Phil Mickelson managed to stay top of the Northern Trust Open leaderboard as joint leader with fellow-American Keegan Bradley, despite not playing in the third round.
In pursuit of a second successive PGA Tour title, he hit his ball into and through trees but his scrambling was spot on to help him to a third-round 70 and a 7n-under total.
Mickelson headed straight to the practice range after completing his third round to try and avoid a repeat performance on the final day.
"I'll go hit some balls and get it turned around for tomorrow," Mickelson said. "Today was a big day because if I didn't fight hard and make pars from some of the places I was at, then I'd be trying to play catch up to a lot of guys."
Before heading off to the range, Mickelson spoke on the phone to his swing coach Butch Harmon, who had already sent him a few text messages with advice.
"Usually when I win, I'll have two good rounds and I'll have two rounds that aren't so great that I've got to keep somewhere in it to give myself a chance," Mickelson said following scores of 66, 70 and 70.
"Yesterday and today I didn't play the best. I wasn't far off. I hit some good shots at times that didn't quite turn out, but I was playing very defensive all day just trying to make pars. I'll get it turned around."
South African performance
The leading South African after three rounds is Retief Goosen six shots off the pace on 1-under. Brendon de Jonge is a shot behind The Goose on level par and Ernie Els is on 1-over par. Sadly Trevor Immelman, Rory Sabbatini and Tim Clark all missed the cut.
| Pos | Player | Round | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keegan Bradley | 66 | -7 |
| Phil Mickelson | 70 | -7 | |
| 3 | Bryce Molder | 66 | -6 |
| Jonathan Byrd | 69 | -6 | |
| Pat Perez | 70 | -6 | |
| 6 | Aaron Baddeley | 66 | -5 |
| Dustin Johnson | 67 | -5 | |
| Bill Haas | 68 | -5 | |
| 9 | Ryan Moore | 68 | -4 |
| Jarrod Lyle | 71 | -4 |
