Golf Capsules
TROON, Scotland (AP) - Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson went toe-to-toe for four hours Saturday in the British Open, trading pivotal par saves and four lead changes in the cold wind and occasional rain at Royal Troon.
And now they get to do it again, this time with the claret jug at stake.
Stenson had a pair of two-shot swings on the inward par 3s and got up-and-down on the 18th for a 3-under 68, the second straight day that no one had a better score. It gave the 40-year-old Swede his first 54-hole lead in a major, by one shot over Mickelson, who is going for his sixth major.
Stenson had his third straight round in the 60s - no one has ever won at Royal Troon with all four rounds in the 60s - and was at 12-under 201. He's trying to become the first Swedish major champion and only the eighth player dating to Old Tom Morris in 1861 to win his first major after turning 40.
Mickelson, winless since he lifted golf's oldest trophy at Muirfield three years ago, had a 70.
Everyone else felt like mere spectators.
Bill Haas, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour who is rarely heard from at majors, was solid with a 69 and alone in third. It's his highest position ever in a major, yet he was six shots out of the lead. Another shot back was Andrew Johnston, the Englishman with a big belly and beard to match who goes by "Beef." He broke par for the third straight day with a 70.
BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP
OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) - Jhonattan Vegas' lead was down to three strokes when rain finally stopped third-round play in the Barbasol Championship.
Six shots ahead after a course-record 11-under 60 on Friday, Vegas was 1 over for the round and 16 under overall playing the par-4 14th when play was stopped on Grand National's Lake Course.
The 29-year-old Venezuelan Olympic qualifier failed to qualify for the British Open and has only past champion status - he won the 2011 Bob Hope Classic - on the PGA Tour. The winner Sunday will get a two-year exemption and a spot in the PGA Championship, but won't be exempt for the Masters.
David Toms and Aaron Baddeley were 13 under. The 49-year-old Toms was 4 under for the day with four holes left. Baddeley shot a 64, chipping in on the par-4 18th for his third straight birdie.
MARATHON CLASSIC
SYLVANIA, Ohio (AP) - Hyo Joo Kim had five birdies in a six-hole stretch and shot a 7-under 64 at Highland Meadows to open a three-stroke lead in the LPGA Tour's Marathon Classic.
Kim had shares of the lead the first two days, opening with a 66 on her 21st birthday and shooting a 68 on Friday. The South Korean player won the season opener in the Bahamas for her third career title.
Kim began the birdie run on the par-4 fifth, parred the par-3 sixth, then ran off four straight on the par-5 seventh, par-3 eighth and par-4 ninth and 10th holes. She added birdies on the par-3 14th and par-5 17th and parred the par-5 18th to finish at 15 under.
Top-ranked Lydia Ko and Alison Lee were tied for second.
Ko, the 2014 winner, had a bogey-free 67. She missed a short birdie putt on the final hole.
Lee, the 21-year-old American who has struggled in her second season on the tour while still attending classes at UCLA, birdied Nos. 15-17 in a 66.