Vermittelt » The score included a 9.9 mark for execution, as

ARDMORE, Pa. -- For all those runner-up finishes, with so much heartache chasing the major he covets, Phil Mickelson has never had a better chance to win the U.S. Open. Its the first time he has ever had the outright lead going into the final round. Of the nine players within five shots, only one has the experience of winning a major. And Tiger Woods went from contender to middle-of-the-pack by matching his worst U.S. Open score as a pro. Despite a bogey on the final hole at Merion -- the 18th was so tough it didnt yield a single birdie in the third round -- Mickelson was the sole survivor to par Saturday with an even-par 70 that gave him a one-shot lead over Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker and former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. Mickelson celebrates his 43rd birthday Sunday -- on Fathers Day, no less. He left Merion on Monday and didnt return until three hours before his tee time on Thursday so he could attend the eighth-grade graduation of his oldest daughter. "Its got the makings to be something special," Mickelson said. "But I still have to go out and perform, and play some of my best golf." He has been good enough to play 54 holes in 1-under 209. And he was close to perfection when he stood on the par-3 17th hole with a 4-iron in his hand, 253 yards away from the orange wicker basket attached to the pin, the signature look at Merion. He was one shot behind Luke Donald until a pure swing and an 8-foot birdie putt gave him the lead. "I just stood and admired it," Mickelson said. "It was one of the best shots Ive ever hit. I mean, it just was right down the centre of the green and I was hoping it would kind of get the right bounces. It left me a beautiful uphill putt that I could be aggressive with and I made it. That was fun to do that because thats just not a hole you expect to get one back." Four others players who had been under par late in the round couldnt hang on. Donald twice made poor swings with a 2-iron, and it cost him three shots. Mahan, Schwartzel and Justin Rose all finished bogey-bogey. There was trouble everywhere at Merion, and it didnt take much to find it. One swing cost Ian Poulter, who drove out-of-bounds on the 15th. One decision cost Nicolas Colsaerts, who tried to hit a shot under a tree on the 18th and made triple bogey. That left Mickelson alone at the top for only the second time in a major -- he won the 2006 Masters with the lead. The U.S. Open, however, has been nothing but trouble for Lefty. "I dont think I feel any more pressure than anybody else who wants to win ... the U.S. Open," Mickelson said. "This is a tournament for years Ive had opportunities, Ive come close to, and it would mean a lot tomorrow if I could play some of my best golf -- certainly if I can play the way I have been." Saturday was more about weeding out the pretenders for this U.S. Open -- and one of them turned out to be Woods. He started out just four shots out of the lead, and made a bending, 12-foot birdie putt on the opening hole. It never got any better for the worlds No. 1 player. He made seven bogeys the rest of the way and didnt add another birdie. It was the fourth time he shot 76 in the U.S. Open, but never when he started out so close to the lead. Now, hes 10 shots behind. "It certainly is frustrating," said Woods, who has been stuck on 14 majors since winning the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. "Im playing well enough to do it, and unfortunately just havent gotten it done." David Hearn (73) of Brantford, Ont., is at 10 over, while Mike Weir (75) of Brights Grove, Ont., is 13 over. The final hour might have been a sneak preview for Sunday. At one point, there were five players under par, and suddenly there was only Mickelson. Donald made double bogey on the 18th hole from the middle of the fairway, trying to swing too hard on a 2-iron to get up the hill and beyond the false front of the green. He wound up in ankle-deep rough, so gnarly that his third shot squirted across the green and into more thick grass. "I should have done better," Donald said. "It was disappointing, but Ill take the positives out of today -- a really solid 16 holes of golf, and Im only two back." Mahan let his spectacular back nine filled with four birdies go to waste with a bogey-bogey finish for a 69. He will be in the final group for the first time in a major with Mickelson, whom he considers a close friend. "Its going to be a very, very exciting finish," Mahan said, "because I dont think any lead is safe." Stricker made a 10-foot par putt on the 18th hole to complete a 70 and perhaps the steadiest round of the day. His only mistake