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 GTE 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 McDonald’s 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 for the first time in the tournament.

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 PGA Senior 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 PGA 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. He earned $180,000 with his second victory in three weeks.

Cycling

Lance Armstrong became the Tour DuPont’s first repeat winner Sunday, 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, in the eighth edition of the race.

A field of 112 riders from 16 teams began the eighth edition of the race that passes progressed through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee before the final two stages in Georgia. There were 85 finishers.

Armstrong earned $35,000.

Tennis

Mats Wilander has built his career on perseverance, but it was his lack of patience that enabled up-and-coming Fernando Meligeni of Brazil to beat him, 6-4, 6-2, and win the $264,250 U.S. Clay Court Championships at Pinehurst, N.C.

The 85th-ranked Wilander, 31, was looking for his 34th career title, but his first since winning at Itaparica, Brazil, in November 1990. But the former world No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam tournament champion never settled into the match against the 25-year-old Meligeni.

“I was a bit too psyched up about winning the match, winning the tournament, rather than worrying about how to beat this guy,” Wilander said.

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 final of the German Open at Hamburg.

Olympic Sports

World diving champion Dimitry Sautin of Russia scored the only perfect 10 in the FINA/Kodak Diving Grand Prix in winning won the men’s 10-meter platform event at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

One 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). David Pichler of the United States finished fourth with 573.00 points.

The United States remained unbeaten after five games in a pre-Olympic women’s basketball tournament, defeating Cuba, 108-79, at Townsville, Australia. Lisa Leslie and Carla McGhee each had 16 points for the U.S. team, which 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.

Lance 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.

Track & Field

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. The competition was a prelude to the Pac-10 track and field championships next weekend at UCLA.

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 night 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.

Names in the News

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 to attend Oregon State.

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