B4 | Sunday, February 9, 2020 |yourconroenews.com |The Courier SPORTS GOLF Mickelson’s charmed dayleaveshim 1shot back By DougFerguson windthan earlier in the punch wedgehard AP GOLF WRITER week, but still gentle enough. It rolled down the enoughthatlow scores slope, off the green and PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.— were available. Dustin backintothe fairway. PhilMickelsonand his Johnson, atwo-time win- Mickelson’s long chip from sublime shortgamedeliv- ner at Pebble, wasinstrik- 90 feet banged intothe pin ered moreentertainment ing rangeand could man- and dropped forbirdie. than all theathletes and ageonlya72, leavinghim Mickelson missedtwo celebritiesfor the Satur- eight shots back.Patrick birdieputtsfrominside 10 dayshowatthe AT&T Peb- Cantlay, at No.8in the feet.While he hitonlynine bleBeach Pro-Am. world, playedthe finalsix greensinregulation, he Mickelson made theim- holesat2overfor a72and usuallyhad areasonable possible lookeasy from a wasnine shotsback. angle to thepin to save par bunker behind thepar-3 Mickelson startedwith a —ormakebirdie, as was seventhgreen at Pebble pairofbirdies. He took a the case twicefor him. Beach. He holed outfroma shareofthe lead with a ThatleavesaSunday bunker forbirdie on the birdie on thepar-5 sixth. withplentyatstake forthe 13th and chippedinfrom And thenthe fun began. leadingthree players. 90 feet forbirdieonthe Hiswedge on the 110- Mickelson said earlierin next hole. yard seventh hole that the week he would not ac- When he rapped in one drops down into the Pacif- cept aspecial exemption last birdie,Mickelson had ic went longand plugged forthe U.S. Open if he a5-under 67 and trailed in the back bunker. He neededone. Avictory at Nick Taylor of Canadaby splashed outsoperfectly Pebble—the 45th of hisca- one shot going intothe fi- thatittook afew hops in reer —would go along way nalround. Mickelsonwill Eric Risberg/AssociatedPress the rough beforereaching toward solving that. be going forarecordsixth Phil Mickelson shot a5-under 67 on Saturdaytomovewithin one stroke of the the green,slowenough to Taylor canget hisfirst title at PebbleBeach and leader Nick Taylor. stop 2feetawayfor atap-in win since hisrookie sea- hisfirst PGATourvictory par. son, an opposite-field since he wonthistourna- 69. Mickelson has former San ingtogowild. I’vejust got Evenfor Mickelson, it event at the time. TheCa- ment last year. Taylor wasat17-under Francisco 49ers quarter- to do my ownthing,try to ratesamong hisbest. nadian has neverbeen to Taylor hadacold and 198ashegoesfor his sec- back SteveYoung while block all thatout.Easier Then, his50-foot bun- the Masters and has played relatively quiet day, away ondPGA Tour victory and Taylor hasGolf Digest edi- said than done, without kershot on thetough in onlyfourmajors, twoas from all thehits andgig- first sincehewon the tor-in-chief JerryTarde. havingtodoitbefore, but eighthrolled inchesfrom an amateur. glesaroundthe celebrity Sanderson FarmsChampi- Taylor and Mickelson I’ll do the best Ican.” the cup on No.8.More Day, meanwhile, is afor- rotation at Pebble. He teed onshipinhis fourthstart have neverplayedtogeth- This is atwo-man show; troublesupposedlyawait- mer No.1who spentmost offattough Spyglass Hill as atourrookie. er. however, JasonDay posted ed on the 13th when hisap- of lastyearinjuredand with abeanieand hand Mickelsonhit aflopshot “It’sgoingtobeanew a70atSpyglassHill and proach peeledintothe left frustrated. He has gone warmers because of heavy over thebunkeronthe experience forthatrea- wasonlythree shots be- bunker. He raised both nearly twoyears sincehis marinelayer,warmedup par-518thtopullwithin son, if Iamplayingwith hindat14-under201. arms when thatone lastwin and wasindanger as thesun broke through oneshot.Theywill be in him,”Taylorsaid. “Obvi- Forothers, it wasawast- dropped into thecup.And of fallingout of the top50 andmadea25-footeagle thefinal group, along with ously,ifhemakes aputt or ed opportunity. on the par-514th he made a if he didn’t starting getting putt late in hisround fora their amateur partners. great shot,the crowd’s go- PebbleBeach hadmore mistakebynot hitting his better results. SPORTS BRIEFS Presidentgoes to batfor Ex-Red Rose overlifetime ban WASHINGTON —Presi- andthe current electronic and San Diego State were dentDonaldTrump wants sign-stealing scandal in- the topseeds in the NCAA’s Cooperstown to open its volving the Houston Astros. preliminaryrankings. doors forPeteRose. The 78-year-old Rose The Bears were the No.1 Trump tweeted Saturday also askedbaseball’s Hall of overall seed in rankings thatbaseball’s career hits Fame to remove the prohi- released Saturdaybythe leader should be in the Hall bitionadoptedbythe Hall’s NCAADivision IMen’s of Fame.OnWednesday, boardofdirectors in 1991 to Basketball