Kuchar on top as winds swirl at Memorial
Golf: Matt Kuchar couldn’t think of conditions more difficult than Saturday in the Memorial at Dublin, Ohio, and he had plenty of evidence.
The swirling wind that made it difficult to pull the right club. Fast greens that led to 65 three-putts in the third round alone. And a 44 on the back nine for Tiger Woods, the highest nine-hole score of his professional career.
Kuchar held on for a 2-under 70 that gave him a two-shot lead.
Kevin Chappell matched the best round of the day with a 4-under 68, leaving him two shots out of the lead, along with Kyle Stanley, who had a 70.
Kuchar was at 8-under 208, among 10 players separated by four shots.
Bill Haas, the 36-hole leader, ran off three straight bogeys late in his round for a 76.
• China’s Feng grabs lead at LPGA Classic: Shanshan Feng shot a marvelous 4-under 67 before the wind picked up and grabbed a three-shot lead after two rounds of the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Galloway Township, N.J.
Feng, who last year became the first Chinese player to win an LPGA Tour title and a major event in capturing the LPGA Championship, matched the best score of the day. Using a new set of clubs, she had a 6-under 136 total on the wind-whipped Bay Course at the Stockton Hotel and Golf Club.
• Waldorf in front at Charity Classic: Duffy Waldorf shot a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Champions Tour’s Principal Charity Classic at Des Moines, Iowa.
Waldorf had an 8-under 136 total. Bart Bryant and Jay Don Blake were tied for second. Bryant had a 64, and Blake shot a 66. Russ Cochran was 6 under after a 67.
Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett shot a 68 and is four strokes off the lead.
• Illinois, Alabama reach NCAA men’s golf final: Illinois upset No. 1 California on the second extra hole of the deciding match to reach the final of the NCAA men’s golf championships at Milton, Ga.
The 15th-seeded Illini will meet No. 2-seeded Alabama in the final today.
The Crimson Tide defeated host Georgia Tech 3-0-2 in the other semifinal. Alabama will make its second straight trip to the final match; the Crimson Tide lost to Texas in the championship last year.
Neither school has won a men’s golf championship.
Haas defeats Isner at French Open
Tennis: Over and over and over again in his latest hard-to-believe five-setter, John Isner was a single point from losing to 35-year-old Tommy Haas. And over and over and over again, Isner put off defeat, saving a record 12 match points.
He could not find a way to win, though. And he could not save Haas’ 13th match point.
Haas became the oldest man to reach the French Open’s fourth round since 2007, putting his dozen wasted chances in the fourth set behind him, then coming back from a break down in the last set to beat Isner 7-5, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-7 (10), 10-8 at Roland Garros.
Also, top-seeded Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Rafael Nadal both won in straight sets.
On the women’s side, No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova cruised to victory while No. 3 Victoria Azarenka overcame a slow start to win in three sets.
Gatlin wins 100 at Prefontaine Classic
Track and Field: Justin Gatlin and Mary Cain both belied their ages in the Prefontaine Classic at Eugene.
Gatlin, 31, won the 100 meters at the Diamond League meet in a wind-aided time of 9.88 seconds, besting fellow Americans Michael Rodgers and Ryan Bailey.
Then 17-year-old Cain, from Bronxville HS in New York, broke the high school record in the 800 in 1:59.51, placing fifth in an elite field that included Olympic bronze medalist Yekaterina Poistogova and Janeth Jepkosgei, third in last year’s world championships.
NFL player stabbed in robbery attempt
Miscellany: Pittsburgh police say an offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers was stabbed twice during an attempted carjacking.
Police said that 23-year-old Michael Adams told officers that three men confronted him shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday on the city’s South Side district.
Adams was reported in stable condition at UPMC Mercy after surgery for stab wounds to the abdomen and left forearm.
• Readtheprospectus wins Belmont’s Commentator: Readtheprospectus won the $150,000 Commentator Stakes, the richest of the seven stakes of New York Showcase Day at New York’s Belmont Park.
Readtheprospectus extended his winning streak to six in his stakes debut, beating So Scott by 11/4 lengths.
• Dr. Butch wins Art Rooney Pace: Dr. Butch won the $355,000 Art Rooney Pace at Yonkers (N.Y.).