LOS ANGELES — Phil Mickelson looked unbeatable until a 30-inch putt spun around the rim of the cup, giving him the first of three bogeys on the back nine that cost him a cushion, but ultimately not the lead, Saturday in the Nissan Open.
Mickelson got up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 17th and shot 2-under 69 in the steamy sunshine at Riviera, giving him a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington (70) as he tries to win for the second-straight week.
Mickelson was at 13-under 200. He will be in the final group with Harrington and Rich Beem, who made a hole-in-one on the 14th hole that sent him leaping atop the red sports car that he won. Beem, who used a 7-iron from 179 yards for the ace, shot the best round of the day, a 65 that left him two shots behind.
Former Nissan Open champion Robert Allenby (68) and Charles Howell III (69) were another shot behind, setting up a typical Sunday off Sunset Boulevard when several players have a chance.
SBS OPEN: At Kahuku, Hawaii, Paula Creamer won the LPGA Tour's season-opening SBS Open for her first victory since 2005, holding off Julieta Granada by a stroke.
The 20-year-old Creamer closed with a 2-under 70 for a 9-under 207 total and earned $165,000 for her third LPGA Tour title. In 2005 as a rookie, she won two LPGA Tour titles and also took two tournaments in Japan.
Conditions were challenging at Turtle Bay's oceanside Palmer Course, with occasional showers and tradewinds that shook the players' ponytails and nerves.
Granada, who won the season-ending ADT Championship and helped give Paraguay its first Women's World Cup title last month, shot a 69.
Karrie Webb closed with a 70 to finish third at 6 under.
Granada holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th to tie Creamer for the lead at 8 under. But Creamer, playing in the final group, regained the lead by sinking a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 17 that went left, then veered to the right at the end.
OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE PRO-AM: At Lutz, Fla., Andy Bean shot a 4-under 67 in cold and windy conditions for a share of the lead with Wayne Levi in the suspended second round of the Champions Tour's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.
Levi shot a 69, finishing in near darkness, to match Bean at 4-under 138 on the TPC Tampa Bay. Levi holed a pitching wedge shot from 118 yards for eagle on the par-4 10th — his first hole of the day.
First-round leader David Eger (72) was a stroke back, and Tom Wargo (72) followed at 2 under. Tom Watson, one of six players unable to finish the round that was delayed 90 minutes because of frost after the temperature dipped into the 20s, also was 2 under with three holes left when play was suspended because of darkness.
JACOB'S CREEK OPEN: At Adelaide, Australia, American Scott Sterling shot a 6-under 66 for a share of the third-round lead in the Jacob's Creek Open.
Australia's David Lutterus also had a 66 and countryman Peter Senior shot a 69 to join Sterling at 11-under 205. American Brad Ott (70) was a stroke back in the event sanctioned by the Nationwide and Australasian tours.