Mickelson seizes lead on Champions Tour

Phil Mickelson needed only three holes to go from lagging behind to seizing control with an eaglebirdie-birdie stretch that carried him to a 5-under 67 and a two-shot lead Saturday in the Constellation Furyk & Friends Invitational.

Making only his fourth PGA Tour Champions start — and second this year — Mickelson will be going after his third title on the 50-and-older circuit.

Miguel Angel Jimenez (65), Steve Flesch (66) and Matt Gogel (69) were two shots behind at Timuquana Country Club.

Flesch had run off three straight birdies when Mickelson took over.

First, he hit 7-iron to about 15 feet for eagle on the par-5 13th hole.

Mickelson followed that with a 40-foot birdie putt across the green at the par-3 14th, and then he made birdie on the par-5 15th hole.

“I felt like I was hitting some good shots on the front nine, but they weren’t quite going the right distance or just weren’t quite working out,” said Mickelson, who had only one birdie before making the turn.

Auto racing: Lewis Hamilton mitigated the damage from his 10-place grid penalty at the Turkish Grand Prix by posting the fastest time in Saturday qualifying. It should have given the world champion his record-extending 102nd Formula One pole, but it didn’t count in the record books. Instead, Hamilton will start 11th on Sunday as penalty for changing the internal combustion engine on his Mercedes, and teammate Valtteri Bottas assumed the pole.

NFL: The 49ers placed star tight end George Kittle on injured reserve Saturday with a calf injury that has been bothering him for weeks. Kittle played through the injury last week but was unable to practice at all this week. The Niners decided to shut him down for at least the next three games in hopes he can be completely healed for the second half of the season.