Sports in brief: U.S. leads despite missed opportunity
Golf: One putt changed everything except the lead Thursday in the Presidents Cup at San Francisco.
The Americans were poised to seize control in the opening session of foursomes at Harding Park, already assured of the lead and on the verge of winning the final match for a two-point advantage.
Justin Leonard had a 3-foot birdie putt to win – a putt he first thought had been conceded – and was stunned when the putt caught the right edge of the cup and spun away.
The match was halved, and the Americans had to settle for a 3 1/2 -2 1/2 advantage.
“We wanted to get out of the day with pretty close to a push, and I’m very, very happy,” International captain Greg Norman said.
He was fortunate for that.
Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker were dominant from the start, playing bogey-free in the difficult alternate-shot format and teaming up for six birdies in a 6-and-4 victory over Geoff Ogilvy and 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa.
Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim came to life late, closing with four straight birdies to give the Americans the first point of the matches with a 3-and-2 victory over Mike Weir and Tim Clark.
The momentum switched to American red on the scoreboard late on the cloudy, cool afternoon on this public course south of San Francisco. The final push figured to come from Leonard and Jim Furyk, who made a furious rally in the middle of the match and surged ahead of Retief Goosen and Y.E. Yang, 2 up with two holes to play.
Goosen holed a birdie putt on the 17th to send the match to the par-5 18th, and the South African missed the green to the right. Leonard hit a splendid fairway metal to the middle of the green, setting up what appeared to be a two-putt birdie.
Furyk lagged to 3 feet, the International team got up-and-down for birdie, and Goosen looked over at Furyk as if wondering why Leonard even needed to putt. Eventually, the South African realized the putt meant something.
Did it ever.
The Americans were ready to celebrate another point. The International team was prepared for another big deficit.
“I just hit a bad putt,” Leonard said. “I knew I was going to need to make that little putt. Unfortunately, I missed it.”
Giants’ Manning nurses heel injury
NFL: New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning missed his second straight practice with an injured right heel.
Manning’s streak of 82 straight starts seemed a bit more in jeopardy when he was not on the field.
Backup David Carr again worked with the first team offense in preparation for Sunday’s game at Giants Stadium against the Oakland Raiders.
Manning has said he could play even if he did not practice this week. He insisted Wednesday that the inflammation in his heel is progressing.
•New England’s Taylor may need surgery: Oft-injured running back Fred Taylor is sidelined again and could need surgery on his right ankle after leading the New England Patriots in rushing this season.
Taylor is expected to miss Sunday’s game at the Denver Broncos after sitting out his second straight day of practice. He would play again this season unless there are complications, the report said.
•Lions mum on Stafford’s status: Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions are being coy about the quarterback’s injured right knee and his status.
Detroit coach Jim Schwartz refused to be remotely forthcoming when asked for an update on his rookie quarterback.
“The injury report will be out at 4 o’clock,” Schwartz said during a terse interview session.
Nebraska earns victory over Missouri
NCAA football: Zac Lee threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Niles Paul, and Ndamukong Suh and Dejon Gomes intercepted passes to set up two more fourth-quarter scores in No. 21 Nebraska’s 27-12 victory over No. 24 Missouri at Columbia, Mo.
Lee completed 14 of 33 passes for 158 yards and three touchdowns to help Nebraska (4-1, 1-0 Big 12) overcome a 12-0 deficit in cold and rainy conditions.
Missouri (4-1, 0-1) managed just 225 yards of total offense.
Petrova defeats top-seeded Williams
Tennis: Serena Williams was knocked out of the China Open in Beijing, losing to Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) only days before regaining the No. 1 ranking.
Williams, who will take over the top spot in the rankings from Dinara Safina on Monday, looked sluggish in the first set before recovering in the second. Neither player was able to earn a break in the third set.
•Mauresmo may retire: Former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo is considering retiring from tennis.
The Frenchwoman, who is ranked No. 20, decided to scratch her last two tournaments of the season.
Devils rally late, defeat Tampa Bay
NHL: Travis Zajac scored with 1 second left in regulation, and the New Jersey Devils went on to a 4-3 shootout victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Tampa, Fla.
Zajac forced overtime when he scored from the low slot to tie it at 3. Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner scored in the shootout, won by New Jersey and goalie Martin Brodeur 2-0.
•Fisher comes through for Senators: Mike Fisher scored 32 seconds into overtime to give the Senators a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders in Ottawa.
Fisher broke down the left side and put the first shot of the extra period past Martin Biron as the Senators won their home opener.