bit longer on 16.
"I played for a 167-yard shot and tried to hit just a comfortable or stock 9-iron, and the ball ended up flying that far and released to the hole. Having played this course and that hole over the years and knowing what your body does and how to adjust to it has helped me, and certainly it did today."
Estimated at 179,022, the third-round crowd broke the record of 173,210 set last year, also on a Saturday at fan-friendly TPC Scottsdale. The event has drawn 467,030 fans for the week and is in position to break the mark of 538,356 set in 2008.
Mickelson birdied the final four holes and five of the last six for a 7-under 64 and a six-stroke lead over 2012 FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker.
"I know how good Snedeker is and how hot he can get with a putter," Mickelson said. "He can make birdie from just about anywhere. He's going to make a run tomorrow. I, hopefully, will be able to keep pace."
The 42-year-old former Arizona State University star has led after each round, opening with a 60 and shooting a 65 on Friday. He fell a stroke short of the US Tour record for the first 54 holes, and matched the tournament mark set by Mark Calcavecchia in 2001.
Making his 24th appearance in the event that he won in 1996 and 2005, Mickelson is trying to complete his third wire-to-wire victory and first since the 2006 BellSouth Classic -- a 13-stroke blowout the week before the second of his three Masters victories.
"To me, the wire-to-wire isn't that important except for now I'm three rounds and the fourth one is kind of the more important one," Mickelson said.
"It would be an important thing because it's meant so much to me over my career having won this tournament, coming back as a past champion, and winning here in the town that has meant so much to me, to (wife) Amy and I, where we met, had our first two kids, went to college. It's a special place."
He's in position to match the tournament record of three victories set by Arnold Palmer and matched by Gene Littler and Calcavecchia. Mickelson won the last of his 40 US Tour titles 51 weeks ago at Pebble Beach.
The left-hander played the first 12 holes in 2 under, making a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-4 first and a 25-footer on the par-4 fifth. He got up and down from greenside bunkers for birdies on the par-5 13th and 15th holes, followed with the tap-in on 16, then chipped to 2 feet on the 337-yard 17th."My short game is what gave me that momentum," Mickelson said. "The bunker shots I hit on 13 and 15 were really good as well as the chip on 17."
A day after making a double-bogey 6 on the 18th when he hit a 3-wood drive into the water on the left, Mickelson blasted driver over the water and hit close to the grandstand. He got a free drop, hit to 15 feet and holed the putt.
"I took a little different strategy after yesterday," Mickelson said.
Snedeker had a 65 to reach 18 under. He tied for second Monday at Torrey Pines, four strokes behind Tiger Woods in the fog-delayed event.
"Phil is playing pretty unbelievable," Snedeker said. "I will have to go at some pins and make some putts early and be more aggressive than I probably normally would be."
Padraig Harrington and Ryan Moore were tied for third at 16 under. Harrington, making his first appearance in the event, shot a 63, and Moore had a 65.
Harrington is winless on the US Tour since sweeping the British Open and US PGA championship in 2008, and hasn't won anywhere since the Asian Tour's 2010 Johor Open.
"I feel like I'm in a good place with the game," Harrington said.
On the 16th, the 41-year-old Irishman kicked footballs -- official Super Bowl models provided by Wilson, also his equipment manufacturer -- into the crowd. He kicked the first ball field-goal style, and then punted the rest as he made his way to the green.
"I did not want to screw up the first one along the ground, for sure," Harrington said. "I did want to get it airborne a little bit of distance. I found when I punted it, the first three or four, I hooked them quite a bit, and then the last one, I actually made sweet contact and kicked it over the stand, actually cleared the whole thing."
Drawing "Ole! Ole!" chants from the crowd, Harrington ran his 15-foot birdie putt 4 feet past and made the comebacker for par.
"The adrenaline is pumping over those last three, four holes," Harrington said. "Very exciting, indeed."
DIVOTS: Mickelson also led wire-to-wire in 2005 at Pebble Beach. He has five victories in Arizona, one short of Johnny Miller's tour record. ... Bill Haas, four strokes behind Mickelson at the start of the round, had a 70 to drop 10 shots back. Keegan Bradley, playing alongside Mickelson and Haas in the final group, had a 73 to fall to 10 under. ... Defending champion Kyle Stanley was 3 over after a 74.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
AND LINK TO ALL THE SCORES ON THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

NEIL McWILLIAM WINS ALLIANCE AT SPEY BAY WITH A 69

By ALAN COWIE

One under par 69 was sufficient for Neil McWilliam (Elgin) to win Saturday's North Scottish Golfers' Alliance fixture at Spey Bay. Birdies at the sixth, 10th and 16th were partly offset by bogeys at the 12th and 17th. 

Professional Tom Dingwall (Nairn Dunbar), joint runner-up with Elgin's David Hector, was going well until a 6 at the 14th as was Stewart Wilson (Inverness) until he came a cropper with a 7 at the 12th.

Joint Handicap Class 2 winner Farquhar Thomson (Moray) shot less than his age with a gross 76, coming home in one under par 34 to tie with Liam Hutchison (Inverness) on net 65.

LEADING SCRATCH

69 N McWilliam (Elgin)

71 T Dingwall (Nairn Dunbar) (p), D Hector (Elgin)

72 S. Wilson (Inverness)

74 J A G Innes (Elgin), A J England (Moray)

75 K Thomson (Moray), G Hay (Grantown), J S D Campbell (Grantown), R Stewart (Nairn Dunbar), J A Grant (Grantown), R McKerron (Forres), R Harrower (Boat of Garten) (p), A Cowie (Moray), M McAllan (Elgin) (p), K Williamson (Fortrose and Rosemarkie);

76 G Mackenzie (Moray), B Fotheringham (Inverness), P Masson (Rothes), W F Thomson (Moray)

77 J Simpson (Forres), B Cruickshank (Spey Bay), I Murray (Boat of Garten), W J Donnelly (Fortrose and Rosemarkie), R H Stewart (Torvean), S Mullen (Elgin), S Chisholm (Fortrose and Rosemarkie);

78 S Mitchell (Moray), D Thom (Grantown), J K England (Moray),

79 J L Milne (Elgin), J R Ingram (Boat of Garten), A Waterson (Boat of Garten), L Hutchison (Inverness), G S Macdonald (Torvean);

80 D Johnston (Moray), M McDonald (Boat of Garten), L MacBean (Boat of Garten), A MacIntosh (Torvean), M Lyall (Torvean)

81 S Dingwall (Grantown), T Madden (Elgin), A Imrie (Muir of Ord), W Weatherall (Muir of Ord), V Tilman (Muir of Ord)

HANDICAP

Class 1 (7 and under)

68 D Hector (Elgin) (3), A Cowie (Moray) (7)

69 K Williamson (Fortrose and Rosemarkie) (6)

70 P Massdon (Rothes) (6)

71 J K England (Moray) (7), R Stewart (Nairn Dunbar) (4), I Murray (Boat of Garten) (6)  

Class 2 8 to 14)

65 W F Thomson (Moray) (11), L Hutchison (Inverness) (14)

69 W J Donnelly (Fortrose and Rosemarkie) (8)

70 A Fraser (Inverness) (14)

71 M Lyall (Torvean) (9), I Turner (Boat of Garten) (14), T Madden (Elgin) (10)