GOLF ROUNDUP

Morikawa leads Workday Open

PGA champion Collin Morikawa made seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch Saturday and made it look as though no one could catch him. All it took was two bad holes to turn the Workday Open into a chase.

Morikawa shot a 5-under 67 at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., a reasonable score except for what it could have been. When he drove to the front of the green on the 316-yard 12th hole and made an 8-foot birdie, he was at 17-under par and no one else was closer than five shots.

He wound up leading by two shots over Brooks Koepka, who got his mistakes out the way early and shot 70, and Billy Horschel. who had a 69.

Rory McIlroy, who made a double bogey for the second straight day, was hopeful of getting to 10 under to at least give himself a chance. He did one better with a 66, including an eagle on the par-5 13th that gave so many players fits, and wound up just four shots behind.

Morikawa was at 15-under 201.

His troubles began on the par-13th, and it looked harmless enough when he put his approach from the rough into the bunker and blasted out to just under 25 feet for look at yet another birdie. Except that he left his putt 6 feet short, and missed the next one to take bogey.

"I never got it going again," Morikawa said.

He also made bogey on the par-5 17th, the easiest hole at Concession on Saturday, by finding a bunker off the tee, having to lay up short of the water, and then hitting into another bunker.

Morikawa found plenty of positives. He still had a two-shot lead. His putting stroke feels better than ever, and a chipping tip from Concession member Paul Azinger has left him confident on the shortgame shots off the Bermuda grass.

Koepka is thankful he still has a chance.

Staked to a one-shot lead at the start of the third round, he opened with two straight bogeys, answered with a two-putt birdie on the third but then followed with eight straight pars and found himself seven shots behind.

Koepka finished with three birdies.

Horschel played alongside Morikawa, and he also felt like he gave one away on the 13th when he chipped from behind the green into a front bunker and made bogey, and then fell six shots back with four holes to play with another bogey.

But he birdied the 16th and made a 12-foot eagle putt on the 17th, and he was back in the game.

Webb Simpson had a 69 and was three shots behind, followed by McIlroy and Patrick Reed (69), who will play together on Sunday.

Norda takes LPGA lead

Nelly Korda surged into the lead in the Gainbridge LPGA with a 4-under 68 that left her in position to make it consecutive wins for the Korda family to start the season.

Annika Sorenstam sank to the bottom.

Korda, whose older sister Jessica won the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions last month to start the new LPGA Tour season, dropped only one shot on a breezy day at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla., to lead by one over Patty Tavatanakit.

Sorenstam, playing for the first time in more than 12 years after retiring, had no expectations and no excuses. She kept leaving herself in bad spots around the green and finished with a 79. That put her in last place by four shots, 22 shots behind Korda.

The 50-year-old Swede was making a one-time appearance because the tournament was brought to her home course, and she was happy enough to make the cut on the number.

“We put every effort into every single shot,” she said. “Just wasn't meant to be today. Another day tomorrow. I got two bonus days this week, so that's a good thing.”

Korda was at 13-under 203, one shot ahead of Tavatanakit, the blossoming Thai star who needed only a half-dozen starts on the Symetra Tour to earn her LPGA card when she left UCLA.

Tavatanakit closed with four birdies over her last five holes, including the last three, for a 66. She will be in the final group Sunday with Korda and Angel Yin, who had a 65 and was three shots behind.

Lydia Ko, the 36-hole leader trying to win for the first time in nearly three years, also was three shots behind. Ko fell back with a double bogey on the 12th hole, and then a bogey on the 18th.

Also at 10-under 203 was Jin Young Ko, the No. 1 player in women's golf, who shot a 66 to get in position.

All of them will be chasing Korda.

“Any time you can get ahead of the pack going into Sunday is a positive,” Korda said. “There are some good players there, so it'll take good golf to win.”

Tavatanakit said she didn't spend a lot of time looking at the leaderboard. When she did, she wasn't sure where she stood because she kept missing the front page of leaders.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I'm probably still up there.' So I didn't think too much about it until 15. I saw that I am two back,” Tavatanakit said. “I was like, ‘OK, let's see what I can do here.' Not going to lie, coming down the stretch, those putts were a little shaky.”

Weir takes Champions lead

Mike Weir shot a 5-under 67 to build a two-shot lead after the second round of Cologuard Classic, putting Phil Mickelson in a deep hole in his bid to win his three straight PGA Tour Champions events.

Weir shot 66 in the opening round and had eight birdies in breezy conditions at tricky Tucson National in Arizona. The Canadian left-hander was at 13 under, with Kevin Sutherland second heading into the final round.

Tim Petrovic became the second player in PGA Tour Champions history to have a hole-in-one in consecutive rounds with an ace on No. 14. He was 8 under after a 67.

Mickelson is bidding to become the first player to win his first three career starts on a PGA Tour-sanctioned tour. The five-time major champion was nine shots back after a 72 that included a second straight day of hitting out of the mud on No. 15.

Mickelson was the last amateur to win a PGA Tour event as 20-year-old in Tucson 30 years ago, but has burned the edges of holes through two days in his return.