Mickelson’s Pebble victory on hold
Phil Mickelson put himself on the brink of a fifth victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by turning a 3-shot deficit into a 3-shot lead when a wild day of weather kept him from finishing the event yesterday.
Mickelson will have to return at 8 a.m. today to play the last two holes.
Mickelson was bogey-free with six birdies, and he made his run starting with a 9-iron to a foot behind the cup at the par-4 ninth. That was start of a five-hole stretch when Mickelson made three birdies and Paul Casey had two bogeys.
About the only thing that didn’t go Mickelson’s way was the timing.
The final round started an hour late because of rain, and then it was delayed two more hours when sunshine gave way to a hail storm in a matter of minutes, covering the putting greens in a sheet of white.
Mickelson was at 18-under par through 16 holes. Casey had a 3-foot par putt on the same hole when Mickelson tried to lobby for them to finish, even in the dark.
“I can see fine,” Mickelson told an official. “I don’t want to put Paul in a bad spot.”
Casey was at 15-under, tied with Scott Stallings , who closed with a 66. Along with an outside chance at forcing a playoff, finishing alone in second instead of a tie is a difference of $152,000, along with world ranking points and FedEx Cup points . ...
Bernhard Langer made himself right at home in the Oasis Championship.
Playing 10 minutes from his house in Boca Raton, Fla., Langer closed with a 7-under 65 at The Old Course at Broken Sound for a 5-stroke victory. The 61year-old German star birdied five of the first seven holes in a bogey-free round.
Langer finished at 19-under 197 for his 39th victory on the 50-and-over tour.
Marco Dawson was second after a 69 . ...
Celine Boutier of France claimed a 2-stroke victory in the LPGA’s Vic Open in Barwon Heads, Australia, while Scotland’s David Law made eagle at the par-5 18th to win the men’s title by a stroke ahead of Australians Brad Kennedy and Wade Ormsby.
Houston prevails
DeJon Jarreau scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, Corey Davis Jr. also had 16 and No. 12 Houston (23-1, 10-1 American) held off No. 25 Cincinnati (20-4, 9-2), 6558, in Houston . ...
Justin Jaworski had 18 points, including two free throws with five seconds left, to lead five Lafayette players in double figures as the Leopards (7-16, 4-8 Patriot) held on to beat Holy Cross, 69-67, in Easton, Pa. Jehyve Floyd had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Crusaders (13-12, 4-8) . ...
Kyvon Davenport scored 26 points, Tyler Harris and Jeremiah Martin added 12 each and host Memphis (14-10, 6-5 American) held off a late push to defeat UConn, 78-71.
Tyler Polley led the Huskies (13-11, 4-7) with 20 . ...
KJ Jackson scored 22 points as Maryland-Baltimore County narrowly beat Maine, 67-66, in Bangor . ...
Miranda Drummond made 6-of-9 3-pointers and scored 24 points as the No. 15 Syracuse women blitzed visiting Boston College, 96-69.
Byron takes pole
William Byron put Hendrick Motorsports in a familiar position: on the pole for the Daytona 500. The 21-yearold Byron and 25-year-old teammate Alex Bowman locked in the front row for The Great American Race during qualifying laps at Daytona International Speedway. They comprise the youngest front row in Daytona 500 history.
Meanwhile, NASCAR has ejected the car chiefs for Chase Elliott, Ty Dillon and Austin Dillon through the Daytona 500 for repeated inspection failures before qualifying for the race.
Chelsea crushed
Chelsea was handed its heaviest loss in 28 years when Manchester City routed Maurizio Sarri’s side 6-0 in the Premier League. The meeting of the past two champions was a complete mismatch as Sergio Aguero scored a hat trick for the second successive weekend . ...
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States captured the first major international title of their career, winning the ice dancing competition at the Four Continents championships in Anaheim, Calif.