Mickelson Rides Eagle to Victory in Texas

Phil Mickelson chipped in for a dramatic eagle-three at the 16th green en route to a closing four-under-par 66 and won the Byron Nelson Classic by two strokes Sunday at Irving, Texas. It was his second eagle of the day and gave him a 15-under total of 265.

The left-hander from Arizona edged Australian Craig Parry to become the first three-time winner on the PGA Tour this year. It was his eighth career victory. The $270,000 first prize was Mickelson’s biggest paycheck ever and vaulted him from third to first on the money-winning list with $1,072,145.

Parry, who was in the clubhouse and tied for the lead when Mickelson made the pivotal eagle, shot a 65 to finish at 267. David Duval shot a 65 to finish at 268.

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Laura Davies overpowered a cold, windy DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Del., and made every important putt to win the LPGA Championship for the second time in three years.

Davies, who started the wind-blown final round with 15 consecutive pars--several on clutch putts--used her awesome length to get green-high on the par-five 16th hole in two then made a 15-foot birdie putt to move into the lead alone.

None of her saving par putts was bigger than the six-footer she rolled in after a great bunker shot on the difficult 18th that gave her a final-round 70.

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Jim Colbert conquered the windy conditions and became the Senior PGA Tour’s first three-time winner of the year. He had four birdies and one bogey in his final-round three-under-par 69 to win the Nationwide Championship by three strokes at Alpharetta, Ga.

Colbert, one shot behind leader Bob Charles entering the final round, took charge early over the windswept 6,777-yard Golf Club of Georgia course and finished the 54 holes at 10-under 206.

Cycling

Lance Armstrong of Austin, Texas, became the Tour DuPont’s first repeat winner, leading the race for the final 11 days. He also won the 12th and final leg, a windy time trial, his record fifth stage victory in the cycling race that began May 1 in Wilmington, Del., and finished in Kennesaw, Ga. Pascal Herve of France was second, 3 minutes 15 seconds behind. Tony Rominger of Switzerland, the world’s No. 2-ranked cyclist, was third, 5:38 behind.

Olympic Sports

World diving champion Dimitry Sautin of Russia scored the only perfect 10 in the FINA/Kodak Diving Grand Prix in winning the men’s 10-meter platform event at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A day after dominating the men’s three-meter springboard final, Sautin scored 658.77 points to easily win the platform over Germans Jan Hempel (617.22) and Heiko Meyer (581.01).

The United States remained unbeaten after five games in a pre-Olympic women’s basketball tournament, defeating Cuba, 108-79, at Townsville, Australia. The U.S. team is unbeaten in 44 games, 22 against international competition.

Nick Adamson of Newport Beach won the Laser competition at what turned into a 15-race regatta at the U.S. Olympic trials off Savannah, Ga. Lanee Butler of Aliso Viejo and Mike Gebhardt of Fort Pierce, Fla., clinched Olympic berths with victories in the first Mistral Class races at the Olympic yachting site.

The U.S. women’s national soccer team struck for four goals in the second half and routed Canada, 6-0, in its opener at the U.S. Women’s Cup ‘96, a four-team tournament in Worcester, Mass.

College Sports

Nevada Las Vegas defeated top-seeded Long Beach State, 11-2, to win the Big West Conference baseball tournament. The 49ers won the regular-season title and will probably receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Ryan Stromsborg’s solo home run highlighted a five-run sixth inning as USC routed UCLA, 13-3, at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Defending national champion UCLA, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton--three ranked teams that have advanced to the Women’s College World Series at least once in the past two seasons--will play in an NCAA Division I softball regional at Fullerton starting Friday. Fourth-ranked UCLA (40-8) faces No. 15 Fullerton (38-25) and sixth-ranked Northridge (42-14) plays Southwest Missouri State (34-20); at another regional in Fresno, Long Beach State (35-20) will play Cal (37-21).

Leo Slack of Washington State won the decathlon and Nicole Haynes of USC earned the heptathlon title in the Pacific-10 Conference multi-event competition at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

Corey Benjamin, a 6-foot-6 forward from Fontana High and the Southern Section’s Division I player of the year, has signed a letter of intent for Oregon State.

Miscellany

Fernando Meligeni of Brazil defeated Mats Wilander, 6-4, 6-2, to win the U.S. Clay Court Tennis Championships at Pinehurst, N.C. . . . Roberto Carretero, a 20-year-old qualifier, won his first pro title when he beat fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, in the German Open final at Hamburg.

Former Villanova star Vicki Huber outkicked Mary Slaney to win the 1,500 meters in 4:11.71 in the Oregon Twilight track meet that ended late Saturday at Eugene. Five women, including Huber, Slaney, Darcy Arreola, Sylvia Mosqueda and Karen Hecox bettered the automatic qualifying standard for the Olympic trials of 4:15.50.

Louisville junior Jason Osborne, academically ineligible last season, announced he will make himself available for the NBA draft.

A three-way dead heat was run at Yakima Meadows in Washington, the 20th such finish in thoroughbred racing history. In the third race, a trio of $8,000 claimers--Fly Like A Angel, Allihaveonztheradio and Terri After Five--all met the wire together after a one-mile race.