Mickelson Wins Morris Williams Golf Tournament

With a 15-m.p.h. wind at his back, San Diego’s Phil Mickelson made two eagles in a span of five holes Tuesday, finishing with a four-under-par 68 and a three-shot victory in the 54-hole Morris Williams intercollegiate golf tournament.

Mickelson of Arizona State, the current U.S. Amateur champ and winner of the Northern Telecom Open on the PGA Tour, beat Kevin Wentworth of Oklahoma State by three shots.

Oklahoma State won the team championship with a total of seven-under 281 on Tuesday’s final round. The Cowboys finished with a total of 858, six under par. Arizona State, which started the day tied with Oklahoma State, took second at 872, 14 shots off the pace.

Mickelson’s nine-under-par 207 was good for the 10th victory of his college career. The junior is scheduled to play in the Masters in two weeks.

The 1992 Infiniti Tournament of Champions will have a later starting date than usual (Jan. 9-12), but will still lead the PGA Tour, tournament director Mike Crosthwaite said.

Both the Tournament of Champions and the Senior T of C will be played at the La Costa Resort & Spa Course. San Diego’s Phil Mickelson, the two-time defending NCAA champion and current national amateur champion, has already qualified for the tournament.

An 18-hole pro-am, featuring the combined senior and PGA tour fields, will kick off the event Jan. 8.

FOOTBALL

The Chargers signed linebacker Galand Thaxton to a free-agent contract. Thaxton, 6-feet-1 and 242 pounds, was one of Atlanta Falcons’ top special-teams players as a free agent in 1989. He spent the 1990 season on injured reserve with an ankle injury suffered in training camp. Thaxton was drafted by the New York Giants out of Wyoming in 1988. He’s the third Plan B free agent the Chargers have signed.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Cal State Fullerton center Aaron Wilhite, a Lincoln High graduate, has received permission from Athletic Director Steve DiTolla to speak to other schools about transferring. But the 6-foot-7 sophomore has not decided whether he’ll leave the Titan program.

Wilhite, the team’s second leading scorer (12.8 points a game) and rebounder (7.7) this season, said he wanted to keep his options open in the wake of recent turmoil at Fullerton.

Several players called for the dismissal of Coach John Sneed after the Titans’ 14-14 season, and the administration has been investigating the program for the past two weeks. A decision to retain or dismiss the coach has not yet been made. Wilhite said he had spoken to some assistant coaches, but has had no firm offers.

“All this controversy is not good for the future of this program,” Wilhite said. “I want to look for a program whose future is set. I may not leave, but I wanted to do this just in case.”