Committee. Rose againasked Major prohibit players on the The preliminaryrank- League Baseball to endhis permanentlyineligiblelist ings, based on games lifetime ban forbetting on from appearing on the Hall through Friday, arede- the Cincinnati Reds while ballotofthe Baseball Writ- signed to be asneak peek playing forand managing ers’ Association of Amer- at theselectionprocess them. ica. beforethe official seeds are “PeteRose playedMajor Trump has attended revealed on Selection Sun- League Baseball for24 severalsporting events in day,which is March15. The seasons, from 1963-1986, recent months. He was Final Four is March27-29 in and hadmorehits,4,256, booed at NationalsParkin Atlanta. thanany otherplayer(by a October during Game 5of Baylor,which is No.1in widemargin). He gambled, the WorldSeriesbetween the AP Top25, wasslotted but onlyonhis ownteam the Washington Nationals in the South Region in winning,and paid ade- and Houston Astros. Houston with Louisville, cadeslong price. GET Seton Hall and Auburn. PETE ROSE INTO THE Charlottewaives The third-ranked Jay- BASEBALL HALL OF John Minchillo/AssociatedPress hawkswerethe No.2over- FAME.It’sTime!” Trump apair of players PresidentDonald TrumptooktoTwittertovoice his support forformer Reds all seed and placed in the tweeted. TheHornets waived playerPeteRose and his petition to have his lifetime ban ended. Midwest Region inIndia- Rose agreed to thelife- former No.2overall pick napoliswith Dayton, Flori- timeban in August1989 Michael Kidd-Gilchristand 25.1 minutesper game Davis, aperennial All-Star, 6813-point field goals made da State andMichigan after an investigation for 15-year NBAveteran Marvin during hiseight seasons in with the first pick,which ranks thirdand his2,293 State. MLB by lawyer John Dowd Williams on Saturday. Charlotte. provedtobeadevastating totalrebounds rank eighth No.2Gonzagawas the found the perennial All- The 6-foot-6Kidd-Gil- However, Kidd-Gilchrist blow to the development of on the franchise’sall-time third overall seedand Star placed numerous bets christwas selected behind struggled with hisshooting theHornets’ franchise. leaderboard. topped aWestRegion in on the Reds to win from Kentucky teammate Antho- despiteefforts to improve The6-foot-8 Williams Williams has playedin41 LosAngeleswith West 1985-87. Dowd is one of ny Davisinthe 2012 draft, hisform.Heshot47.5 averaged 7.9points, 5.3 gamesthisseason forthe Virginia, Villanovaand Trump’s former lawyers. but he foundhimself outof percent from the field rebounds and 1.3assists in Hornetsmostlyinareserve Oregon. Rose wasturned down Charlotte’s rotation this duringhis career and 28 27.1minutes per game since role, averaging6.7 points The East Region, to be by Commissioner Rob season under coach James percent from 3-point joining theHornetsin2014. per game in 19.7minutes. playedinNew York,was ManfredinDecember 2015 Borrego. He has playedin range. Williams wasoriginally The Hornets are16-35 topped by No.4San Diego in aprevious requestfor only12games, averaging The Hornets finished drafted No.2overall in thisseason. State andincludes Duke, reinstatement.Inthisnew fourpoints. 7-59 in the 2011-12season 2005 by the AtlantaHawks Maryland and Butler.The application, Rose’slawyers The 26-year-old Kidd- but wound up with the after playing one season at NCAA releases Aztecs arethe lone remain- contended the penaltyis Gilchristholds career aver- second pick in the lottery. NorthCarolina. ing undefeatedteamin unfair compared with ages of 8.6points, 5.5re- Thatallowedthe New His429 gamesplayed initial No. 1seeds Division I. discipline forsteroidsuse bounds and 1.2assists in Orleans Pelicans to draft ranks sixth in Charlotte, his Baylor,Kansas, Gonzaga Associated Press Basketball L.A.Clippers at Cleveland, 6:30 p.m. LosAngeles 56 19 32 543136 179 Daniel Berger .................70s-69m-70p—209 -6 1p.m. 6p.m. Miami at Portland, 8p.m. Paul Casey.......................71s-65m-73p—209 -6 CBSSN: Evansville at Bradley NBATV: Utah at Houston NBA NOTE: Twopoints forawin, one point forover- Monday’s games time loss. John Senden.....................71s-71m-67p—209 -6 1:30 p.m. NHL HOCKEY EASTERN CONFERENCE AtlantaatOrlando,6p.m. Saturday’s games Kevin Chappell...............68s-67m-74p—209 -6 NBCSN:George Mason at Massachusetts 11:30 a.m. BrooklynatIndiana, 6p.m. Winnipeg 5, Ottawa 2 ChezReavie ....................67m-69p-73s—209 -6 2p.m. WLPctGB Charlotte at Detroit,6p.m. Sean O’Hair......................73s-65m-71p—209 -6 ESPN: WichitaState at Houston NBC: Boston atDetroit Milwaukee 45 7.865 — Boston 4, Arizona2 Minnesota at Toronto, 6:30 p.m. ChrisBaker.....................69m-64p-76s—209 -6 3p.m. 6:30 p.m. 1 New Jersey 3, LosAngeles 0 Toronto3914.736 6 ⁄2 NBCSN: Colorado at Minnesota 1 SacramentoatMilwaukee,7p.m. Colorado 2, Columbus 1 Kevin