Holmes surges at Wells Fargo ADVERTISING Holmes surges at Wells Fargo CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson’s best round of the year wasn’t enough for him to stay in the lead Saturday in the Wells Fargo Championship, just enough to give
Holmes surges at Wells Fargo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson’s best round of the year wasn’t enough for him to stay in the lead Saturday in the Wells Fargo Championship, just enough to give him a chance to end his slowest start to a season in 11 years.
J.B. Holmes overpowered Quail Hollow on a good day for scoring, and he made a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the final hole for a 6-under 66. That wound up giving him a one-shot lead when Martin Flores made his only bogey on the final hole. Mickelson had a 63 and was two shots behind.
Flores hit his tee shot into the creek left of the 18th fairway and missed a 20-foot par putt, settling for a 69 that at least put him in the final pairing with Holmes.
They’ll be looking at Mickelson, who filled the course with one big cheer after another. Mickelson rolled in birdie putts of 30 feet on No. 4 and 40 feet on the par-3 sixth hole and went out in 29. He took the outright lead with a 7-iron from 216 yards into 10 feet on the 13th hole and closed with a par as exciting as some of his birdies. After having to lay up out of a fairway bunker, his wedge spun by the hole and left him a tap-in for par.
Not since 2003 — his last winless year on the PGA Tour — has Mickelson gone this deep into the season without a victory. This year has been so difficult, mainly through injuries, that he doesn’t even have a top 10.
Holmes only last week secured his card for the rest of the year through a medical extension from ankle surgery last year. He hasn’t won since the Phoenix Open in 2008, though he can be scary when he’s finding fairways with his enormous length. He birdied all the par 5s and only dropped one shot.
Holmes was at 13-under 203.
Lewis rallies at Shootout
IRVING, Texas — Stacy Lewis shot a 2-under 69 even while missing several makeable putts to grab a share of the lead with Meena Lee after three rounds at the North Texas LPGA Shootout.
Lewis, the third-ranked player in the world, looked down in frustration after missing a birdie chance at the 18th hole. The Texan matched Lee at 9-under 204.
In nearly ideal scoring conditions with little if any wind, Lee shot 70.
Suzann Pettersen, Dori Carter and Julieta Granada shot 68 and were a stroke behind the leaders.
Cristie Kerr (69), Christina Kim (70) and Natalie Gulbis (71) were among seven players tied at 7 under and only two strokes off the lead. Also in that group was 22-year-old Jennifer Johnson, who had an opening bogey before shooting a 65 for the best round of the day at Las Colinas Country Club.
Lewis is an eight-time winner, but has had six runner-up finishes in 16 starts since winning the Women’s British Open in August. She has been sixth or better in seven of eight tournaments this season, including another runner-up finish in San Francisco last week.
Langer up 3 at Insperity
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Bernhard Langer shot a 4-under 68 to open a three-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s Insperity Invitational.
Langer had a 10-under 134 total at The Woodlands Country Club.
The 56-year-old German player won the 2007 event at Augusta Pines and successfully defended his title in 2008 at The Woodlands. He won the season-opening event in Hawaii for his 19th Champions Tour title.
Colin Montgomerie was second after a 66, the best round of the day.
Defending champion Esteban Toledo, Gary Hallberg and Bart Bryant were four strokes back. Hallberg had a 67, Toledo shot 71, and Bryant — tied for the first-round lead with Langer — had a 72.
Suarez Navarro wins in Portugal
OEIRAS, Portugal — Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain won her first career title at the Portugal Open, while top-seeded Tomas Berdych eased into the men’s final by beating Victor Hanescu 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday.
Suarez Navarro outlasted Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in their final. The Spaniard had lost her previous five finals, including last year’s tournament in Oeiras.
She will head back to Spain to play in the Madrid Open before looking toward the French Open.
“For me, it’s a very special moment of the season, because we don’t have a lot of tournaments on clay,” Suarez said. “Now there’s Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros, which to me is the best tournament of the year.”
Berdych will face Carlos Berlocq in Sunday’s final after the Argentine defeated Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Berdych hit five aces and converted all four of his break points to dismiss Hanescu.
By wire sources
