Stricker sets three-round PGA record
Golf: Steve Stricker continued his sizzling play at the John Deere Classic, pulling away from the field with a 9-under 62 for six-shot lead heading into the final round.
Stricker’s mastery of the TPC Deere Run course at Silvis, Ill., left him at 25-under 188 for the tournament, the best 54-hole score in PGA Tour history. With a 65 today, he’d break the 72-hole record of 254.
So dominant was Stricker that Jeff Maggert shot a 63 and lost ground. Paul Goydos, golf’s latest Mr. 59 after a magical round on Thursday, played well enough to keep pace in most tournaments (68), just not this one.
It would be hard for anyone to keep up with Stricker the way he’s playing.
The 43-year-old from Madison, Wis., hit accurate approaches to give himself short putts for birdies in most cases and he deftly extricated himself the only two times he got in trouble.
As well as he played, Stricker’s round was just his second best of the tournament. He opened with a 60 and followed that with a 66.
Maggert, who started the day five shots behind Stricker, was at 19-under 194 and tied with Goydos, who trailed Stricker by just one stroke going into the round.
Playing in the last group with Stricker, Goydos saw his deficit grow steadily as his partner drilled one birdie putt after another on the back nine.
Former PGA Champion Shaun Micheel also shot a 63 – and found himself 10 strokes off the lead. Rocco Mediate made a hole-in-one and an eagle en route to a 64 but trailed by 14. Matt Jones wriggled into fourth place with a 66 that left him 16 under.
• Molinari has one-shot lead: Edoardo Molinari of Italy shot an 8-under 63 to take a one stroke lead over Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland going into the final day of the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in Luss, Scotland.
Molinari was at 15-under 198 after a round that included an eagle and seven birdies. Clarke had a 67.
Molinari’s younger brother, Francesco, had a 67 and was tied for third with Peter Hedblom of Sweden (69) seven shots back. John Daly was in a three-way tie for ninth at 4-under after a 69.
Edoardo Molinari has yet to win a European stroke-play event, while Clarke has 12 to his name. But Clarke, who led by three strokes after the second round, has not won in two years, has slipped to 179th in the world and recently said he was considering retiring from golf.
Fowles scores 23, USA defeats WNBA
WNBA: Sylvia Fowles stole the spotlight from the UConn reunion at the WNBA All-Star game.
Fowles scored 13 of her 23 points in the third quarter and the U.S. national team beat the WNBA All-Stars 99-72 in this year’s version of the league’s midseason showcase at Uncasville, Conn.
Fowles shot 9 for 11 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds, earning the MVP award in a game that had six former or current Huskies players on a U.S. team led by Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma and played about 30 miles south of the school’s campus.
Candice Dupree and Swin Cash had 13 points apiece, UConn senior Maya Moore added 12 and Angel McCoughtry 11 for the U.S.
Fish to meet Rochus in Hall of Fame final
Tennis: American Mardy Fish advanced to the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships final at Newport, R.I., by beating Richard Bloomfield of Great Britain 7-6 (5), 6-4.
The 28-year old Fish will play No. 4-seeded Olivier Rochus of Belgium, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Brian Dabul of Argentina.
The fifth-seeded Fish will be playing in his second ATP final of the season.
Gay edges Powell in 100 at British GP
Track and field: Tyson Gay of the United States edged Asafa Powell in the 100 meters at the British Grand Prix at Gateshead, England.
Gay won in 9.94 seconds, just 0.02 faster than his Jamaican rival in the Diamond League meet.
Powell was disappointed more with being passed than his time into a healthy headwind. He’d hyped a good time in the buildup in his first return to the Gateshead track where he equaled his then-world record of 9.77 four years ago.
In Rome last month, he clocked the year’s best time of 9.82. That time was equaled by Usain Bolt on Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Powell and world record-holder Bolt are set to meet in Paris on Friday.
Awesome Gem wins Hollywood Gold Cup
Horse racing: Awesome Gem upset defending champion Rail Trip to win the $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup by a half-length at Inglewood, Calif.
Awesome Gem ran 1 1/4 miles on Hollywood Park’s artificial surface in 2:03.31 under David Flores, who earned his third Gold Cup win.
Vettel speeds past Webber for pole
Racing: Sebastian Vettel claimed his fifth pole position of the season after edging out Red Bull teammate Mark Webber in qualifying for today’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England.
Vettel, who won the Silverstone race last year from pole, posted a fastest time on Saturday of 1 minute, 29.615 seconds.