Golf Capsules
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -Phil Mickelson made a 9-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one-stroke victory at the Crowne Plaza Invitational over Tim Clark and Rod Pampling, who led by two strokes going to the back nine Sunday.
It was the 34th career victory for Mickelson, who began the final round with a one-stroke lead. But like he did the day before, Mickelson fell behind before regaining the lead on his final putt of the day.
Mickelson had a closing 2-under 68 to finish at 14-under 266. Mickelson won at Colonial in 2000, and has won 11 tournaments multiple times.
After saving par out of a greenside bunker at 188-yard 16th, Pampling still led by a stroke.
But on the ensuing drive at the 382-yard 17th, Pampling (68) hit the ball way right toward a ditch. He had to take a penalty stroke after a drop - though that put his ball where it could be seen rather than buried in heavy rough at the edge of a concrete gully. He managed to get the approach shot into a bunker, then blasted to 4 feet, pushing both arms in the air before tapping in the bogey. That came after Mickelson had two-putted from 28 feet for par.
As Mickleson and Pampling were finishing No. 17, Clark's 14-foot birdie chance at the closing hole curled just short and he finished with a round of 66.
Stephen Ames (70) finished fourth at 269, a stroke ahead of Ben Crane (67).
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
USC takes lead at windy NCAA women's championship
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -Southern California's Belen Mozo took over the individual lead with one of the few under-par rounds on Wednesday before high winds suspended play during the second round of the NCAA women's golf championships.
A snarling wind that approached speeds of 50 mph battered golfers on the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course and delayed play for two hours before ending the day's competition with 66 players left on the course.
Thanks to Mozo's 1-under 71, USC remained atop the team standings. Cross-town rival UCLA joined the Trojans in the lead. Both Los Angeles schools are at 8-over 584, finishing up shortly before NCAA officials decided to stop play for the first time.
"You just have to be patient when things like this happen," Mozo said of the playing conditions. "You have to play the wind."
With a two-round score of 4-under 140, she has a one-stroke lead over Arizona State's Azahara Munoz. The round of the day was turned in by the Bruins' Tiffany Joh, who finished with a 3-under 69. As a team, USC shot a 12-over 300 while UCLA was 7-over.
"I'm grateful that we're done," Bruins coach Carrie Forsyth said. "But I don't know if that's to our benefit if the teams don't play in the afternoon."
Play was originally stopped when balls on four different greens involuntarily moved, said Tina Krah, NCAA associate director of championships.
"Winds peaked at 48 mph," she said. "It was my responsibility to make that decision."
Although the wind had not lessened appreciably, play resumed after about two hours, but an uprooted tree and whipping flag sticks led officials to suspended play again.
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Creamer ends Ochoa's streak
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) -Paula Creamer squandered another late lead but came out with a playoff victory Sunday in the SemGroup Championship, beating Juli Inkster and ending Lorena Ochoa's four-tournament winning streak on the LPGA Tour.
Creamer had control at Cedar Ridge until a bogey on the 18th hole for the third straight day gave her a 1-over 72. Inkster poured in an 18-foot birdie putt for a 70 to force a playoff for the second straight year.
They finished at 2-under 282.
Creamer, who lost in a playoff last week to Annika Sorenstam, missed a 12-foot birdie putt for the win on the first extra hole, but made from 8 feet on the next hole, No. 10, to avoid what would have been a devastating loss.
Inkster, 47, was trying to become the oldest winner on the LPGA Tour. She also lost in a playoff last year at Cedar Ridge.
Ochoa, trying to tie the LPGA Tour record with her fifth straight win, started the final round eight shots behind and never got it going. She closed with a 69 and tied for fifth, five shots behind.
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Teenager Hurst breaks Futures Tour's 54-hole record
McALLEN, Texas (AP) -Florida teenager Vicky Hurst broke the Duramed Futures Tour's 54-hole scoring record Sunday, closing with an 8-under 64 for an 18-under 198 total and a three-stroke victory in the Jalapeno Golf Classic
The 17-year-old Hurst, from Melbourne, Fla., broke the 54-hole scoring mark of 16 under set by Grace Park in 1999 in Morgantown, W.Va. Hurst also shattered the tournament mark of 12 under set by Virada Nirapathpongporn in 2005.
"It was awesome," said Hurst, who will graduate from high school next month. "My goal is to make it to the LPGA Tour. "I'm just playing with the same mind-set I had as a junior and giving it the best I have."
Hurst earned $11,900 for her first professional victory.
