Overnight pacesetter Bill Haas bogeyed the par-five last to drop back into a tie for the lead with fellow American Phil Mickelson in Saturday’s third round of the USPGA Tour event in San Diego.
Haas, who lost out in a three-way playoff for last week’s Bob Hope Classic, overhit the green with his third shot at the 18th as the wind gusted, before missing a four-foot par putt to card a one-under 71.
That put him level at 12-under 204 with three-time winner and fan favorite Mickelson, who fired a five-birdie 68.
“I got to two-under [for the round] and I’m disappointed with the six at the last, but I’m in a decent position for tomorrow,” Haas told reporters.
Mickelson, who lives in nearby Rancho Santa Fe and has not triumphed at Torrey Pines since 2001, felt his risk-free strategy had helped him into a share of the lead.
“This course doesn’t reward you for taking on any challenge and my more conservative approach into the greens, albeit boring, has led me to be on top of the leaderboard,” said the left-hander, who was dubbed “Phil the Thrill” in his younger days for his daring shot-making.
US Ryder Cup players Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson were a stroke further back in a share of third after they both eagled the 18th for matching 69s.
It was a frustrating day for six-time champion Tiger Woods, who again struggled off the tee on the way to a 74 and a tie for 24th, a distant eight strokes off the pace.
“I did not play well at all today,” Woods said after four bogeys and just two birdies gave him only his second over-par score at the event in 46 rounds. “It was a struggle all day. I finally found something at 16 [with his swing], but 15 holes already had gone by, so that was pretty frustrating.”
Woods was totally upstaged by his playing partner, USPGA Tour rookie Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela, who was the shock winner of last week’s Bob Hope Classic.
The long-hitting Vegas birdied three of the last six holes for a 69 to lie sixth at nine-under, a stroke behind Anthony Kim of the US, who birdied the last for a 71.
“I’m playing pretty good golf right now,” said Vegas, who is competing in only his sixth Tour event. “Today was an incredible day playing alongside Tiger Woods. I really enjoyed it a lot.”
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
The Philippines curling team has been rocking it in Harbin, claiming the tropical nation’s first Asian Winter Games medal yesterday with a victory in the men’s final against South Korea. The team of Marc Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and alternate Benjo Delarmente took gold with a 5-3 win at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. The Philippines Olympic Committee was quick to celebrate with a post on Instagram to mark the historic gold. “This is the first-ever medal for the Philippines at the Asian Winter Games, and the highest achievement for a Southeast Asian athlete in the Games’ history! What an incredible
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7),