Mickelson & Sutherland lead as weather worsens - AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 2007

Mickelson shot a 2-under 70 on Saturday at Spyglass Hill in the most miserable conditions of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, giving him a share of the lead with Kevin Sutherland and a great chance to put to rest any notion of a U.S. Open hangover.

Sutherland got into the final group for the second time in three weeks with a birdie on his final hole at Poppy Hills for a 67 and joined Mickelson atop the leaderboard at 14-under 202.

John Mallinger, a 27-year-old rookie, had a 68 at Poppy and was one shot behind.

Mickelson is perfecting his swing by the day, and what helped this week was the perfect rotation of courses. He played Pebble Beach on Friday, the only day the wind didn't blow much, and shot 67.

Sutherland opened with a 72 at Pebble Beach on Thursday. Jim Furyk had to take on rain that fell sideways in 20 mph gusts at Pebble Beach on Saturday, and it was costly. He hit a fairway metal for his second shot on the par-4 10th over the cliffs and took double bogey, and wound up with a 76.

More "Crosby" weather was in the forecast for Sunday, and that was OK with Mickelson.

"The key if the weather gets bad is to drive the ball well," he said. "You have to put the ball in place because from the rough or the bunkers, you're just fighting for par the whole time. I'm actually really excited about my chances. I've been driving it better than I think I ever have, and I'm excited about putting it to the test here."

Aiding his chances are the limited number of contenders.

The 42-year-old Sutherland plays his best golf in his native California, but his only PGA Tour victory came five years ago down the coast at La Costa in the Accenture Match Play Championship.

He was one shot out of the lead going into the last round at the Buick Invitational, but closed with a 74 and tied for 14th.

Mallinger, making only his eighth career start on the PGA Tour and his fourth this year, made his first bogey of the week by missing a 3-foot par putt on his 15th hole, then went birdie-bogey-birdie to give himself a chance.

Some big names are atop the leaderboard, but they have a lot of ground to cover.

Davis Love III shot 70 at Spyglass and Corey Pavin shot 67 at Pebble Beach. They were tied for fourth at 9-under 207. Furyk was in the group at 208. Vijay Singh was poised to move a little closer to the top until hitting a tee shot into the ocean, another shot over the corporate boxes on the 18th at Pebble Beach and making double bogey to shoot 71. He was eight shots behind, along with Tom Watson, who had a 72 at Spyglass.

This is the first time Mickelson has been in the lead going into the final round since the U.S. Open at Winged Foot last summer, where he made double bogey on the final hole to finish one shot behind. Lefty hasn't given that much thought, and he sure doesn't see Sunday as any measure of redemption.

"I don't really think in those terms," he said. "It would be a nice way to get momentum on the West Coast."