She will play the LPGA Tour's SemGroup Championship next week in Broken Arrow, Okla.
"My goal is to just make the cut," Hurst said. "I just need to go out and focus on my game one shot at a time."
Ashley Prange shot a 65 to finish second.
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Boo Weekley's birdie run vaults him to lead at Verizon Heritage
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina (AP) -Defending champion Boo Weekley continued his remarkable run at Harbour Town Golf Links, using five straight birdies to move in front at the Verizon Heritage on Saturday.
Weekley shot a 6-under 65 to reach 15 under and move three strokes ahead of Anthony Kim (67) and five in front of Aaron Baddeley (67), Jason Bohn (67) and Cliff Kresge (68). Second-round leader Lucas Glover shot a 73 to drop seven shots back.
Jim Furyk, at No. 9 in the world the highest ranked golfer left, shot a 68 and was five shots behind at 9-under.
Weekley chipped in on the 71st and 72nd holes a year ago to beat Ernie Els for his first U.S. PGA Tour victory. The good-natured, self-proclaimed country boy from Florida hasn't slowed down in his return.
"Overall, it was a great round," Weekley said. "I kind of got to feeling solid over my putts."
No one's had a better start than Weekley at Pete Dye's menacing masterpiece of tight fairways, smallish greens and railroad ties.
Weekley's got a sting of seven straight rounds in the 60s. That tied Greg Norman for second all-time at Harbour Town behind Nick Price's nine in a row.
Those major champions had made several Harbour Town starts before their streaks began. Weekley hadn't teed it up here until last year.
Weekley started the day a stroke behind Glover. Weekley fell two back after finding the sand on the par-5 second hole and settling for par while Glover made birdie.
Then Weekley's run began with - what else? - a chip in on the par-3 fourth.
"It was good to see something go in," he said. "That got me jump started."
A two-putt birdie on the par-5 fifth followed. Weekley stuck his approach on the next hole to 7 feet for a third straight birdie and a tie with Glover.
Weekley moved in front on the seventh with a 10-foot birdie putt.
When Weekley rolled home a 20-footer on the eighth, he was two shots in front.
Weekley pumped his fist and pointed as the fans chanted "Boooo! Boooo!"
The streak ended on the ninth when Weekley saved par out of the sand.
He stretched his lead to three shots with a birdie on the 12th hole.
Weekley's lone "boo-boo" came four holes later, his approach to No. 16 skidding off the green and near the 17th tee to lead to bogey. He made it back on the closing, lighthouse hole, rolling in a 6-footer for a three-shot edge.
Kim, a second-year pro seeking his first U.S. PGA Tour win, was the only one who kept pace with Weekley. Starting two shots off the lead, Kim made eagle on the second and stayed close with two birdies on the front.
The 22-year-old nearly saw it fall apart, dunking his tee shot on the 10th hole into the water. But he chipped in to save par.
Kim also saved par from off the green on the 18th to remain two shots behind.
Does anyone have chance of halting Weekley's run?
"It's going to depend on him, really," said Baddeley, the 2006 Heritage winner.
Weekley swore a year ago as he sat with the champions' plaid jacket he wouldn't change because of success. He was true to his word.
Weekley charmed the galleries again with his folksy, good ol' golfer outlook.
He teed it up with his mother, Patsy, in Wednesday's pro-am, then got angry, he says, when she outdrove him on the first hole.
He took time during the second round to smooth a bunker on the 16th hole. "I ain't too good to rake a bunker," Weekley said simply.
When asked where his garish checked winner's coat was, he smiled and said it was packed up in his mama's car after he wore it to "march around the lagoon," Weekley's description of the tournament's opening ceremonies.
He chewed tobacco during his round. As he approached the 18th tee, Weekley told a little girl who wanted a golf ball, "Let me hit it and I'll bring one back."
Weekley delivered on his promise, as he has the past two years at Harbour Town.
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Phil Mickelson tumbles off leaderboard on day for going low
AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) -Phil Mickelson stared out toward the 18th green, shook his head slightly, rubbed his chin and tried to sort out where it all went wrong.
On a day for going low, Mickelson went south.
He won't need to worry about clearing a spot in his closet for a third green jacket, not after a dismal Saturday at Augusta National.
It was moving day, all right, but he moved in the wrong direction. Coming in just three strokes off the lead, Mickelson stumbled his way through a 3-over 75 that knocked him out contention heading to the final round.