in a round that lasted 5 1/2 hours under sunshine was a tee shot into the water on the par-3 ninth for a double bogey. At 46, Stricker can become the oldest U.S. Open champion. "Ive got to play smart golf ... not make any mistakes," he said. "I think thats the biggest thing. And its a course where its tough to come back." Billy Horschel, tied with Mickelson at the start of the third round, kept his emotions in check and shot 72. He was two shots behind, along with Donald and Rose The third round featured so much movement, and so many wild swings, that seven players had a share of the lead at some point. Even though USGA executive director Mike Davis said the course was set up to allow for good scores, this was more about hanging on for dear life. There was no faking it Saturday afternoon. Thirty players were separated by only five shots at the start of the third round. By the end of the day, there were just 10 players separated by five shots, including amateur Michael Kim. He was tied for third until losing four shots on the last three holes. For all the talk about Merion being just a short course, the final two holes were beastly -- 253 yards for a par 3 surrounded by deep bunkers and framed by the Scottish broom grass, and then a 530-yard closing hole up the hill, deep rough on both sides with bogeys or worse waiting for a single missed shot. Stricker, remarkably, played bogey-free on the back nine. Horschel, striving for perfection at a championship that doesnt allow for it, dropped only one shot. "Seventeen and 18, youve got to buckle up and hit good shots," Horschel said. "So I think tomorrow, with the pressure being on, those holes will stick out even more." Mickelson chose not to carry a driver, and he had to be flawless again on the long closing hole. He swung the 3-wood with confidence throughout the back nine and drilled another. With some 250 yards left, another fairway metal took him just over the green. His chip came out some 10 feet short and he missed the par putt to end a streak of 12 holes without a bogey. But he still had the lead. It was the first time only one player remained under par through 54 holes at the U.S. Open since 2007 at Oakmont, when there was none. Mickelson was tied for the 54-hole lead at Winged Foot in 2006, where he lost a one-shot lead on the final hole by making double bogey. Of his five runner-up finishes, that one stung the most. But hes back for another try to win his national championship. The challenge has never been more severe -- not from any player, but from Merion. Mickelson has one piece of history working against him. In the four previous U.S. Opens at this classic course, no one with the lead going into the final round has ever gone on to win. "I love being in the thick of it," Mickelson said. "Ive had opportunities in years past, and it has been so fun, even though its been heart-breaking to come so close a number of times and let it slide. But I feel better equipped than I have ever felt heading into the final round of a U.S. Open." Wholesale Air Max For Sale .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Wholesale Air Max For Sale Cheap .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. http://www.wholesaleairmaxforsale.com/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Cheap Wholesale Air Max Shoes .Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. Wholesale Air Max Sale Online . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. The greatest gymnast Mary Lou Retton has ever seen is a wonder.She has the power to get such height on the vault it seems as if shes bungee jumping from the roof.She has the energy to make the final tumbling pass of her boundary-pushing floor exercise -- when most of her peers are breathless and counting the seconds until the music stops -- as fresh as her first.She has the poise to flip and swoop and turn on a 4-inch wide slab of wood 4-feet off the ground so fluidly its like an X Games version of ballet.The god-gifted ability of explosiveness and just her athleticism, you cant teach that, said Retton, the 1984 Olympic champion. You cannot teach that. You can teach somebody to be a little bit more graceful. You can teach someone more skills, but you cant teach that special unique quality that Simone has.Get ready to know Simone Biles. In her sport, the live-wire 19-year-old from Spring, Texas, enjoys first-name only status, the byproduct of a three-year run of dominance that includes 14 world championship medals with a record 10 golds and three all-around titles.Were joking she should have to compete with the guys, Retton said. Shes so good. She pushes it. Shes just special.If still somewhat anonymous outside of the buzzing fans who inhabit the