Americans looking quite presidential

Golf: Two perfect teams and a point for Tiger Woods.

That was all the Americans needed in the rain at Royal Melbourne to build an 11-6 lead in the Presidents Cup and put the International team in danger of falling too far behind to win on home soil in Melbourne, Australia.

The Americans went 4-1 in the foursomes session, with five fourballs matches scheduled for the afternoon.

Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk won four out of five holes on the back nine, and Mickelson polished off Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day by holing a 50-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole. Mickelson and Furyk won all three matches they played together. Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson, in the leadoff match all week, also went to 3-0 by beating Melbourne’s own Geoff Ogilvy and Robert Allenby.

Woods played again with Dustin Johnson, and while it wasn’t pretty, it was finally a point, as they defeated K.J. Choi and Adam Scott.

• Na Yeon Choi leads by one at Titleholders: Na Yeon Choi shot a 1-under 71 in swirling wind to take a one-stroke lead over Sandra Gal after the first round of the LPGA Tour’s season-ending Titleholders in Orlando, Fla.

Choi, the LPGA Malaysia winner last month, had a 7-under 137 total at Grand Cypress. The South Korean player also topped the leaderboard Thursday after an opening 66.

Hee Young Park (69) and Paula Creamer (71) were 4 under.

Wendy Ward, of Edwall, Wash., was four strokes back at 3 under after a 71, and Suzann Pettersen shot a 69 to reach 2 under.

• Freeman, 49, qualifies for Champions Tour just a bit early: Jeff Freeman won the Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament, shooting his fourth straight 5-under 66 for a four-stroke victory on the TPC Scottsdale (Ariz.) Champions Course.

Freeman, a 49-year-old club professional, won’t be eligible to compete on the Champions Tour until mid-April when he turns 50.

• Kokrak, Thompson share lead: Jason Kokrak, set to join the PGA Tour for the first time next season, shot a 3-under 69 at Spyglass for a share of the lead with Kyle Thompson after the second round of the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational.

Thompson followed his opening 64 with a 70 at Del Monte to match Kokrak at 10-under 134.

Dodgers wrap up Kemp with huge deal

Baseball: Matt Kemp and the Los Angeles Dodgers finalized a $160 million, eight-year contract, matching the seventh-highest deal in baseball history.

Kemp and general manager Ned Colletti each signed the agreement during a news conference at Dodger Stadium, with lame duck owner Frank McCourt looking on.

The 27-year-old, a favorite to win the N.L. MVP award next week, led the league in homers (39) and RBIs (126), while finishing third in batting average at .324 and stealing 40 bases.

His agreement trails only the last two contracts of Alex Rodriguez ($275 million and $252 million), and deals for Derek Jeter ($189 million), Joe Mauer ($184 million), Mark Teixeira ($180 million) and CC Sabathia ($161 million) and matches the agreement Manny Ramirez signed with Boston before the 2001 season.

• Labor agreement takes another step forward: Baseball players and owners have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year labor contract and hope to have a signed deal by next week.

The sides hope to sign a memorandum of understanding in time to announce the agreement Monday or Tuesday.

• Clearing the bases: Bobby Valentine said he would “be honored” to talk more with the Boston Red Sox about their vacant managerial position. He said that he already has spoken to general manager Ben Cherington and “I’m looking forward to having conversations, if that’s what they want to do.” … Catcher Gerald Laird is leaving the St. Louis Cardinals and returning to the Detroit Tigers, agreeing to a $1 million, one-year contract… . Dale Sveum was introduced as the Chicago Cubs’ manager. Sveum received a three-year deal with an option for 2015.

Giguere stops 24 shots in shutout

Hockey: Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 24 saves for his first save in two seasons and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 in Denver.

Also in the NHL, Buffalo’s Jhonas Enroth recorded his first shutout of the season by making 34 stops to lead the Sabres to a 1-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C. Jason Pominville had the game’s lone goal. … Curtis Glencross had two goals and an assist to pace the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Calgary, Alberta.

Dillon wins Truck Series championship

Auto racing: Austin Dillon, the 21-year-old grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, finished 10th in the Truck Series finale in Homestead, Fla. – good enough to win the series championship.

Johnny Sauter won the rain-shortened race, holding off Denny Hamlin.

• Sprint Cup practice postponed: Rain washed out two practice sessions for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup season finale in Homestead, Fla.

Columbia band cleared to play

Miscellany: Columbia’s cheeky marching band has been reinstated for today’s football game against Brown.

The self-styled Cleverest Band in the World was told earlier this week to stay away because the musicians mocked the team’s poor performance by using alternate words to the school fight song last weekend during a 62-41 loss at Cornell.

• Chan takes early lead at Trophee Bompard: World figure skating champion Patrick Chan overcame a tumble at the start of his short program to take the early lead at the Trophee Bompard in Paris.

Chan’s routine earned him 84.16 points. Song Nan of China was next with 76.53.

• Italian women retain World Cup title: Italy won its second consecutive Women’s World Cup volleyball title after the United States was swept by Japan in the last match of the tournament in Tokyo.

Italy, the U.S. and China clinched berths in the Olympics.