"A disappointing day, obviously," Mickelson said. "I didn't play very well, and it was a day where there were some low scores out there. The greens were soft, the rain softened the course, and I thought there were some low scores. I just didn't shoot one of them."
Indeed, more than half the field shot par or better after heavy showers drenched the course just past lunchtime, causing a 45-minute delay and softening up those slick Augusta greens. Seven players shot in the 60s. Another six were at 70 or 71. Eleven more shot even-par 72.
And then there was Mickelson, whose score beat only seven other players and was epitomized by two dismal holes.
At the par-5 eighth, his third shot was right on the flag - literally. It struck the stick and spun back toward the fairway, nearly rolling off the green instead of staying up near the cup. He zoomed the putt 4 feet past the hole, then missed the comebacker. Instead of a likely birdie, he wound up with bogey.
That misfortune seemed to unnerve Mickelson, who bogeyed 10 and 12, but he appeared to collect himself with back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14.
Then there was No. 6, the 170-yarder known as Redbud. Ian Poulter had a hole-in-one there on Thursday, but this time the pin was tucked in the back right side of the green, a difficult placement that surrendered only four birdies on Saturday and made it the fourth-toughest hole on the course.
The safe play was to lay it out left of the flag, take two putts and get out of there with a par. But Mickelson yanked an 8-iron into the one place he couldn't - the back right bunker. There was no way to blast it out of sand and keep it on the top tier of the green, so all he could do was watch his ball roll back toward the left fringe, leaving a good 60 feet just to save par.
"You can't miss it right there, and I know that," Mickelson said. "You just have to hit it left and try to make par."
He could even make bogey. Mickelson didn't give the uphill putt a hard enough whack and it came to a stop about 10 feet short. He missed that one, too, and took a 5. As he walked toward 17, he knew that any realistic hope of making a charge on Sunday was gone.
Trevor Immelman maintained the lead with his third straight round in the 60s, leaving him at 11-under 205 after three rounds. Mickelson is nine strokes back, needing a comeback of historic proportions to catch Immelman.
Jackie Burke overcame an eight-shot deficit on the final day to win in 1956, but he was aided by the collapse of amateur Ken Venturi. Even if the top four players on the leaderboard - none of them major winners - fall apart, there's still that guy in fifth place.
Tiger Woods shot a 68 and is three shots clear of Mickelson. Hard to imagine the world's greatest player collapsing as well.
"I've just got to go out there and shoot a really low score," Mickelson said.
Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, followed up a second-round 68 with a 75 of his own. He bogeyed six out of 10 holes in one stretch, leaving him at even par and 11 strokes off the lead.
Poulter's ace was a distant memory as he struggled through a birdie-less round. He bogeyed No. 9, took a double-bogey at the end and settled for pars on the other 16 holes. Yep, mark off another potential contender with a 75.
But the Englishman has never won a major, so his slide wasn't totally unexpected.
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Prayad Marksaeng gives nation of Thailand reason to watch Masters
AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) -Prayad Marksaeng has a big group of fans this week at the Masters golf championship.
His entire country.
Marksaeng is the third Thai-born golfer to play in the Masters, receiving one of the exemptions given to foreign players who wouldn't otherwise qualify. Liang Wen-Chong of China and India's Jeev Milka Singh also got exemptions, which are designed to help broaden golf's appeal around the world.
"I am representing my country this week, and it will energize golf," Prayad said. "Everyone will be watching the Masters."
Prayad, 42, got interested in golf as a way to pass the time on his way to school. He had to walk across the Royal Hua Hin Golf Club to get to school and, at 12, decided he could make the walk go quicker if he hit a golf ball with a club made out of a tree branch. He later shagged balls for Suthep Meesawat, one of the top pros in Thailand at the time.
When Prayad got older, the owner of the Royal Hua Hin club started a team and gave Prayad his first set of real clubs.
Prayad has won six times on the Asian Tour, and in 1999 became the first Thai to qualify for the British Open.
"It's great to be here, not just for myself, but for my friends and family," Prayad said. "I'll try to do my best. This is a lifetime dream."
Sukree Onsham was the first Thai-born golfer to play at Augusta National, appearing in 1970 and 1971. Thongchai Jaidee was here in 2006. Neither made the cut.
Of course, Thailand does have a claim to the world's best player. Tiger Woods' mother, Kultida, is from Thailand.
Prayad has played with Woods. The two were paired for the first two days of the 1997 Asian Honda Classic, which Woods won by 10 strokes.
"It was very hard for me to concentrate that day," Prayad said. "There were so many people, but they weren't there to see me."
Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
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