SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- A desert critter saved leader Bubba Watson at least a stroke Saturday in the Phoenix Open. Some pigskin play cost Phil Mickelson to the chagrin of the rowdiest fans in the largest crowd in golf history. The estimated 189,722 in attendance had a lot to see on a sunny, cool day at TPC Scottsdale. Watsons drive on the par-5 13th went into a desert bush and settled next to a burrowing animal hole that would have interfered with his swing, giving him a free drop. "Right next to my ball was a burrowing animal hole and my club was going to hit it at impact," Watson said. "It was big hole and the club would get caught on it. So, I got a free drop and could easily wedge it out." He hit a 150-yard shot to the fairway, followed with a wedge to the fringe and two-putted for par on the way to a 3-under 68 and a two-stroke lead. Without the free drop, he thought he could have played a shorter shot. "I was looking at a 20- or 30-yard shot," Watson said. Mickelson made a double bogey on the par-3 No. 16, the 20,000-seat stadium hole where he "lost focus" thinking about throwing footballs into the crowd. The defending champion half-shanked his tee shot left on the 128-yard hole. He followed with a weak flop shot into the bunker, blasted to 8 feet and two-putted. "It was a gap wedge. It was pathetic," Mickelson said. "I dont even know what to say. I dont remember ever hitting a shot like that even in practice." On the positive side, the former Arizona State player threw some nice spirals and showed no signs of the back pain that forced him to withdraw last week at Torrey Pines. "My brother, who is the ASU golf coach, brought out some ASU footballs that I signed and threw out there," Mickelson said. "I think its the last time Im going to do that, because mentally I was thinking about throwing it a couple holes prior. "It took me out of my element. I hit the worst shot imaginable, and then I followed with four other terrible ones. It was just some of the worst shots imaginable. I just lost focus and I think a lot of it was due to the fact that I have never done something like that on the 16th hole. I thought it was going to be fun." He finished with a 72 to drop to 3 under. Watson was at 15-under 198. Winless since the 2012 Masters, the long-hitting left-hander also scrambled to save par on the par-5 15th, holing a 15-footer after losing another drive to the right. His 7-foot birdie try on 16 stopped on the right edge, but he holed a curling 12-footer for birdie on the short par-4 17th after another drive went far right. He saved par on the par-4 18th after driving over the water into the left rough. "I held it together, stayed focused on what I was trying to do, made nice up-and-down on 17 for birdie," Watson said. "Tough lie on 18 and somehow two-putted to have a little lead. ... Luckily, nobody went crazy on me." He was upset about the pace of play. "The back nine just got real slow and sluggish and I just kind of lost focus a little bit on my tee shots," Watson said. "We need to be under five hours tomorrow. I want to watch the Super Bowl." The tournament set an attendance record for the fourth straight day, breaking the day mark of 179,002 from the third round last year. Since Monday, an estimated 502,776 people have attended the event. The record of 538,356 was set in 2008. "It was packed out there," said Scottsdale resident Kevin Stadler, second after a 67. "Its something you only experience once a year." Ryan Moore had a 64 to join Harris English (69) and Hideki Matsuyama (66) at 12 under, and Jones (72) was 11 under along with Brendan Steele (62) and 2010 winner Hunter Mahan (65). Moore played the back nine in 6-under 30. "Made a couple bonus putts," Moore said. Steele had the best round of the week. "I was just trying to make as many birdies as I could," Steele said. "Its kind of the luxury when you make the cut by a shot. You have more to gain and not much to lose." Canadian Graham DeLaet shot himself up the leaderboard with a 6-under 65. DeLaet, from Weyburn, Sask., is six shots off the pace at 9-under 204. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot a 73, and is 13 back at 211. . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. [url=http://www.superstarsoldefr.com/]Adidas Superstar Rouge . DAmigo scored twice in regulation and added the shootout winner as the Toronto Marlies edged the San Antonio Rampage 5-4 in American Hockey League action. http://www.superstarsolde... . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. [url=http://www.superstarsoldefr.com/chaussure-de-sport-adidas/stan-smith-adidas... Stan Smith Noir Femme . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Adidas Superstar Rose . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup.NASHVILLE -- The Nashville Predators are glad captain Shea Weber managed to play with an upper body injury that sent him out of their previous game. Weber scored two goals, including the game-winner at 1:29 of overtime, and the Predators rallied late in beating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Friday night. "Its going to take a lot to keep him out of a hockey game," Predators forward David Legwand said of the big defenceman. "He loves playing the game and shows that over the course of his career. He was big for us tonight. Obviously on the first one and in overtime, two huge goals." Weber didnt practice Thursday and was a game-time decision after leaving Tuesday nights win in Winnipeg early in the third period. Nashville coach Barry Trotz said Weber deciding to play made all the difference. "Hes one of the best at his position plain and simple," Trotz said. "Hes our building block, and hes a difference maker in this business. There arent too many guys at his level." Legwand scored with 10.8 seconds remaining in regulation with goalie Carter Hutton on the bench to force the extra period. The puck squirted out to Legwand, who scored on a slap shot from the right circle. Hutton, who struggled giving up the two goals to New Jersey, stopped Michael Ryder on a breakaway 80 seconds into overtime to keep the game tied. "It is good to get the win obviously," Weber said. "It took us 60 minutes to get it tied up, but we found a way. We battled hard and got it tied up. Obviously, Hutton made a huge save in overtime and gave us a chance to win." Then Colin Wilson took the puck back the other way and drove toward the net before dropping the puck off to Weber, who beat Cory Schneider with a wrister from the left circle. "We played four games in six nights," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "We got an unfortunate bounce at the end, and well take the point and move on." Patrik Elias scored a goal and had an assist, and Jaromir Jagr had a goal for the Devils.dddddddddddd Travis Zajac had two assists. Out of the 16 games played between these teams, this was the 13th decided by a goal. This was a rare visit to Nashville with the Devils playing only their 10th game here Friday night and first since Oct. 15, 2011. The Devils, who beat Nashville 5-0 in New Jersey on Nov. 10, wrapped up a three-game road trip against the Western Conference with their second game in as many nights after beating the Stars in overtime in Dallas on Thursday night. "Its tough two nights in a row ... giving up a lead in the last minute, and we shouldve had an extra point tonight again," Schneider said. The Predators want to build some momentum before the Olympic break, and they have earned points in five of six games going 4-1-1. They had a couple days off since their last game and outshot the Devils 9-3 in the opening minutes and 33-26 for the game. Weber gave Nashville a 1-0 lead after the first period, beating Schneider with a slap shot 6:45 into the game off an assist from Patric Hornqvist. New Jersey tied it at 13:00 of the second when Elias came skating up the left side and fired off a shot that might have gone wide if not for Hutton trying to snag it with his glove. The puck glanced off Huttons glove and redirected into the net for a goal. Jagr got his 17th goal this season late in the second putting the Devils ahead 2-1. Jagr skated behind the net and fired a wrister that hit off Hutton and slipped between the goalie and the left post for a 2-1 lead at 18:59 of the second. But the Predators gave Hutton a chance to make up for those goals in overtime. Notes: Jagr has 698 career goals. ... Weber leads all defencemen with 15 goals, and eight have come in the first period. Nashville is 11-1-2 when Weber scores. ... Nashville is 19-2-5 when scoring first this season and just 2-22-2 when trailing after two periods. ... The Devils are 7-1-2 in Nashville. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '