NORTON, MASS. (AP) - A good start and a great finish was enough for Sergio Garcia to take the lead Saturday in the Deutsche Bank Championship.
For Phil Mickelson, just finishing in the same spot he started was a victory.
On another day of soft conditions and plenty of birdies on the TPC Boston, Garcia opened with five birdies in seven holes, and then made an 18-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole for a 7-under 64 and a one-shot lead over Roberto Castro and Henrik Stenson, the Swede who is popping up on every leaderboard.
Garcia was at 13-under 129, and it held up as the lead when no one could catch him on a cloudy afternoon with some light rain. Stenson had a 63, and Castro shot 65.
Tiger Woods, in the 1-2-3 grouping with Mickelson and Adam Scott, made a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 67 and was six shots back.
Mickelson, however, managed to steal the show with a 71.
Lefty went on the wildest ride at the TPC Boston, completely losing his swing during one stretch when he at times appeared closer to hitting Rhode Island than hitting a fairway. He went into the hazard to the left of the ninth fairway and into another one right of the 10th fairway. Only a tree kept his tee shot on the par-3 11th hole from disappearing into the woods.
He hit into the gallery to the left and into the gallery on the right on consecutive holes.
He found the water on the par-3 16th.
He closed with back-to-back birdies, leaving him five shots behind and in a great frame of mind for the final 36 holes.
SAFEWAY CLASSIC
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ Yani Tseng moved into position to end a long victory drought, shooting a 9-under 63to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Safeway Classic.
Tseng, the 24-year-old Taiwanese star who has 15 LPGA Tour titles and had a 109-week run at No. 1 in the world ranking, is winless in 36 events since the Kia Classic in March 2012. She has tumbled to No. 15 in the world and missed cuts in the four of her last five tournaments.
After opening with rounds of 67 and 68, Tseng had 11 birdies and two bogeys Saturday in warm, dry and calm conditions to reach 18 under at Columbia Edgewater.
Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, the 2011 tournament winner at Pumpkin Ridge, was tied for second with Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum. Pettersen had a 70, and Phatlum, the leader after each of the first two rounds, shot 71.
Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist also had a 63 to join U.S. Solheim Cup opponents Stacy Lewis, Morgan Pressel and Lizette Salas at 14 under. Lewis and Pressel shot 65, and Salas had a 68.
Austin Ernst shot a 62 to tie the tournament record set by Annika Sorenstam in 2002. Ernset was 12 under.
HOTEL FITNESS CHAMPIONSHIP
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) _ Patrick Cantlay opened a three-stroke lead in the Hotel Fitness Championship, a week after the former UCLA star missed a chance to wrap up a PGA Tour card.
Fighting a back injury, the 21-year-old Cantlay had two eagles, six birdies and a double bogey in the third round to reach 19-under 197 at Sycamore Hills in the Web.com Tour Finals opener.
Cantlay missed the cut last week in the Cox Classic in Omaha, Neb., to drop from 25th to 29th on the Web.com Tour money list. The top 25 after that event secured PGA Tour cards for the 2013-14 season, while Nos. 26-75 are fighting with Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings for 25 additional cards in the four-event Web.com Tour Finals series.
Kevin Kisner was second after a 63.
Web.com Tour money champion Michael Putnam was tied for third at 14 under with 2008 Masters winner Trevor Immelman, Arron Oberholser, Bobby Gates, Scott Gardiner and Bud Cauley. Putnam and Immelman shot 69, Oberholser and Cauley had 68s, Gates shot 64, and Gardiner had a 66.
SHAW CHARITY CLASSIC
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) _ Rocco Mediate played the back nine in 7-under 29 for the second straight day to increase his lead to two strokes in the Champions Tour’s inaugural Shaw Charity Classic.
The 50-year-old Mediate, the Allianz Championship winner in February in his first Champions Tour start, followed his opening 8-under 63 with a 64 to reach 15 under at tree-lined Canyon Meadows. He had seven birdies on the back nine after making an eagle and two bogeys on the front side.
Bobby Clampett was second after a 65. Tom Pernice Jr., David Frost and Michael Allen were 11 under. Pernice had a 64, and Frost and Allen shot 66.
WALES OPEN
NEWPORT, Wales (AP) _ American Peter Uihlein moved into position for his second European Tour victory of the year, shooting a 4-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead in the Wales Open.
Uihlein had a 7-under 206 total on Celtic Manor’s Twenty Ten Course, the site of the 2010 Ryder Cup. The former Oklahoma State star and 2010 U.S. Amateur champion won the Madeira Islands Open in May.
Frenchmen Thomas Levet and Gregory Bourdry were tied for second. Levet shot 67, and Bourdry had a 70.
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