The Daily Wrap-up, Round 3: Northern Trust Open
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Phil Mickelson showed up early Saturday to work with swing coach Butch Harmon, then ran off four straight birdies late in his round for a 9-under 62 to build a four-shot lead going into the final round of the Northern Trust Open.
Five players had at least a share of the lead at one point in the third round, but what had been shaping up as a shootout at Riviera soon turned into a showcase for Mickelson.
It began with a tee shot into 4 feet on the par-3 14th for the outright lead. Mickelson followed that with an 8-foot birdie on the 15th, a 35-foot birdie on the 16th, and an up-and-down from the bunker on the par-5 17th for his fourth straight birdie. He had a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th to tie the course record, but hit the putt too hard.
Mickelson, the defending champion here, was at 16-under 197.
"I didn't feel confident after yesterday's round and made a phone call to Butch right from the scorer's tent," Mickelson said. "He was able to come into town and fortunately, we had some good work done. I don't want to say I'm back on track, but I have a direction of where I want to go. And my iron play was much better because of it."
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AGE MEANS NOTHING TO TWO VETERAN CONTENDERS
By Helen Ross, Chief of Correspondents
LOS ANGELES -- Mark Calcavecchia's daughter Britney, who is now attending college at Long Beach State, wasn't even born when her father won the 1989 Nissan Los Angeles Open.
And Fred Couples had won twice at Riviera before the birth of Ryo Ishikawa, the 17-year-old Japanese phenom who made his PGA TOUR debut there this week.
Yet Couples, who turns 50 in October, and Calcavecchia, who is four months away from his 49th birthday, are once again among the leaders at the Northern Trust Open.
Couples, in fact, will be playing in the final threesome on Sunday after a 65 moved him to 11 under and five strokes off the lead being held by Phil Mickelson. Calcavecchia, meanwhile, shot a third-round 64 and is tied with three others at 10 under.
Two of the TOUR's elder statesmen realize that age is a relative thing, though.
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| Saturday's Best |
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The par-5 first hole at Riviera was the easiest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.320.
The par-4 eighth hole at Riviera was toughest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.307.
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Robert Allenby saved par on the par-4 15th hole by chipping in from just off the green. 
Phil Mickelson shot a back-nine 30 on his way to a round of 9-under 63 that gave him a commanding lead. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Fred Albers offers these observations from Saturday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.com.
A phone call to Butch Harmon placed from the Riviera clubhouse on late Friday afternoon might be the best call of the season for Phil Mickelson. After struggling in the second round of the Northern Trust Open, Mickelson called his teacher and Harmon arrived on Saturday morning with Mickelson escorting him from the airport to the driving range. Some instruction turned into a quick fix in Mickelson's swing and has the lefty holding a four-shot lead heading into the final round.
Peter Kostis also gets a pat on the back from one of his pupils. Mark Calcavecchia has worked with the CBS analyst on strengthening his grip. It worked on Saturday as Calcavecchia turned in a 7-under 64 and is 10-under for the tournament.
The PGA TOUR lists anything more than a double bogey as simply "other." Put Tommy Armour III down for one of those on the eighth hole Saturday afternoon. He made an 8 on the par 4. Armour's iron from the fairway spun off the green, down the hill and left him with an uphill flop shot to a shortsided pin. Armour tried four times to get his chip to hold the green but the ball kept catching the hillside slope and returning to virtually the same spot. Armour finally got the ball to hold the green on his fifth attempt and one-putted for an 8. He rallied to shoot a score of 1-over 72. The glory of the game lies in the struggle, not necessarily the victory.
| What the top finishers said... | ||||||||||||
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THIRD-ROUND NOTEBOOK: NORTHERN TRUST OPEN
By Doug Milne, PGA TOUR Staff
LOS ANGELES -- For the second day in a row, defending Northern Trust Open champion Phil Mickelson made an eagle-3 at the par-5 first hole en route to a 9-under 62 and a four-stroke lead over Andres Romero. His 62 is just one stroke shy of the course record set by Ted Tryba in 1999.
• Mickelson's four-stroke lead is the largest heading into a final round since Geoff Ogilvy held a six-shot lead after 54 holes at this year's season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.
• Mickelson's three-round total of 197 is just one stroke shy of Mike Weir's record of 196 (66-64-66) in 2004.
• Mickelson's 9-under 62 is one stroke better than his previous best of 63 at Riviera, which he posted in Round 1 Thursday. It's his best score since the first round of the 2005 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
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