DUBAI — Stephen Gallacher holed a dramatic eagle down the stretch to win the Dubai Desert Classic Sunday, overcoming early jitters to beat playing partner Richard Sterne by three shots. Gallacher (71) finished with a 22-under total of 266 to take his second European Tour win and the first since 2004. The 111th-ranked Scotsman had a three-shot lead over Sterne at the start of the final round but three-putted to bogey the first, and then hit his drive far right and missed a six-footer to drop a shot on the next hole. Sterne chipped to two feet on the second for a birdie and a share of the lead. The two traded places several times after that as each struggled in windy conditions. Sterne took the lead on the eighth hole when Gallacher missed an 8-foot par putt and found more trouble on No. 9 when his tee shot landed on sandy rough behind a tree. But Gallacher hit a blind approach shot that cleared the trees and landed to within two feet for an easy birdie to draw level with the South African. Sterne sank a six-foot birdie on the 10th to go back into the lead but then fell apart with four bogeys in his final eight holes. Gallacher took the lead on No. 12 after Sterne's second consecutive bogey and then clinched the win with his fifth eagle of the week on the 16th. He holed a sand wedge from 115 yards that landed a foot from the hole and rolled in to give him a four-shot lead when Sterne had his third bogey. With the win, Gallacher moves into the top 60 of the world rankings and in a strong position to qualify for the World Golf Championships for the first time. Felipe Aguilar of Chile (69) and Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark (71) finished five shots back in a tie for third. Eighth-ranked Lee Westwood (68) and Marcus Fraser (67) of Australia were a further shot back in fifth. Mickelson surges six ahead In Phoenix, Phil Mickelson continued his red-hot form as he stormed home with five birdies in his last six holes to stretch his lead to a commanding six shots after the third round of the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona Saturday. Four ahead of the chasing pack overnight, Mickelson fired a sizzling seven-under-par 64 on another near-perfect day for low scoring at the TPC Scottsdale to tighten his grip on the tournament. The American left-hander, who won the Phoenix Open in 1996 and 2005, pumped his left fist in celebration after rolling in a 15-footer to birdie the last and post a 24-under total of 189, just one shy of the PGA Tour low for 54 holes. Compatriot Steve Stricker, with rounds of 60, 66 and 62, set the record at 25-under 188 in the 2010 John Deere Classic. American Brandt Snedeker (65) was alone in second place at 18 under, a distant six strokes off the pace. Irishman Padraig Harrington fired the day's lowest score with a 63 in front of record crowds of more than 179,000 to sit joint third at 16 under with American Ryan Moore (65). — Agencies
