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. [url=http://www.cheapchinajerseynfl.com/]wholesale nfl jerseys . So rather than shop himself, he is staying put in Chicago. The veteran right-hander and the White Sox agreed Tuesday to a $29 million, two-year contract. I... Afellay Barcelona Jersey . The Senators defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 in overtime, which mathematically eliminates the Winnipeg Jets who are still playing the Montreal Canadiens. Kel... Johnson Yankees Jersey . Monfils will meet top-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-4. Simon rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the final set, levelling at 4-4, but he dropped serve again to lose the all-French match. . -- Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte expects to play Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys after missing a game because of a sprained right ankle. TORONTO -- One bad pitch, one big inning. That has been the problem of late for Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Aaron Laffey and it reared its ugly head again Saturday afternoon. Casey McGehee belted a three-run homer off Laffey as the New York Yankees beat Toronto 5-2 and handed the Blue Jays a fifth straight loss. Right-hander Ivan Nova (11-6) fanned 10 to earn New York (67-46) its fourth straight win before a Rogers Centre sellout of 45,582. The Yankees moved a whopping 14 games ahead of last-place Toronto (53-60) in the American League East standings. Laffey (3-3) allowed five runs on seven hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings. "Its one of those games where you kind of beat your head against the wall," Laffey said. "You pitched real well pretty much the entire game and have one inning wreck the whole outing. "I kind of put the team out of the game a little bit." But he saw some positives. "I went back and looked at some film and Im confident and comfortable with where Im at right now though after watching the progression Ive made over the last couple of games," Laffey said. "Just got to keep working. "Cant let it be one pitch every time out, You just cant let that happen." Toronto manager John Farrell said consistency is Laffeys biggest problem. "He has been hurt with a couple of pitches that have found the middle of the plate," Farrell said. "Whether it was the three-run homer over in Oakland or the three-run homer today. "That has been the difference, the consistency on the edges where hes got to pitch." After the game, New York played ace left-hander CC Sabathia on the disabled list with inflammation in his left elbow. He could return Aug. 24 against Cleveland. "As far as the concern, its pretty low level because its not like it got any worse." Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He wants to pitch Monday, which Im not surprised because he said he dealt with it before. "We just decided, lets try to get it cleaned up now." Nova came in looking for his first win since July 8. Since claiming a victory at Boston, he was 0-3 with an 8.36 earned-run average in five starts before Saturdays game. Girardi praised Novas effort against Toronto. "He threw really well today," Girardi said. "I thought his curveball was very good. "For the most part he spotted his fastball pretty well. He threw some good sliders, it was more consistent than it has been." Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 28th save. McGehees first homer of the season keyed the fourth, following a run-scoring single by former Blue Jay Jayson Nix. Mark Teixeira led off the inning with a single and Andruw Jones walked with one out. Nova retired the first nine Blue Jayss he faced before Rajai Davis led off the fourth with a single, took second on a balk and scored on a single by Edwin Encarnacion. [url=http://www.worldsocceronlineshop.com/Chelsea-Fc-John-Obi-Mikel-Jersey.html]... Obi Mikel Chelsea Jersey. Yunel Escobar was hit by a pitch but Nova finished the inning with a strikeout and groundout. McGehee doubled with one out in the sixth before Derek Jeter doubled with two out to put the Yankees ahead 5-1. After Nick Swisher walked, left-hander Aaron Loup replaced Laffey and retired Teixeira on a grounder to third. "He used four pitches today for strikes but as deep as that lineup is, regardless of what the batting averages say, they have the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark one-through-nine," Farrell said. "But when you look back at the last three or four starts with Laffey it has been the one pitch in a key spot where it has found the middle of the plate." Both teams received a warning from plate umpire Jim Joyce after Escobar was hit for the second plate appearance in a row in the bottom of the sixth. It came after Encarnacion walked but David Coopers grounder forced Escobar at second and second baseman Robinson Cano made a fine play to end the inning on a Moises Sierra grounder. Davis led off the bottom of the eighth with a double and stole third with one out. He scored on an infield hit by Encarnacion and David Robertson replaced Nova. Robertson induced an inning-ending double play from Omar Vizquel, who hit for Escobar. The Jays said Escobar left the game for precautionary reasons with a sore elbow the result of being hit by a pitch. He is listed as day to day. Laffey had hit Curtis Granderson with a pitch in the second. "Purely accidental obviously with me, " Laffey said. "I was trying to go hard in there, I was trying to go hard in on the lefties, thats part of the game. "I couldnt tell you whether or not he was trying to go after Eskie on purpose or not. It could have been the same thing, they could have been trying to pitch him in just like I was throwing in to those guys, I came up and in on Cano a couple of times as well. So you could probably say the same thing." NOTES: Toronto centre-fielder Colby Rasmus is day-to-day after aggravating a groin injury in Friday nights 10-4 loss to the Yankees. Anthony Gose started in centre Saturday . . . Utility player Mike McCoy was promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas with right-hander David Carpenter being demoted . . . The sellout was the third of the season at Rogers Centre . . . Ichiro Suzukis five runs-batted in Friday matched his career high. It marked the third time he had accomplished the feat but first since 2004 . . . Left-hander J.A. Happ (0-1, 6.35 ERA) starts the series finale Sunday for Toronto, facing right-hander Phil Hughes (11-9, 4.10 ERA). ' ' '