Mickelson Takes a Four-Shot Lead

Phil Mickelson forged a four-shot lead Saturday over Kevin Na through three rounds of the FBR Open at Scottsdale, Ariz.

Mickelson, who tied the course record with a 60 on Friday, shot a five-under 66 -- with birdies on the final two holes -- for a 14-under 199 total on the 7,216-yard Tournament Players Club course.

“It felt like I shot over par because of yesterday, but it was good enough to get in the lead,” Mickelson said.

He leads entering a final round for the first time since last year’s Masters, and then he was tied with Chris DiMarco.

Na, 21, the youngest player on the PGA Tour, began the day tied for the lead with Mickelson and was even through 14, but his second shot went into the water on the 15th hole, then he missed a short putt to save par.

Na bogeyed the 16th and finished with a 70 and is 10 under.

K.J. Choi, Harrison Frazar, Kenny Perry and Steve Flesch were tied at nine under.

The FBR event -- formerly the Phoenix Open -- draws the biggest crowd of any PGA Tour event. An estimated 165,000 people came on a perfect, sun-baked Saturday -- a single-day record for a tournament that draws about a half-million.

“Every year here is an amazing experience for all the players because of how many people we get here,” Mickelson said. “You know, we average 40,000 or 50,000 on the tour, and here we had 165,000. This is amazing.”

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Australia’s Nick O’Hern shot an eight-under 63 to take the third-round lead in the Heineken Classic at Melbourne, Australia.

O’Hern finished at 14-under 199 to take a one-stroke lead over fellow Australians Jarrod Lyle (66) and Craig Parry (65).

South African Ernie Els stayed in contention for a fourth consecutive title at Royal Melbourne with a 66. He was three shots back along with Australia’s Brett Rumford (66). Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie shot a 72 to drop six strokes back.