Wie leading Thompson by two in Open
Golf: For all the interest in the men and women playing Pinehurst No. 2 in consecutive weeks, Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson made the U.S. Women’s Open more closely resemble the first LPGA Tour major of the year.
Wie held it together with two key par putts and finished with back-to-back birdies for a 2-under-par 68 and a three-stroke lead at 4-under 136. Thompson powered her way out of the sand and weeds and ran off three straight birdies to match Wie for the lowest score Friday and a 139 total in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
They were the only players still under par going into the weekend, perhaps setting up a rematch from the first major of the year. Thompson soundly beat Wie in the final round at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Lucy Li, the precocious 11-year-old and youngest qualifier in the history of the U.S. Women’s Open, shot another 78 to miss the cut.
• Langley grabs lead: Scott Langley took the second-round lead in the Travelers Championship, following his opening 64 with a 65 to reach 11 under 129 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Michael Putnam, Harris English and K.J. Choi were a stroke back.
Spokane’s Alex Prugh shot a 79 and, at 149, missed the cut.
• Lehman in front in Champions event: Tom Lehman birdied four straight holes and finished with a bogey-free 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship.
Finishing on the front nine, Lehman birdied Nos. 4-7 and closed with two pars at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Illinois.
Doug Garwood and England’s Roger Chapman were a stroke back. Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett was in a group of seven at 67.
Texas shuts out Vanderbilt 4-0
College baseball: Nathan Thornhill and John Curtiss pitched Texas’ second straight shutout at the College World Series, and the Longhorns forced a second bracket final against Vanderbilt with a 4-0 victory in Omaha, Nebraska. The Longhorns (46-20) and Commodores (48-20) meet again today, with the winner advancing to the best-of-three finals.
The game between Virginia and Mississippi was suspended after a 93-minute lightning and rain delay. The scoreless game will resume today with Virginia batting in the top of the second.
Virginia would advance to next week’s best-of-three finals with a win. If Mississippi wins, the teams play again Sunday.
NFLPA’s collusion case kept alive
Miscellany: A players’ union lawsuit accusing NFL team owners of setting a secret salary cap in 2010 was kept alive by a federal appeals court.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis partially reversed a federal judge’s order that had rejected NFL Players Association’s collusion claim.
The three-judge appeals court panel that heard oral arguments in January disagreed with U.S. District Judge David Doty on one of the NFLPA’s two arguments for pursuing damages despite the 2011 collective bargaining agreement that was supposed to settle such lawsuits.
The appeals court sent the case back to Doty’s jurisdiction in Minneapolis for further proceedings.
• Martin extends overall lead: Time trial world champion Tony Martin of Germany extended his lead in the Tour de Suisse cycling event with a dominant performance against the clock in the race’s seventh stage. Martin was in a class of his own on the 15-mile course in Switzerland and beat Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands by 22 seconds.
With two mountain stages to come, Martin leads Dumoulin by 28 seconds in the overall standings.
• Eastbourne championship matches set: Top-seeded Richard Gasquet of France and defending champion Feliciano Lopez advanced to the final of the Aegon International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, England.
In the women’s tournament, American Madison Keys will face Angelique Kerber of Germany.
• Zheng, Vandeweghe reach final: Third-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain emerged victorious from a marathon day at the grass-court Topshelf Open in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, advancing to the final with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Juergen Melzer of Austria.
Both players played twice, finishing quarterfinals that had been suspended because of rain and darkness.
Bautista Agut faces Benjamin Becker of Germany in the final.
In the women’s tournament, Zheng Jie of China will play U.S. qualifier Coco Vandeweghe.
• Phelps ties for win: Michael Phelps shared the 100-meter butterfly title in the Santa Clara (California) Grand Prix after finishing second in the 100 freestyle. Phelps, the 18-time Olympic champion swimming in his third meet since coming out from retirement, matched Tom Shields at 52.11 seconds in the butterfly.