social-media driven gymternet. For all of the awe Biles inspires, the one thing -- really the only thing -- Biles lacks is that Olympic moment of triumph with the world -- the whole world, not just part of it -- watching.Its that Olympic all-around gold medal, the Queen Bee, the most important, Retton said. Yeah I think she needs it as part of her repertoire.There is no denying Biles excellence. She could never turn another backflip and her spot in her sports pantheon would be secure. Yet to the general public, she remains somewhat unknown. It took her two world titles before Twitter would verify her. Her followers -- currently in the 82,000 range -- total just 10 percent of those who follow 2012 Olympic champion (and 2016 teammate) Gabby Douglas.Its like you still need that one puzzle piece, said 2004 Olympic champion Carly Patterson. Its just crazy. You really need to have that checkmark to be looked at as one of those tops. Thats what it seems like. Her career is incredible and you wonder if that creates so much pressure.Such is the fine line Biles, her family and longtime coach Aimee Boorman have been trying to walk in the run-up to Rio. While they have taken steps to maximize the potential a golden moment in Rio would provide -- Biles turned professional last spring -- they have also been careful in creating internal expectations focused more on the process than the end result.She could quit tomorrow and still be a world champion, said Boorman, who coaches at the aptly named World Champions Centre, the state-of-the art training center/passion project the Biles family opened in suburban Houston last fall. We tell her that is people want to put pressure on her to win the Olympics, thats their pressure, not hers.For Biles, its not about her scores. Biles doesnt pay mmuch attention to them.dddddddddddd Its not about winning, maybe because every meet she has entered since the 2013 US championships has ended the same way: with Biles atop the podium ducking her head so the latest medal to her ever-growing collection can be draped around her neck.Its not even about her highly GIF-able routines either, the ones that leave her peers in awe. If Biles is being honest, she doesnt even know the formal terms for some of the skills she does anyway.Theyre like, `Oh, you did a ... and Im like, `I did a what? Biles said. No, I flipped twice. I twisted twice. They go `its called a ... and Im like `Why do I need to know that? I just need to go and do that.While Biles is happy to talk about shopping, favorites pictures of junk food on Instagram and kidnapping Steph Currys kids so she can babysit them (as she did on Monday after securing a spot on the five-woman team while easily winning the Olympic trials), shes not interested in fangirling over herself.It hurts my head, but its fine because its something I do every day, Biles said. You cant avoid the gymnastics questions.Particularly the most basic one. How?We all have skills I guess, she said.Maybe, but Biles somehow seems to have all of them.The sports code of points -- overhauled over a decade ago to get rid of the 10-point system in favor of one designed to great a higher risk/reward factor -- forces its competitors to make a choice between aggression and precision. Biles is the rare gymnast who doesnt have to choose. She can do both.If you made it look as easy as Simone, youd be smiling too, said former Olympic Bela Karolyi, whose wife Martha has turned the U.S. national team into the Harlem Globetrotters in leotards and ceiling-scraping hair buns. There is no one to compare Simone to.On the final night of Olympic trials Sunday night Biles drilled her intricate Amanar vault and earned a 16.2, the highest of the meet on any event. The score included a 9.9 mark for execution, as close to perfection as the judges let things get these days. Her two-day total on vault of 32.200 was 1.3 points clear of runner-up MyKayla Skinner, the equivalent of a three-touchdown win in football.Theres so much cushion between Biles and the rest of the world that even a fall or two like the one on beam Sunday night that briefly set her eyes ablaze -- a miscue that would jeopardize the medal hopes of most -- is basically no big deal. Not that it mattered to Biles. Shes spent the last three years setting a standard that is uniquely hers, which may be her most remarkable talent of all.Typically you can have an athlete thats head and tails above the rest, they might rest on their laurels a little bit, said seven-time Olympic medalist Shannon Miller, a member of the 1996 U.S. team that won the countrys first team Olympic gold. They might slide a little bit. She doesnt. Shes at the top of her game every time.The ultimate stage awaits. ' ' '