Mickelson Rolls to Win; Davies Takes Event Again

Phil Mickelson practiced on the putting green until dark on the eve of the final round and then made it pay off Sunday, pulling away from the pack with a silky stroke to win the Bay Hill Invitational at Orlando, Fla.

Mickelson rolled in a 40-foot eagle putt from the fringe on No. 12, the key hole of his seven-under-par 65 that gave him a three-stroke victory over Stuart Appleby.

Mickelson finished at 16-under 272. He earned $270,000 for his 10th PGA Tour victory, along with the gray blazer and Scottish-styled sword that comes with winning Arnold Palmer’s tournament.

“Going into today, I was trying to think that this was Arnie’s tournament and what would he do?” Mickelson said. “He’d put on a charge, so that’s what I tried to do.”

Mickelson’s cool confidence during a decisive four-hole stretch--three birdies and the eagle--didn’t look anything like the dashing style Palmer displayed during his patented charges.

In fact, Mickelson didn’t even look like he would be the one to make a charge when the final round began with 17 players within five shots of leader Omar Uresti.

Cloudy, calm conditions took a lot of the bite out of Bay Hill Club and allowed for low scoring, but Mickelson went out in one-under 35 and was three strokes off the lead until a birdie putt from about 10 feet on No. 11.

Then he hit two drivers to get to the fringe of the 570-yard 12th hole. His putt died on the left edge and dropped in to give him a share of the lead with Appleby, Payne Stewart and Uresti.

“I still can’t believe that putt went in from there,” Mickelson said of the only eagle on No. 12 all week.

Mark O’Meara, the leading money winner on the tour this year, and Stewart finished at 12-under 276.

It was the second close call in as many weeks for Stewart, the former PGA and U.S. Open champion who needs a victory to get into the Masters.

*

Laura Davies became the first LPGA player to win the same tournament four consecutive years, rolling in a three-foot par putt on the first playoff hole to beat Kelly Robbins in the Standard Register Ping at Phoenix.

On the men’s tour, Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen are the only players to win four in a row. Hagen won the PGA Championship from 1924-27, and Sarazen took the Miami Open from 1926-30 with no tournament played in 1927.

Robbins, seeking her second win this season and fifth of her six-year career, forced sudden-death by rolling in a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.

That capped her round of 69 to tie Davies, who shot 68 for a 15-under 277 total.

*

Graham Marsh’s hot putting over the final five holes led the Australian and teammate John Bland to a three-shot victory in the Legends of Golf at La Quinta.

They finished the 54-hole tournament at 192, 24 under par, capturing the $200,000 team first prize with a seven-under 65 in the final round.