SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. Edmonton Oilers Pro Shop . -- 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. Wholesale Oilers Jerseys . Rinne had surgery on his left hip May 9 and recovered in time to start the season. He then had arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 24 because of a bacterial infection in his hip. Custom Edmonton Oilers Jerseys .Then came December.Three straight losses, including a crushing 27-24 defeat to Washington (4-11) on Saturday, has the Eagles (9-6) on the brink of playoff elimination. https://www.cheapoilers.com/ .Mila Kunis was a guest on Kimmel last night and revealed a surprising side of herself that comes out when she watches sports. It turns out screaming something vulgar at professional athletes is therapeutic for Kunis.New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - John Wall supplied 24 points and 11 assists in leading the Washington Wizards to a 102-91 win over the New York Knicks on Christmas Day. Wall made a dazzling move late in the third quarter, hitting a reverse spinning layup, and then was involved in fourth-quarter scuffle. He took exception to a hard foul from Quincy Acy, retaliating with a shove. The New York forward swung his right arm as if to throw a punch before holding up. Acy received a Flagrant-2 foul and was ejected with 5:31 remaining. Wall received a technical foul. Bradley Beal had 17 points and Kris Humphries scored 14 off the bench on 7- of-9 shooting for the Wizards, who snapped a two-game losing streak with a win in their first game on Christmas since 2008. We go as John goes and Bradley goes, said Wizards forward Paul Pierce. We follow their lead on the court. Washington earned its fourth straight win at Madison Square Garden and fifth overall against the Knicks, who have dropped eight consecutive home games, the longest streak in a single season in team history. Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points and Jose Calderon added 16 for New York, which has losst 16 of its last 17 games overall. Cheap Oilers Jerseys. We have to start trying to put a whole game together, said Anthony. We have spurts throughout the course of the game where we are showing something. The Wizards got off to a strong start, scoring 11 of the games first 13 points, and a Wall 3-pointer gave them their first double-digit lead at 18-8 midway through the opening quarter. Rasual Butler nailed a 3 from the left corner off the last of Walls six first-quarter assists to make it 34-20 with five seconds remaining. Shane Larkin knocked down a trey at the buzzer for the Knicks. A theme in the first half was Washingtons interior dominance. The Wizards outscored the Knicks 34-10 in the paint and went into the break up 60-44 when Wall burst down the lane for a layup with his right hand. The basket was part of a 13-0 run that bridged the second and third quarters and left Washington with a 22-point lead. Game Notes The Knicks played their 50th game on the holiday, falling to 22-28 ... Marcin Gortat finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for the Wizards ... New York was 4-of-22 from 3-point range. ' ' '