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Mickelson in hunt for title defence

Defending champion Phil Mickelson birdied his final two holes on Saturday to card a four-under 66 and tie Brett Quigley at the top of the leaderboard after 54 holes of the Colonial. Quigley, who also posted a 66, and Mickelson share a three-shot lead at 11-under 199.

Shigeki Maruyama (65) is alone in third at eight-under par, followed by David Toms (66), 1995 champion Tom Lehman (68) and Rocco Mediate (69) at minus-seven.

Mickelson trailed Quigley by one shot as he teed off on 18 and it looked like there was no chance the lefthander would be able to match him at 11- under after he drove into trees. He was able to play his second shot to the right fringe, 20 feet from the hole, then drained the putt to get into the final group on Sunday.

One hole earlier, Mickelson cut Quigley's lead to one after he roped a three-iron down the fairway and wedged his approach to five feet. He converted the birdie putt to get to minus-10.

Mickelson is in a different position from last year when he overcame a seven-stroke deficit with nine holes to play before he won the title.

"Last year, it didn't look like I would be able to overcome that lead. It's certainly doable," said Mickelson, who can become only the second player along with Ben Hogan to successfully defend his title. "It is up to Brett and I to get off to good start, slowly pull away and make it difficult for the other guys to catch up."

Both players were one shot behind Corey Pavin at the start of Saturday's third round. Pavin started with a six-foot birdie at two and then a 15- footer for birdie at three to gain a two-shot edge. However he bogeyed the next four holes to fall from the top.

Quigley started with a birdie at the second and then another at the sixth. At eight, Quigley holed a 10-foot birdie putt from the right fringe to go to 10-under and take the lead. He birdied 10 to grab a two-shot margin over Mickelson.

Mickelson drained a long birdie putt at 10 to cut the lead in half, but had to save par at several of the next holes after he landed in the rough off the tee. At the par-five 11th, Mickelson found the right rough and was forced to lay up. He knocked a lob wedge from 93 yards some 20 feet past the hole and two-putted for par.

Both players parred the remaining holes until Quigley reached the 457-yard 14th. He drove into the right rough and from 172 yards out landed his shot on the green but watched as it bounced off the back edge. The best Quigley could do is chip his third 15 feet past the hole but he failed to save par.

Mickelson was now down only one shot as he played the 14th in the group behind Quigley. He landed in a fairway bunker off the tee and missed the green short and left with his second shot. Mickelson hit one of his flop shots for his third but could not help it from rolling 15 feet by the hole. He missed his par save but tapped in for bogey, which gave Quigley his two- shot lead.

Quigley parred out to stay at 11-under before Mickelson matched him with his late birdies.

Mickelson has been in position to win several times this season but has only one victory, at the Buick Invitational.

"This year, I've given myself numerous opportunities," he said. "The approach I took at New Orleans was not what I wanted. Augusta was the same way. `I'm going to take what I've learned and change my approach, and hopefully not make the same mistakes."

Quigley has split time this season on the PGA Tour and Buy.com Tour, where he won the Arkansas Classic in April of this year. He has played on the PGA Tour four times this year with two missed cuts, a withdrawal and a tie for second at the Greater Greensboro Classic.

"I've been in this position for a couple of years, and when I've gotten in, I think I've put too much pressure on myself to play well," said Quigley, referring to the limited PGA Tour schedule. "I'm a little more patient with myself. I just need to play well, not worry about results."

Glen Day, Sergio Garcia, Mike Sposa, Jeff Sluman and Brian Gay share seventh at minus-six.

Pavin, whose last win on tour came at this event in 1996, posted a three- over 73 on Saturday and is six shots out at five-under 205.

"It was a struggle. I've had bad rounds out here before, but I'd rather have them when I'm way back in the pack or something," Pavin said.

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