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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Garcia shoots 66, takes lead at Wyndham

Sergio Garcia lines up a putt on the 18th green during the third round of the Wyndham Championship on Saturday. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Golf: Sergio Garcia shot a 4-under-par 66 on Saturday to take the lead at 14-under 196 after three rounds at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.

It’s a familiar spot for the Spaniard, who shared the third-round lead in 2009 but wound up finishing fourth after falling a stroke shy of a three-man playoff.

“Eighteen pars are not going to win it,” Garcia said. “You have to make some birdies out there. … I don’t have a number. I’m not going to say I need to shoot 4 under, 5 under, or whatever. Someone might go out and shoot 9 under, and 5 under is not good enough.”

Tim Clark and Bud Cauley were a stroke back, and Jason Dufner, Harris English and Carl Pettersson were at 12 under in the last event before the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Dufner shot a 63 — the day’s best round. Cauley had a 66, Clark shot a 67, and English and Pettersson had 68s.

Huston leads Dick’s Sporting Goods Open: Defending champion John Huston shot a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Brad Faxon after the second round of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y.

Huston had a 12-under 132 total in the Champions Tour event at En-Joie Golf Club. Faxon shot a 66.

Kirk Triplett (former Pullman resident) shot an even-par 72 and is tied for 42nd at 1 under.

Weaver beats Thomas to advance to U.S. Amateur final: Michael Weaver opened a big lead, and then hung on to beat Justin Thomas 3 and 2 to advance to the final of the U.S. Amateur championship at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo.

Weaver will face Steven Fox in today’s 36-hole match-play championship. Fox won his semifinal 2-up over Brandon Hagy.

• Miyazato takes Safeway Classic lead: Japan’s Mika Miyazato shot a 4-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA Tour’s Safeway Classic in North Plains, Ore.

Miyazato, tied for the first-round lead with Sydnee Michaels after a 65, had an 11-under 133 total on Pumpkin Ridge’s Ghost Creek Course.

Wendy Ward (Edwall, Wash.) shot a 4-over 76 and is tied for 66th at 3 over.

Djokovic, Federer will meet in final

Tennis: Top-ranked Roger Federer overcame an inconsistent serve and beat Swiss countryman Stanislas Wawrinka to reach the finals of the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.

He’ll play Novak Djokovic for the title. The Serb beat Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-2 in the other semifinal, a reprise of their Olympic bronze medal match that the Argentine won.

It’ll be the seventh time that Federer and Djokovic have met in a tournament final and the first time this season. • Williams injured in loss: Venus Williams’ reinvigorating week ended with a gritty comeback that wasn’t quite enough.

Williams played through a bad back before finally fading in the third set. China’s Li Na reached the final of the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio, with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 victory.

Peppers confirms academic transcript

Miscellany: Former North Carolina football star Julius Peppers confirmed it was his academic transcript that was posted on the university’s website and insists there was “no academic fraud” with it.

“This week has been an upsetting and challenging week for me, as one of my most private academic documents appeared on the university’s website for public examination,” Peppers, who is a defensive end for the Chicago Bears, said in a statement through his agent.

The link showed Peppers received some of his highest grades in classes in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies (AFAM). A school investigation has since found fraud and poor oversight in 54 AFAM classes between summer 2007 and summer 2011, with football players making up more than a third of the enrollments and student-athletes making up 58 percent of the overall enrollments in those suspect classes.

USC brushes off sanctions to be No. 1

College football: Southern California is No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25, tossing off the weight of NCAA sanctions and returning to a familiar place in the rankings – with a boost from LSU’s problems.

USC earned the top spot in The Associated Press’ preseason college football poll for the seventh time in school history and the first time in five seasons, edging out No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 LSU.

The Trojans, who were banned from postseason play the past two seasons, received 25 of a possible 60 first-place votes from a media panel in a close vote.

Connecticut blanks Nebraska at LLWS

Little League Baseball: Matt Kubel baffled Nebraska’s bats and ninth-place hitter Patrick Steed helped ignite two big innings for Fairfield, Conn., in a 12-0 victory at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.

Steed walked and scored in a three-run third inning before getting an RBI double and coming home on Biagio Paoletta’s own two-base hit in a six-run fourth. Connecticut moves on to play Monday while the kids from Kearney, Neb., were eliminated from title contention.

Also at the tournament, Curacao sent 13 batters to the plate in an eight-run first inning in a 14-2 victory that eliminated Ramstein Air Base, Germany; three pitchers combined on a perfect game, and Andres Carrillo hit two of Mexico’s four homers in a 12-0 victory that eliminated Lugazi, Uganda; and leadoff hitter Emil Matti hit two solo homers and scored four runs to lead Parsippany, N.J., to a 10-4 victory over Gresham, Ore. Matti, a 13-year-old shortstop hit both shots to center, including a blast to lead off the game that caromed off the top of the brick wall beyond the fence 225 feet away. Gresham is the team that eliminated Post Falls in a regional final.

Little Mike wins Arlington Million

Horse racing: Little Mike led from start to finish to win the 30th running of the Arlington Million in Arlington Heights, Ill.

Britain’s Afsare closed quickly but finished 1 1/2 lengths back in second.

Ramon Dominguez steered Little Mike right to the lead from the No. 4 post position in the 11-horse race at Arlington Park.

Little Mike is owned by Priscilla Vaccarezza and trained by Dale L. Romans. He ran 11/4 miles on turf in 2 minutes, 2.44 seconds and paid $9.80, $5.60 and $4.40.