In brief: Familiar pair up front at Snoqualmie
Golf: A month after meeting in a playoff for the Senior British Open championship, Mark McNulty and Loren Roberts find themselves together again.
Roberts and McNulty each shot 7-under 65 on Saturday at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge and share the lead at 11 under after two rounds of the Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie, Wash. The duo will take a two-shot advantage over Bernhard Langer and Mark O’Meara into today’s final round.
It was late July when Roberts and McNulty met in a playoff for the Open title at Sunningdale. On the third playoff hole Roberts finally outlasted McNulty to wrap up his second Senior British Open title.
Now the pair will be in the final group today.
“There are a lot of guys looming right there. We’re going to have to go out and shoot under par tomorrow,” Roberts said. “I think it’s going to be a shootout.”
•Nordqvist takes lead at Safeway: Rookie Anna Nordqvist shot a 3-under 69 to take a 1-shot lead over Seon Hwa Lee and Ai Miyazato going into the final round of the Safeway Classic at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore.
Nordqvist, who won the LPGA Championship earlier this year, is at 10-under 134 after the first two rounds.
Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a 3-under 69 but missed the cut with a two- round total of 145. Recent WSU grad Amy Eneroth, of Mead, shot an 81 and finished at 15-over, also missing the cut.
•Marino, Goydos share The Barclays lead: Steve Marino ran off three straight birdies late in the third round for a 3-under 68 to catch Paul Goydos for a share of the lead at The Barclays at Jersey City, N.J.
Goydos and Marino were at 9-under 204, two shots clear of 24-year-old rookie Webb Simpson (72) and Fredrik Jacobson (68). Steve Stricker had a 68 and was three shots behind at 207.
Briscoe edges Dixon for Chicagoland win
Auto Racing: Points leader Ryan Briscoe went wheel-to-wheel with fellow championship contender Scott Dixon on the last lap and came out on top of the IndyCar series race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., by only 0.0077 seconds.
Dixon finished second by a nose, followed by Mario Moraes and another championship contender, Dario Franchitti – keeping the series title fight tight going into the final two races of the season.
•Ambrose wins Nationwide pole: Marcos Ambrose won the Nationwide Series pole in the rain at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
Ambrose turned a fast lap of 80.905 mph to hold off Carl Edwards, whose best lap was 80.116 mph. Defending race winner Ron Fellows of Canada was third in 79.717 mph. The NAPA Auto Parts 200 is today.
•Fisichella gives Force India its first F1 pole: Giancarlo Fisichella gave Force India its first Formula One pole during qualifying for today’s Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
The 36-year-old Italian earned the Indian team its maiden pole with a lap of 1 minute, 46.308 seconds around the high-speed circuit. Entering its 30th race, Force India has yet to win a point by finishing among the top eight.
Verdasco, Wozniacki win at Pilot Pen
Tennis: Spain’s Fernando Verdasco has won the Pilot Pen tennis tournament at New Haven, Conn., beating American Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the final tuneup for the U.S. Open.
The second-seeded Verdasco, 25, fought off four second-set points from the hard-serving Querrey to win his first title of the season and third of his career.
Verdasco’s win comes after Caroline Wozniacki took her second consecutive women’s title in New Haven.
The 19-year-old from Denmark beat Russian Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-4, earning her sixth tournament title, and third this year.
Report: Michigan violated rules
Football: Several Michigan football players claim the program regularly violates NCAA rules limiting how much time they can spend on training and practice sessions, according to a published report.
Players from the 2008 and 2009 teams told the Detroit Free Press for a story published on the newspaper’s Web site that the amount of time they spend on football activities during the season and in the offseason greatly exceeds the limits.
The players spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity because they feared repercussions from coaches.
Coach Rich Rodriguez and the university’s compliance director, Judy Van Horn, both denied the football program was violating NCAA rules.
Summer Bird soars in Travers Stakes
Horse Racing: The other Bird did it again, this time in the $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Summer Bird splashed his way to a 3 1/2 -length victory over 17-1 long shot Hold Me Back in the 11/4-mile Travers Stakes, adding the Midsummer Derby to his Belmont Stakes victory over Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird two months ago.
Leaving the far turn, Summer Bird launched a rally and closed the gap quickly on Kensei, who had taken the lead.
The chestnut colt then took control nearing the quarter pole and pulled away for his third victory in seven career starts.
The winning time for the race was 2:02.83.