Karlsson takes control at St. Jude Classic

Golf: Robert Karlsson keeps playing better and better at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn. The Swede could be on track for his first PGA Tour title if he keeps it up.

Karlsson shot a 5-under-par 65 to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of the St. Jude Classic. He started a stroke behind first-round leader David Mathis and carded six birdies and a bogey to reach 9 under. Karlsson, who lost here a year ago in a playoff with Lee Westwood, has played his first six career rounds at the course under par.

Colt Knost (68) and Keegan Bradley (67) were tied for second at 6-under 134.

• Tway shoots 63 to take Champions Tour lead: Bob Tway birdied the 18th hole for a 9-under 63 and a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Greater Hickory Classic in Conover, N.C.

Mike Goodes fired a 28 on the front nine, but slowed down to finish with an 8-under 64 that left him tied for second place with Tommy Armour III, Joe Ozaki and Mark Wiebe.

• Mindy Kim maintains LPGA Tour lead: Mindy Kim maintained her two-stroke lead in the LPGA State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill., following her opening career-low 64 with a 5-under 67 to reach 13 under.

Top-ranked Yani Tseng (66) and Shanshan Feng (65) were tied for second.

Wendy Ward (Edwall, Wash.) shot a 69 and sits tied for ninth place with a two-day total of 7-under 137.

L.A. stadium planner talks with five teams

NFL: The head of the sports and entertainment firm that wants to build an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles has been in talks with officials from five teams about the proposed venue, a company official said.

Anschutz Entertainment Group President and CEO Tim Leiweke has spoken with representatives from the Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars, company spokesman Michael Roth said.

AEG’s $1 billion plan for a 72,000-seat stadium on part of the city’s convention center campus is one of two competing proposals that aim to bring pro football back to Los Angeles 15 years after the Rams and Raiders left the nation’s second-largest market within months of one another.

Kern wins fifth stage; Wiggins keeps lead

Cycling: Christophe Kern of France counterattacked on the final climb to win the fifth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine in Les Gets, France, while Bradley Wiggins of Britain retained the yellow jersey.

Kern completed the 130-mile stage in 5 hours, 5 minutes, 3 seconds. Chris Sorensen finished second, seven seconds back. Thomas Voeckler was third, nine seconds behind Kern.

Wiggins leads Cadel Evans by 1:11 in the overall classification with two stages remaining.

Vandersloot helps lead Sky to win

WNBA: Sylvia Fowles had 23 points and 13 rebounds and rookie guard Courtney Vandersloot (Gonzaga University) finished 7 of 10 from the field, including four 3-pointers, in scoring 18 points to lead Chicago to a 78-75 victory over the Connecticut Sun in the Sky’s home opener.

“Courtney’s vision and her poise are great,” Sky coach Pokey Chatman said.

“You know sometimes we don’t get that early break, but she gives us enough poise and we got some ball reversals and get some looks, but I’m very pleased with Courtney and she is only going to get better once she gets more comfortable.”

The Sky opened a 23-16 lead after one quarter as Vandersloot tied a club record with three 3s in one period. The lead reached 31-18 with 7:07 left in the half following Vandersloot’s fourth 3.

The Sun scored 10 straight points in the next 3:08, and Kalana Greene’s 3 with :31 left cut the lead to 35-34.

“Our defense in the second and fourth quarter was good but it wasn’t good in the first and the third,” Sun coach Mike Thibault said. “Vandersloot was great for the first 10-12 minutes in the game. When we got her under control, we played better in the second quarter.”

Hornaday wins after Sauter black-flagged

NASCAR: Ron Hornaday Jr. got his record 48th career NASCAR Trucks Series victory in the caution-filled race at Fort Worth, Texas, despite crossing the finish line in second place.

Johnny Sauter took the lead off the final restart with two laps left, but was black-flagged by NASCAR after he dropped from the outside lane to the inside in front of Hornaday before crossing the start-finish line. Sauter was dropped to 22nd place.

Sauter led three times for a race-high 58 laps. He appeared to spin his tires on the restart as he dropped down the track.

There were a track-record 10 cautions for 46 laps.