In brief: Verplank, Ames tied after three

Scott Verplank was two shots behind with three holes to play Saturday, then surged into a share of the lead at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., simply by making pars.

Verplank, one of six players who had at least a share of the lead on a wild afternoon at Disney, wound up with a 71 and was tied with Stephen Ames going into a final round.

On a pristine day outside the Magic Kingdom, chaos reigned on the closing holes at a tournament that used to be known for birdies falling as often as the whistle blows at Thunder Mountain.

Ames, who had a two-shot lead at one point, bogeyed two of his last three holes with three-putts that measured 60 and 70 feet. He had to settle for a 70, but had few complaints about still being in the lead.

“This was something new for Laura Davies – a two-stroke penalty for putting from the wrong place. The penalty dropped her into a tie for the lead with Momoko Ueda at the Mizuno Classic in Shima, Japan.

The 44-year-old British player looked set to maintain her lead, but the penalty gave her a double-bogey on the par-4 14th. She settled for a par 72 and a tie with Ueda, who shot a 67. Both are at 7-under 137 after two rounds.

Tennis

Davenport wins

American star Lindsay Davenport advanced to the Bell Challenge final in Quebec City, beating second-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3.

Davenport is playing her third singles tournament since the birth of her first child in June. She will face third-seeded Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine, a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 winner over American qualifier Julie Ditty.

“Rafael Nadal will play David Nalbandian in the Paris Masters final in Paris, and Richard Gasquet clinched the last spot in the season-ending Masters Cup despite losing his semifinal.

Nadal, seeded second, beat Marcos Baghdatis 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, and Nalbandian defeated 10th-seeded Gasquet 6-2, 6-4.

Miscellany

U.S. upsets Cuba

The United States upset Cuba in five sets at the volleyball Women’s World Cup in Hamamatsu, Japan, behind 18 points from Tayyiba Haneef-Park.

Logan Tom also had a big game, spiking for 14 points as the Americans downed the Cubans 20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 20-25, 15-11 to improve to 2-0. The tournament, which started Friday and goes through Nov. 17, features 12 teams bidding for three berths at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“Flyweight Rau’shee Warren and welterweight Demetrius Andrade became the first Americans to win gold medals at the World Boxing Championships in eight years with convincing victories in the finals in Chicago.

“Japanese teen star Mao Asada won the women’s title at Skate Canada in Quebec City, her fourth win in her last six senior international events. American Emily Hughes finished fourth.

Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won the pairs title with an almost error-free routine.

“At Arcadia, Calif., Bold Chieftain won the $250,000 Classic by a half-length, when Russell Baze led racing’s first family to six California Cup victories at Santa Anita.

The extended Baze clan accounted for more than half the winners on the 10-race Cal Cup card for California-bred horses worth $1.3 million.

“Undefeated Joe Calzaghe added Mikkel Kessler’s WBA and WBC super-middleweight titles to his own WBO crown early today, unanimously outpointing the previously undefeated Dane in Cardiff, Wales.

The 35-year-old Welshman improved to 44-0. Kessler dropped to 39-1.