In brief: Ochoa three clear of pack at Classic

Golf: Defending champion Lorena Ochoa shot a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead in the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala., leaving 14-year-old Alexis Thompson eight strokes behind.

Ochoa, second last week behind Sophie Gustafson in California, had a 16-under 200 total on The Senator course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex. She birdied six of her final 12 holes in the bogey-free round.

The top-ranked Mexican star is winless in her last 11 starts.

Thompson, the Florida ninth-grader who was part of a five-way tie for the second-round lead, had a 74 to drop into a tie for 13th at 8 under.

Sandra Gal (66) was second at 13 under, and Janice Moodie (68) and Brittany Lang (68) were 12 under.

•Watson’s lead four: Tom Watson shot a 6-under 64 to build a four-stroke lead at the Senior Players Championship in Timonium, Md.

Watson, bidding to become the oldest major winner on the Champions Tour at 60, attacked the Baltimore Country Club course and put together a bogey-free round – he’s made only one during the tournament – with six birdies to finish at 12-under 198 and four shots clear of Loren Roberts (65), John Cook (65) and Mark Wiebe (66).

•Piercy leads PGA event: Scott Piercy shot a 6-under 66 on for a share of the lead with Matt Kuchar after the third round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona, N.Y.

Logano earns victory

Auto racing: Joey Logano passed points leader Kyle Busch with three laps left at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., pulling out his fourth Nationwide victory just a week after a horrific crash.

Logano flipped his car seven times at Dover last week, but showed no signs of fear in Kansas, overcoming a bobble with six laps left before passing Busch for the victory.

Busch led 173 of the 200 laps on the 1.5-mile oval and has led 2,226 laps this season, breaking the season series record of 2,127 set by Sam Ard in 1984.

Busch has finished second in all four of Logano’s wins this season.

Brad Keselowski finished third.

•Brawn GP pair penalized: Formula One championship contenders Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were among five drivers penalized five starting places in a chaotic qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.

The Brawn GP pair, Renault’s Fernando Alonso and Force India’s Adrian Sutil failed to slow when yellow flags were waved during the second round of qualifying. Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Buemi, whose accident brought out the flags, also drops back five spots.

Blues sweep Wings

NHL: Keith Tkachuk had two power-play goals and an assist and the St. Louis Blues overcame a two-goal deficit for the second straight night, beating the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 to sweep the two-game series in Stockholm.

The Blues won the opener 4-3 on Friday night before a capacity crowd at the Ericsson Globe Arena in the Swedish capital.

•Crosby sparks Penguins: Sidney Crosby, who scored a goal in the first period, netted the deciding tally in the shootout and gave the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders in Uniondale, N.Y.

•Stars drop home opener: Jason Arnott had an early goal, Michael Santorelli scored the winner in a shootout and the Nashville Predators handed the Stars their first season-opening loss in Dallas with a 3-2 victory.

The Stars were 7-0-2 in season openers in Dallas.

Summer Bird wins

Horse racing: Summer Bird made it a sweep of top races in New York.

The chestnut colt fought off a determined Quality Road in a long battle down the stretch to win the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup by a length at Belmont Park.

The victory may have clinched a divisional championship for Summer Bird, who is the first 3-year-old since Easy Goer in 1989 to win the Belmont Stakes, the Travers and the Gold Cup.

•Two horses injured, one fatally: So much for hopes of running Grazen in next month’s Breeders’ Cup.

The colt suffered a career-ending injury while leading in the stretch of the $200,000 California Cup Classic in Arcadia, a race in which Blackbriar broke a bone and had to be destroyed.

Beckham on move?

Miscellany: David Beckham is in talks with the Galaxy about going to AC Milan on another loan and then returning to Los Angeles.

Beckham must join a European club on loan in January to be considered for England coach Fabio Capello’s squad for June’s World Cup.

•Andrews’ accused stalker headed to L.A.: An insurance man was ordered back to California to face charges that he stalked ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and videotaped her nude by aiming a cell phone camera through an altered peephole in her hotel room door. Michael David Barrett, 47, of Westmont, Ill., was being held in jail over the weekend while awaiting a judge’s decision Monday on whether he will go to Los Angeles as a federal prisoner or free on bail.

•Army hires Spiker: Zach Spiker has been hired as men’s basketball coach at Army.

Spiker has served as an assistant at Cornell under Steve Donahue for five seasons.