Langer surges to front at Boeing Classic

Golf: Bernhard Langer fired a 9-under 63 to take a one-shot lead over Nick Price after the second round of the Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic on Saturday in Snoqualmie, Wash.

Price struggled to make birdies on the back nine, allowing Langer to overtake the opening round leader.

Langer made a 12-foot birdie on the 12th hole to pull within a shot of Price and move to 6-under on the round. With Price making pars, Langer continued his run to the top of the leaderboard. Birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 gave him the outright lead and a birdie at 18 moved him to 15-under 129 for the tournament.

Price (67) made four birdies on the front nine. He recorded his only bogey of the day at 17, but closed with an eagle at the par-5 18th to pull within a shot of Langer.

• Laird in front at The Barclays: Martin Laird’s goal of reaching the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs suddenly has changed. He now has a great chance of winning The Barclays at Paramus, N.J.

Laird, who started these playoffs at No. 95, ran off four birdies early in his round and kept bogeys off his card for a 6-under 65 to build a three-shot lead over Dustin Johnson and Jason Day.

Tiger Woods will have something at stake today, but it most likely won’t be a trophy. He took a triple bogey after hitting his opening drive off the property and now has to play solid in the final round to finish among the top 100 in the standings and advance.

• Wie, Shin tied for first at Canadian Women’s Open: Overnight leader Michelle Wie shot an even-par 72 to fall into a tie with Jiyai Shin after a rainy Saturday at the Canadian Women’s Open in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Shin shot a 69 to erase the three-stroke lead Wie took into the third round at the St. Charles Country Club. Both were at 10-under for the tournament.

Na Yeon Choi of South Korea sank a 60-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to move into a tie for third at 6-under with fellow South Korean Jee Young Lee and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen.

• Chung, Uihlein to play for amateur title: Stanford junior David Chung survived an early run of birdies and eagles from 2009 amateur champ Byeong-Hun An, rallying on the back nine for a 1 up victory over An in the semifinals of the 110th U.S. Amateur Championship at University Place, Wash.

His reward for reaching today’s 36-hole final – other than a trip to next year’s U.S. Open and an invitation to the Masters – is a match with Oklahoma State’s Peter Uihlein, the top-ranked amateur in the world.

Uihlein beat 18-year-old Patrick Cantlay 4 and 3.

Afleet Express wins Travers Stakes

Horse racing: Afleet Express held off a fast-closing Fly Down in a thrilling stretch run to win the $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in a photo finish at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Afleet Express had the lead as the 11-horse field turned for home Saturday, but Fly Down unleased a furious challenge before falling a nose short at the wire.

• Richard’s Kid wins Pacific Classic: Richard’s Kid oulasted Crowded House by three-quarters of a length to win the $1 million Pacific Classic for the second consecutive year at Del Mar, Calif.

Franchitti edges field

Auto Racing: Dario Franchitti’s pit strategy gamble paid off, helping him to win a frantic IndyCar series race at Chicagoland Speedway at Joliet, Ill.

Franchitti’s crew gambled late by only taking fuel and opting not to change tires, gaining eight spots in the pits and sending him out in the race lead.

• Ambrose takes Nationwide pole: Marcos Ambrose turned a fast lap of 97.079 mph to edge Canadian star Jacques Villeneuve’s 96.924 mph and take the pole for today’s Nationwide Series race at Montreal.

• Webber earns pole in Belgium: Mark Webber set his sights on maintaining his Formula One championship lead after taking pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

Durant leads U.S. to win over Croatia

Miscellany: Kevin Durant scored 14 points and got the United States started on a dominant second-quarter stretch in a 106-78 victory over Croatia in its opening game at the world championship in Istanbul.

In other FIBA action, Argentina defeated Germany 78-74, and Lebanon bested Canada 81-71.

Gonzaga University forward Elias Harris came off the bench in Germany’s setback, going 2 for 4 from the field and 2 for 2 from the line for six points.

Gonzaga’s Robert Sacre and Kelly Olynyk saw time for Canada. Sacre went 1 for 2 from the field for two points and pulled down two rebounds while Olynyk grabbed one rebound in his limited appearance.

• Wozniacki wins Pilot Pen title: U.S. Open top seed Caroline Wozniacki won her third consecutive Pilot Pen tennis title, beating Russian Nadia Petrova 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the final at New Haven, Conn.

Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky won his second tournament of the year, beating Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the men’s final.

• Spies upsets Lorenzo in MotoGP: Ben Spies challenged points leader Jorge Lorenzo in qualifying and wound up earning his first career pole with a lap of 1 minute, 40.105 seconds – the most shocking upset in the three-year history of motorcycle racing’s Indianapolis MotoGP.

• 15-year-old wins $150,000: Nyjah Huston, 15, has won the inaugural Street League Skateboarding contest in Glendale, Ariz., and $150,000, the biggest payday in pro skateboarding.