Mickelson shoots 66, leads Pebble by 2

Phil Mickelson handled a strong ocean breeze and firm greens for a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take the lead going into the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Mickelson started the day at 10 under and recorded three birdies apiece on the front and back nine to finish six under on the day. That 2013 Open Championship win was supposed to be a harbinger of more great things to come, a victory that could propel Mickelson even further up golf’s all-time list. It is the longest drought of his career. Kang is riding the wave of a tournament course record at Monterey Peninsula yesterday with an 11-under 60. “It’s a chance to get to know people and also to play on some of the best golf courses in the world”.

Indeed, it was some 30 feet beyond the cup, and he had to settle for a two-putt par.

“I’m not in contention”. “So it nearly feels like I’m playing them 7 over”. “It’s not good, but at the same time, I think I can get into a groove and not lose any hair over the back nine”. Pebble Beach again played the toughest by a small margin over Spyglass Hill…. The 45-year-old Mickelson will be going for No. 43.

Phil would go on to get up and down out of the greenside bunker on his next hole. Finally, on the fourth hole, he found a fairway bunker on his drive, still had 95 feet to the green after playing out, but then hit a handsome wedge on his third shot to within 2 feet and made that.

About an hour later, Sung Kang birdied three straight holes and walked to his final tee at the par-3 ninth needing a birdie to shoot 59. At 16 under, he leads alone and is up on Hiroshi Iwata by two. Mickelson is going for his 43d.

He had to settle for a 65, and that wasn’t even the most exciting round at Monterey Peninsula. This was a good score on a tough day.

“I was very pleased to shoot that round, obviously, but there were a lot of holes I just had to fight for pars”, Mickelson said. I’ve got a little bit of work to get my ball striking back to that level that I need it to be for tomorrow’s round.

Jason Bohn painted a 6-under-par 35-31=66 in today’s third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for a three-day total of 5-under 210, up 71 places on the leaderboard to T23.

Justin Rose was among five players to have at least a share of the lead at one point Saturday, reaching 13 under. That gave him a 72 and he was seven shots behind.

LPGA: Lydia Ko will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the New Zealand Women’s Open after shooting a 5-under 67 at Christchurch, New Zealand.

The 18-year-old South Korean-born New Zealander finished at 10-under 206 at Clearwater Golf Club.