O’Hair, Palmer share lead at Bridgestone

GOLF: Sean O’Hair and Ryan Palmer kept firing at flags and making birdies until they wound up tied for the lead Saturday in the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio.

They were at 9-under-par 201, one shot ahead of Matt Kuchar (66).

The group did not include seven-time Firestone champion Tiger Woods. He went through the motions on his way to a 75.

Phil Mickelson also failed to break par, but he’s still in the tournament – and still has a shot to replace Woods at No. 1 in the world.

• Cejka shoots 67, takes lead at Turning Stone: Alex Cejka shot a 5-under-par 67 to move to 15 under and take a two-stroke lead at the Turning Stone Resort Championship at Verona, N.Y.

Chris Couch tied the course record with a 63 and was alone in second place at 13 under.

Spokane’s Alex Prugh shot a 4-under 68 and sits seven shots behind the leader.

• Frost, Calcavecchia lead at 3M: David Frost shot a 6-under 66 and was tied with Mark Calcavecchia for the lead after two rounds of the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn, two shots ahead of a group of three.

Baghdatis reaches Washington final

Tennis: Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus recovered quickly after twisting his left ankle in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic semifinals and ended the surprising run by unseeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-2, 7-6 (4) at Washington.

In today’s final at the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open, Baghdatis will meet unseeded David Nalbandian who upset No.4-seeded Marin Cilic.

• Kuznetsova cruises to reach finals: Svetlana Kuznetsova beat fifth-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the finals of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, Calif.

Kuznetsova will be matched against No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland who defeated unseeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.

• Wozniacki battles way to Danish Open final: Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki reached the final of the Danish Open after beating Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 at Copenhagen, Denmark.

The third-ranked Wozniacki will face Klara Zakopalova in today’s final.

Zenyatta wins Del Mar, stays perfect

Horse Racing: Zenyatta has won her 18th consecutive race to remain unbeaten, taking the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes in Del Mar, Calif.

The 6-year-old mare outran Rinterval in a tight duel to the finish line in the 1 1/16-mile race. Under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, she covered the distance in 1 minute, 45.03 seconds.

• Quality Road falters at Whitney: Blame, ridden by Garrett Gomez, rallied in the stretch, overtook heavily favored Quality Road in the final strides and won the $750,000 Whitney Handicap by a head at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

• Muscle Massive wins the Hambletonian: Muscle Massive edged Lucky Chucky by a half length in the $1.5 million Hambletonian for 3-year-old trotters at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J.

Driver Ron Pierce got his third Hambletonian win; trainer Jimmy Takter won the trotting classic for the second time. The time was 1:51 for the one mile, the second fastest in the 85-year history of the stakes.

Lochte wins 200 back at U.S. nationals

Swimming: Ryan Lochte won the men’s 200-meter backstroke at the U.S. national championships in Irvine, Calif.

Lochte, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, recorded the second-fastest time in the world this year and touched in 1:55.58.

Aaron Peirsol took second at 1:56.28. Tyler Clary was clocked at 1:56.36.

Michael Phelps finished fourth at 1:56.98.

Rebecca Soni continued her dominance at the nationals by winning the 200-meter breaststroke.

Soni, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, finished in 2:21.60, more than five seconds ahead of second-place Amanda Beard, who touched in 2:26.50.

In the 1,500-meter freestyle, Chad LaTourette posted the fastest time in the world this year to take first.

LaTourette finished in 14:55.39, followed by Peter Vanderkaay, who touched in 15:03.86. Sean Ryan was third at 15:04.84.

• European championships to start without bodysuits: The European swimming championships in Budapest, Hungary, mark a new era in the sport as the first major meet where competitors can no longer wear the neck-to-ankle bodysuits that helped set world records in recent years.

Several world record-holders will take part in the pool events starting on Monday, including Paul Biedermann of Germany, Rafael Munoz of Spain, Federica Pellegrini of Italy and Rebecca Adlington of Britain.

David, Villwock post heat wins in hydros

Miscellany: Hydroplane drivers Steve David and Dave Villwock each won preliminary heats at the Albert Lee Cup in Seattle.

David took first place in heat 1A with an overall average speed of 138.095 mph for the three-lap heat.

Villwock was the fastest qualifier for the race. He won heat 1B driving Spirit of Qatar, averaging 138.564 mph.

Racing continues this morning, when Villwock and David will go head-to-head in heat 2A.

• Alexander beats Kotelnik, remains unbeaten: Devon Alexander retained his WBC and IBF junior welterweight titles with a unanimous 12-round decision over Andriy Kotelnik in St. Louis.

Alexander (21-0) won 116-112 on all three cards.