DOOR LEFT OPEN BY MICKELSON LEFTY, HARRINGTON UNABLE TO PULL AWAY.Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer PACIFIC PALISADES Palisades, cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ft (107–168 m). -- The PGA Tour The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the USA's main professional golf tours. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA. Its name is officially rendered in all caps as “PGA TOUR". might be a one-man show, but without Tiger Woods  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled. , the Nissan Open The Northern Trust Open, formally known as the Nissan Open and originally known as the Los Angeles Open, is a regular golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in February in Pacific Palisades, California. almost became a two-man show.
Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) (nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed), is an American professional golfer. He is one of the leading players of his generation, having won three major championships and a total of 32 and Padraig Harrington had an opportunity to distance themselves and run away from the field Saturday at Riviera Country Club The Riviera Country Club is a country club with a championship golf course. It is located in Pacific Palisades, California, within the city limits of Los Angeles, California. The country club opened in 1926, with George C. Thomas, Jr. as the course architect. , but that didn't happen. Ten players are within five shots of one another, meaning the Nissan Open could come down to the 72nd hole, as it usually does. Mickelson and Harrington each shot their highest scores of the tournament -- 69 and 70, respectively -- leaving Mickelson with one-stroke lead over Harrington at 13 under. Rich Beem Richard Michael Beem (born August 24, 1970) is an American golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Beem was born in Phoenix, Arizona, grew up in El Paso, Texas, and played golf at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He turned professional in 1994. , who aced the 14th hole, thereby winning a Nissan sports car, is two shots back at 11 under. "This definitely shines a ray of hope on a lot of guys' eyes, as well as (Mickelson) was playing," said Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer, known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing. In September 2006 he reached a career high of second in the Official World Golf Rankings. , who is tied for sixth, four shots back. Mickelson and Harrington know things could've been much different. "It would've been nice to get a few birdies and take a few guys out, but we let the field back in," Harrington said. It didn't look like it would be that way at the start, as Mickelson picked up where he left off Friday. He birdied the first two holes and moved to a two-shot lead over Harrington. Mickelson made a two-footer for birdie on the first hole. On the second, he hit his tee shot right and then hit a superb approach shot that curled around trees and landed within four feet of the pin. Mickelson made the putt for a birdie, but didn't birdie again until the 10th. He had errant er·rant adj. 1. Roving, especially in search of adventure: knights errant. 2. Straying from the proper course or standards: errant youngsters. 3. drives and iron shots that led to consecutive bogeys on Nos.12 and 13. Mickelson didn't play his best, but he still left the course as the leader. "I was tied for the lead yesterday," Mickelson said. "I've got a one-shot lead today. So, it's getting better. It wasn't the day I wanted, but it's getting better." He dealt with a couple of trigger-happy photographers early in the round who twice made him step away from a shot. After he backed off his putt on No. 5, he said, "Stop it, please." He talked to the photographer after that and had no further problems. Mickelson's most glaring error was on the par-3 16th hole, where he drove way right and over the green. He then hit a wedge over the hole on the other side, about 40 feet by the cup. He eventually made a 2-foot bogey Bogey This is the benchmark return to which the performance of a portfolio manager or mutual fund manager is compared. Notes: This benchmark is typically the S&P 500 index. putt. "Awful swing on 16," he said. "I didn't even try to make par there." Mickelson fell into a tie for the lead after that gaffe but birdied the par-5 17th hole. He was on in two and two-putted from 40 feet. "I had a great day striking it," Mickelson said. "I felt like this was going to be a good day. Somewhere along the line, iron shots just weren't quite coming off. I missed a couple of fairways early on with 3-woods, and I was 4 under through 11 but the longest putt I had made was three or four feet. I didn't make anything outside of that. And so I've got to get a little bit hotter with the putter. "I've got to give myself more chances. I just kind of hung in there." Harrington was scrambling as well. He was in the gully on the eighth, but hit a tremendous shot to within 7 feet. The ball stayed on the edge of the cup on his ensuing en·sue intr.v. en·sued, en·su·ing, en·sues 1. To follow as a consequence or result. See Synonyms at follow. 2. To take place subsequently. putt, and he tapped in for par. This is the first time Harrington has played the Nissan and the first for Mickelson in five years. Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last week and is shooting for his second consecutive win. Each of the past two years he has managed to win consecutive tournaments. But Mickelson and Harrington are anything but guaranteed to win. "There were a lot of low scores," Mickelson said. "If Padraig and I had both shot low scores, we probably could've pulled away a little bit. Instead, it will be a shootout Shootout Venture capital jargon. Refers to two or more venture capital firms fighting for the startup. (today) with a lot of guys." jill.painter@dailynews.com (818) 713-3615 CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 7 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) Phil Mickelson could have given himself some breathing room at the Nissan Open, if it weren't for three bogeys on the back nine. (2) Padraig Harrington winces as he misses a putt on the eighth hole Saturday. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer (3) no caption (Rich Beem) Box: (1) in the rough - Gene Warnick (2) NISSAN OPEN (3) LEADER BOARD (4) SCOREBOARD (5) NISSAN NAIL-BITERS (6) THIRD ROUND: HOW THE TOP T FARED (7) TODAY'S TEE TIMES |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion