Mickelson leads Scottish Open

2007-07-14 18:59

Loch Lomond - Phil Mickelson, who has underachieved on his three previous visits to the Scottish Open, took the tournament by the scruff of the neck with a third-round 68 on Saturday.

The world number three moved one stroke clear of the field on a tricky day for scoring at the warm-up event for next week's British Open at Carnoustie when he finished on 12-under-par 201.

"To keep it under par was a good round," Mickelson told the BBC after countering the breezy winds of 15-20 miles per hour which blew on a partly cloudy but mainly sunny day. "A lot of the holes played difficult.

"Winning here in Scotland, the home of golf, would mean a lot to me."

Frenchman Gregory Havret, who led overnight with Jose Manuel Lara of Spain, carded a 70 to take second place on 202, two ahead of Briton Steve Webster (69).

Sharing fourth spot on 205 were South African Louis Oosthuizen and Phillip Archer of Britain. Lara was back on 206 alongside South African Ernie Els and Finn Mikko Ilonen.

Mickelson seized the initiative with three birdies in a flawless front nine.

The 37-year-old American suffered his only dropped stroke at the par-four 10th when his ball became plugged in a bunker and he was forced to take a penalty drop.

But it proved a temporary setback as Mickelson notched his fourth birdie of the day at the long 13th before parring home.

This is the left-hander's fourth trip to the delightful setting of Loch Lomond and he has a less than distinguished record, having finished 44th in 2005, 78th in 2004 and 35th in 2003.

Mickelson was particularly pleased with his driving on Saturday.

"To hit all 14 fairways in a round is unusual for me, I am not sure I have ever done that before," he said.

Oosthuizen, the first player to tee off at 07:45 local time, had set a challenging target in the clubhouse after equalling the best score of the week with a seven-under 64.

The 24-year-old South African, who narrowly avoided missing his fourth successive cut when he sank a 12-foot putt at the last on Friday, charged into contention with five birdies in the final seven holes.

"I'm hitting the ball really well this week," said Oosthuizen. "I holed a lot of putts today, anything under 10 foot I made.

"There was all kinds of stuff going on off and on the course in the last three weeks but I have left all that behind me and just tried to focus on this week."

- Reuters