He raised both arms in the air, then ran behind the tee and climbed onto the roof, hugging the top of the car before sitting on it like he was on a float in a homecoming parade.
"I didn't know if he was going to fall through the window or what he was going to do," Els said. "But he hit a beautiful shot."
Beem was inspired from watching Peter Jacobsen make an ace on the 14th at Riviera in 1994, then run over to the car and sit in the driver's seat.
"I wish I could take full credit for making a fool of myself," Beem said. "I tell you what, though, the top of that car was pretty warm. And the back of that car is scratched up from my shoes."
Robert Allenby (68) and Charles Howell III (69) were at 10-under 203, very much in the hunt. Allenby won in 2001 in a six-man playoff that he ended quickly with a 3-wood into a 5 feet in a driving rain for birdie. The sunshine is unusual, but not the bunched leaderboard.
"I'm happy to be three adrift," Allenby said. "Three or four shots is not much around this place."
Els and Furyk made birdies early and late and each shot 67, joining Sergio Garcia (69) at 9-under 204.
Mickelson took the lead by opening with two birdies, and he stretched it the lead to three with his up-and-down from the front of the green on the par-5 11th. His approach into the 12th also looked pure, but it released instead of checking up, and tumbled into the fringe. He ran his birdie putt 30 inches by, then caught the right lip.
On the next hole, having come up short of the green, he pitched aggressively 6 feet by and missed the putt. Then on the par-3 16th, he pulled it so badly that it bounced 30 yards right of the green and two-putted for bogey from 40 feet.
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| It's been a while since Rich Beem lifted a trophy on the PGA Tour. (AP) |
"I'm still well in contention," Harrington said. "But the goal on Saturday is to take people out. Unfortunately, we didn't do that today."
Divots
- After he finished warming up on the range, Mickelson glanced over his shoulder and wished Harrington well. It took him only a split second to realize that wasn't Harrington next to him, but Kevin Sutherland, who was in last place and teeing off at 10 a.m. on the back nine. Caddie Jim Mackay jokingly came to Mickelson's aid by telling his boss the mistaken identity was understandable because it had been so long since they had seen each other -- six days ago in the final group at Pebble Beach. "It's OK, Phil," Sutherland told the left-hander. "You had your back to me."
- Harrington missed the sixth green to the left, and his chip at the flag ran well past the hole. Only as the group walked to the seventh tee did Mickelson point out he could have chipped above the green and let the slope take it to the hole. Harrington is playing the Nissan Open for the first time this week.
