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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Els takes lead into final day at Bay Hill

Ernie Els waves to fans after his third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Els has a one-stroke lead entering today’s final round. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Golf: Ernie Els made strides toward his second straight victory, making a 10-foot putt to save par on the 18th hole for a 3-under-par 69 Saturday, giving him a one-shot lead over Ben Curtis in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Orlando, Fla.

Two weeks after his four-shot victory at Doral that ended the longest drought of his career, Els broke 70 for the third straight round at Bay Hill and was at 10-under 206.

Former British Open champion Curtis had a two-shot lead until he chopped up the par-5 16th hole from 60 yards short of the green. He bladed a wedge some 70 feet long and three-putted for bogey on the easiest hole at Bay Hill.

Pavin sets record: Corey Pavin birdied his last four holes for a course-record 9-under 63 and a one-shot lead over Nick Price after two rounds of the Champions Tour’s Cap Cana Championship in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic.

Pavin broke Bernhard Langer’s Punta Espada Golf Club record of 64 set in 2009.

•Seo still leads: Hee Kyung Seo shot a 3-under 69 to widen her lead to five strokes after three rounds of the inaugural Kia Classic in Carlsbad, Calif.

Seo began the day with a one-stroke lead, but started her round with her second bogey of the tournament. She came back with four birdies.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a 4-over 76 for a three-round total of 219, putting her in a tie for 36th place.

Harvick wins truck race at Martinsville

Auto racing: Kevin Harvick pulled away from teammate Ron Hornaday Jr. on a restart with 19 laps to go to win the Kroger 250 at Martinsville, Va., his second consecutive truck series victory.

Harvick led 187 laps in the race.

Vettel grabs Australian GP pole: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel took his second straight pole of the season by besting teammate and local hope Mark Webber in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia.

Vettel’s time was just 0.1 of a second faster than Webber, who will start from second at his home race.

Mission Impazible wins Louisiana Derby

Horse racing: Mission Impazible pulled ahead just past the one-sixteenth pole to win his first race as a 3-year-old in the $750,000 Louisiana Derby in New Orleans.

Mission Impazible was in the middle of the 13-horse field near the end of the backstretch, but moved up to third coming out of the final turn before passing A Little Warm for his second career victory in one of the final major prep races for the Kentucky Derby.

In another Derby prep race, Dean’s Kitten took control at the top of the stretch and pulled away to win the $500,000 Lane’s End Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

Cal Poly Pomona earns Div. II title

College men: Donnelle Booker scored 13 points, Austin Swift added 12 points and six rebounds, and Cal Poly Pomona (28-6) won its first NCAA Division II title with a 65-53 victory over Indiana (Pa.) (33-3) in Springfield, Mass.

Blazers oust Hornets from playoff race

NBA: Brandon Roy scored 28 points and added 7 assists and the Portland Trail Blazers eliminated the New Orleans Hornets from playoff contention with a 112-101 victory in New Orleans.

Roy hit 11 of his first 12 shots and finished 12 of 14. LaMarcus Aldridge added 24 points, and Nicolas Batum 13 for Portland.

The Blazers won for the 10th time in 12 games to strengthen their hold on the final playoff spot in the Western conference.

Cyclones’ Koll breaks 10,000-meter record

Miscellany: Iowa State’s Lisa Koll set an NCAA record in the women’s 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational.

Koll finished in 31 minutes, 18.07 seconds, breaking the 2008 mark of 31:25.45 by former NCAA champion Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech.

Pongsaklek gains WBC title: Challenger Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand has defeated Koki Kameda of Japan to win the WBC flyweight title at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo.

Maidana takes WBA crown: Marcos Maidana scored a sixth-round knockout against Victor Cayo to win the WBA super lightweight championship at Las Vegas.

•Armstrong off the pace: Alberto Contador outclassed Lance Armstrong in the first stage of the two-day Criterium International in Col de l’Ospedale, Corsica, beating his former teammate by more than 31/2 minutes.

Bears on top: Damir Dugonjic won the 100-yard breaststroke and was part of California’s winning 200 medley relay, helping the Golden Bears grab the lead in the NCAA men’s swimming and diving championships at Columbus, Ohio.

The Golden Bears have a 348.5-330 lead over Texas heading into the final day.

St. Pierre victorious: Georges St. Pierre methodically defeated challenger Dan Hardy by a unanimous five-round decision in the main event of UFC 111 and retained his welterweight championship in Newark, N.J.

Fish drowns Murray at Key Biscayne

Tennis: Defending champion Andy Murray lost his opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., to Mardy Fish, 6-4, 6-4. The upset means Rafael Nadal will overtake Murray for the No. 3 spot in the next rankings.