Tiger rides putter swap, birdie run for opening 68

Phil Mickelson, who qualified by winning the PGA Championship, will join the other three major winners in the field at the Jan. 6-9 Sentry Tournament of Champions.

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SANDWICH, England — Louis Oosthuizen is the 54-hole leader at The 149th Open Championship after hanging on over the back nine at Royal St. George’s. Oosthuizen made an 8-foot birdie on the 16th hole and a long two-putt par on the closing hole for a 69. That gives him a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa going into the final round. Jordan Spieth was tied for the lead until he hit a poor wedge into the 17th for bogey and then shockingly missed a 2-foot par putt on the 18th. He had to settle for a 69 and now is three shots behind. Oosthuizen has been runner-up in the last two majors and will be trying to win his first major since the 2010 Open at St. Andrews. Morikawa was four shots behind when he walked off the 10th green. That’s right when Oosthuizen started getting scrappy with his swing. He dropped shots on the 11th and 13th holes. He failed to birdie the par-5 14th. But he made a great par save on the 15th. Morikawa started poorly with two bogeys in the opening five holes. He was bogey-free the rest of the way and shot 68. Eight players are separated by five shots. That includes U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm. He made a 15-foot par putt on the last hole for a 68 and was five behind.

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SAN DIEGO — Jason Day sank an 18-inch birdie putt on the sixth playoff hole to beat Alex Noren and win the Farmers Insurance Open in front of empty grandstands on No. 18 at Torrey Pines. Day and Noren had to return Monday morning after grinding through five playoff holes Sunday before it got too dark to continue. Day teed off at 8:04 a.m. and sank the winning putt 13 minutes later, his fourth birdie on the par-5 hole in the playoff. His victory was accompanied only by the sounds of camera shutters and cheers from Day’s family members. Spectators weren’t allowed in because organizers said they didn’t have time to arrange for security. Noren tried an aggressive second shot from the first cut, but his ball landed short of the green and rolled into a pond. Day, meanwhile, hit his second shot out of the rough and over some trees onto the fairway before hitting a beautiful approach shot that set up the winning putt.

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