Record crowds flock to Phoenix Open

Danny Lee knew there was a huge crowd Saturday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Danny Lee is now leading the event at 13 under, after recording a 67, while Mickelson is five shots behind him.

It continued Matsuyama’s good record at this venue having finished runner-up and 4th at his only previous starts. His shot-making had not been up to snuff recently, causing him to miss the cut at Torrey Pines, California, last week and raising doubts over the first two rounds here.

Matsuyama put his approach on the green to about 20 feet from the cup. Pavin also made a pair of key par saves at the 15th and 16th holes to keep his round together.

His bogey opened the door for Matsuyama to make birdie and pull even at 13-under as they headed to 18.

Aucklander Ko tied for third after a three over par 75 final round at the latest weather-affected LPGA Tour event in Florida, with South Korea’s Ha Na Jang extending her lead to win by two strokes. The 26-year-old raced out with four birdies in his first six holes and tied for the lead on 11-under with four others (Bryce Molder, Lee, Matsuyama, Fowler). Boo Weekley had a one-under 70 to round out the top five.

Mickelson rocketed 31 spots up the leaderboard following his round of six-under-par 65, which consisted of six birdies, including a 22-foot putt at the seventh and a 29-foot putt on his final hole of the day at the ninth.

But then Lee had his fourth bogey on the par-3 12th to fall back to 10 under, and followed that with his fifth at the par-4 14th when his short putt for par popped back out to see the young Kiwi fall back to nine under, four shots behind the then runaway Fowler. He added another one on the par-4 8th to build a two-shot lead at the turn.

Lydia Ko shot a 5-under 67 to share the lead with Ha Na Jang going into the afternoon final round at the Coates Golf Championship at Ocala, Fla.

Pavin’s only win in 111 starts on the PGA Tour Champions came at the 2012 Allianz. He is at 10-under 134 after two trips around The Old Course at Broken Sound Club. He won the 2011 Allianz Championship.