GOLF

Tough day for Mickelson, but he still shares lead

Phil Mickelson hit into the trees and through the trees, and even hit one shot into a spectator’s shorts. He still managed to stay atop the leaderboard Saturday in the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles.

Mickelson scrambled his way to a 1-under 70 and was tied for the lead with PGA champion Keegan Bradley, who took only five putts over the last five holes and shot 66.

They were at 7-under 206, but it was far from a two-man race.

A dozen players were within four shots of the lead going into the final round, including defending champion Aaron Baddeley, Dustin Johnson and FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas.

On the 15th, Mickelson blocked a tee shot into the gallery and discovered a man lying on his back, fearful of moving. The ball landed inside the hem of his shorts, and he remained still until Mickelson could remove the ball and take his free drop. He managed another par.

LPGA: Ai Miyazato shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Yani Tseng after the third round of the LPGA Thailand at Chonburi, Thailand.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Kenny Perry shot a 10-under 62 to set the tour’s 36-hole scoring record in the Ace Group Classic at Naples, Fla.

Perry is at 18-under 126, three shots ahead of first-round leader Larry Mize. Tom Lehman is four back, and defending champion Bernhard Langer is another stroke back at 13-under at TwinEagles Club.

SKIING

MEN’S WORLD CUP: Marchel Hirscher took advantage of a mistake by rival Ted Ligety to win the giant slalom at Bansko, Bulgaria, overtaking Ligety for first place in the standings.

Ligety led after the first run but dropped out of contention in the second run with a mistake in the upper part of the slope and placed last of the 27 finishers.

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Lindsey Vonn clinched her fifth consecutive downhill title after placing third in a race on the 2014 Sochi Olympics course won by German rival and friend Maria Hoefl-Riesch at Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.

BOXING

WBC: Chaos broke out after Vitali Klitschko unanimously outpointed Dereck Chisora in Munich to retain his heavyweight belt when Chisora got into a brawl with former WBA champion David Haye at the postmatch news conference.

LUGE

MEN’S WORLD CUP: Felix Loch became the first German in 22 years to win the overall title after a victory in Sigulda, Latvia.

AUTO RACING

SPRINT CUP: NASCAR will likely penalize the crew chief for five-time champion Jimmie Johnson for infractions found during Daytona 500 inspection.

The NASCAR president, Mike Helton, indicated punishment would not be doled out until after the Feb. 26 season-opening Daytona 500 race.

The No. 48 Chevrolet had illegally modified sheet metal between the roof and the side windows — the area known as the C-posts.

BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT: Kyle Busch used a last-gasp pass of defending NASCAR champion Tony Stewart to grab the first win of the 2012 season at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch pushed Stewart to the lead on the last lap, then ducked to the outside of Stewart as they closed in on the finish line and beat him by .013 seconds to the checkered flag.

TENNIS

ABN Amro World Tennis: Top-seeded Roger Federer reached the final with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Nikolay Davydenko in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Federer will play for the championship today against third-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, who beat second-seeded Tomas Berdych, 6-3, 6-1.

QATAR OPEN: Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka hobbled around the court with an ankle injury, adjusting her game and persevering to defeat Agenieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4 and reach the final at Doha, Qatar.

Azarenka expects to be OK when she plays for the title today against Sam Stosur, who advanced after Marion Bartoli retired with a right calf injury after losing the first set, 6-3.

SOCCER

ENGLISH FA CUP: Arsenal was beaten by Sunderland 2-0 in the fifth round of the FA Cup, leaving it facing a seventh consecutive season without a trophy.

Arsenal is 17 points behind league leader Manchester City and lost the first leg of its Champions League knockout match 4-0 at AC Milan this week.

PREP SCHOOLS

GIRLS’ HOCKEY: Taylor Teixeira and Sara Grover scored for Hebon Academy in a 3-2 overtime loss at Hebron. Goalie Mariah Mosher made 30 saves for Hebron.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL: Kristin Sanborn, Nicole Kleinmann and Torie St. Pierre scored nine points apiece to lead Berwick Academy to a 52-30 victory against Portsmouth Abbey at Portsmouth, R.I.

— From staff and news services

 

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