Tiger guards 7-shot lead at Bridgestone
Golf: With an elite field chasing the lead, Tiger Woods decided to play keep-away.
Already up by a staggering seven shots through 36 holes thanks to a career-tying best of 61 in the second round, Woods shot a solid 2-under 68 in the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, to maintain that same seven-stroke lead.
Woods is 41-2 when leading after 54 holes in a PGA Tour event.
A victory would be his eighth at Firestone Country Club and in the Bridgestone and its forerunner, the NEC Invitational.
Woods also could capture his 79th victory on the PGA Tour, drawing him within three of Sam Snead’s record of 82.
• Wind suspends play: Inbee Park wanted tough conditions at St. Andrews to try to make up an eight-shot deficit in her pursuit of a fourth straight major. It turned out to be too tough for anyone.
The third round of the Women’s British Open in Scotland was suspended by gusts that topped 40 mph and kept golf balls from staying put on the greens.
Na Yeon Choi was leading at 10-under 134 and an hour away from teeing off when the round was postponed.
• Pernice leads 3M Championship: Tom Pernice Jr. moved into position for his second Champions Tour title, shooting a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Tom Kite in the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn.
Pernice had a 13-under 131 total at TPC Twin Cities after opening with a 66.
Former Pullman resident Kirk Tripplet had the low round of the day with a 64 and is four shots off the lead.
• Woodland in front at Tahoe: Gary Woodland holed from a bunker and the greenside rough and hit a fairway shot within 2 inches for another of his seven birdies to take the third-round lead in the Reno-Tahoe Open with 37 points in the modified Stableford scoring system.
Brandon Steele vaulted into second place with 30 points. Chris Williams (Moscow, Idaho) had a minus-8 to drop to seven points.
Bills’ QB Kolb hurts knee in off-field slip
Football: Kevin Kolb injured his left knee when he slipped on a wet rubber mat while running between fields at Bills training camp.
Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone says the injury is not serious and expects the quarterback to return to practice within days.
• Bears sign Pope: The Chicago Bears have signed tight end Leonard Pope to a one-year contract.
The 6-foot-8 Pope has 105 receptions for 982 yards and 11 touchdowns over seven seasons.
• Chiefs sign Watkins, release Tepper: The Kansas City Chiefs have signed offensive guard Rokevious Watkins and released offensive lineman Mike Tepper in their continued search for help along the interior of their line.
Isner aces his way to Citi Open final
Tennis: Eight-seed John Isner hit 29 aces, including his last six serves, to come from behind and beat unseeded Dmitry Tursunov 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the Citi Open final in Washington.
In the final, Isner will face top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion and a two-time winner in Washington, who defeated No. 3-seeded Tommy Haas 7-6 (5), 6-3.
• Azaranka reaches Carlsbad final: Top-seeded Victoria Azaranka beat seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the final in the Southern California Open in Carlsbad, Calif.
Azarenka, atwo-time Australian Open champ, will face fifth-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia, who dispatched Virrginie Razzano of France 7-6, 6-3.
Franklin wins fifth swimming gold
Miscellany: Missy Franklin made history at the world swimming championships in Barcelona, Spain, winning her fifth gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke, tying the record for most titles by a woman at the every-other-year world meet.
The 18-year-old Franklin has one event remaining – the 400 medley relay during the final session today – and a chance to join Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Kristin Otto as the only swimmers to win as many as six golds at the worlds or the Olympics.
• Cross Traffic wins Whitney Invitational: Cross Traffic repelled favored Fort Larned, then held off a late bit by Successful Dan to win the $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap by three-quarters of a length at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
John Velazquez rode the lightly raced 4-year-old, who set an extremely fast pace, remained strong in the stretch and ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.64, earning $450,000 for Goldmark Farm.
• Lady of Fifty scores upset: Lady of Fifty rallied to win the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes for older fillies and mares by 11/2 lengths at Del Mar, Calif.
Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Lady of Fifty ran 1 1/16 miles on the synthetic surface in 1:42.96 and paid $23.20, $10.20 and $5.80.
• Aldo retains title at UFC 163: Featherweight champion Jose Aldo retained his title against Chan Sung Jung, the “Korean Zombie,” with a fourth-round TKO at UFC 163 in Rio de Janeiro.
Jung suffered a separated right shoulder in the fight. Aldo then tossed Jung to the canvas. Jung was unable to defend himself and the referee stopped the fight
Aldo is 21-1, Jung 13-4.