American Spencer Levin will take a six-shot lead into the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Mickelson back on track after a 67
American Spencer Levin will take a six-shot lead into the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The 27-year-old Californian followed Friday's 63 with a solid 68, making four birdies and a solitary bogey - a six at the long 15th - as he put himself on course for his first PGA Tour title.
While Levin is on 17-under-par 196 for 54 holes, fellow American Webb Simpson is second on 11-under 202 after a 68, with Bubba Watson and John Huh both a further shot adrift after rounds of 67 and 69 respectively.
Harrison Frazar had been a threat to Levin at three shots adrift when darkness brought the second day to an early end, but he fell back into the pack on day three, sliding from 11 under to seven under after making a poor finish to his incomplete second round and following it with a 73.
An early-morning coaching session from Butch Harmon helped prepare Phil Mickelson for his third round, and a 67 put the four-time major winner into a share of 10th, nine shots behind Levin.
Mickelson was worried in his second round when he played the front nine in three-over 38, so called on Harmon for some pointers.
"Butch is the best," Mickelson told pgatour.com. "He can identify things so quickly and get you straightened out right away.
"I flew Butch in this morning because yesterday the front nine kind of shook me up.
"We had a really good session, and I was able to feel much more confident.
"I'd like to be further up, but given where I was 27 holes ago, I'm in a really good spot.
Momentum
"I'm starting to play some good golf, and I'm starting to get a little bit of momentum. I feel great with the putter. Ball-striking today after a session with Butch in the morning feels much better, and I'm excited to get back out and play."
And Mickelson has not given up hope of becoming involved higher up the leaderboard. He said: "Just shoot a good round, because out here what'll happen is when you start making mistakes or hitting a bad shot or two, it's very hard to turn it around because there's water, there's trouble everywhere, and there's also opportunities to make birdies and eagles.
"So if I can get a hot hand and put some pressure, you never know what might happen."
The lowest third round came from DJ Trahan, whose 64 contained eight birdies but left him still even further back than Mickelson, 10 adrift of the leader.
