Hardly anyone sees Woods surge to 1 back
Golf: Tiger Woods played before the largest crowd of the day, even though it never topped 100. Brendon de Jonge had as many birdies – three – as people in his gallery on a strange, silent Saturday at the AT&T National in Bethesda, Md.
A violent wind storm overnight that toppled dozens of trees and littered the course with limbs forced tournament officials to keep spectators and all but the essential volunteers away from Congressional for the third round. Considering the amount of debris, it was amazing they even played.
De Jonge was steady in the steamy heat for a third straight round in the 60s, this one a 2-under-par 69 that gave him a one-shot lead over Woods, Bo Van Pelt and S.Y. Noh headed into a final round that figures to be a lot more noisy.
Woods and Van Pelt shot 67, and Noh had a 69.
A few volunteers, tournament staff and club members tagged along after Woods, and provided about the only noise of the round. They watched him and Van Pelt get off to a quick start, and then match pars on the back nine to get close to the lead.
De Jonge was at 7-under 206 and will play in the final group with Van Pelt and Woods, who is going for his third win of the year.
• Two share lead in Senior Players Championship: Mark Calcavecchia shot a 6-under 64 on for a share of the third-round lead with Joe Daley in the Senior Players Championship in Pittsburgh.
Calcavecchia matched Daley at 12-under 198 at Fox Chapel. Daley had a 68.
Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett fired a 65 and moved up into a tie for 12th place at 205.
The tournament is the third of the five Champions Tour majors.
• Felibert stretches lead in LPGA event: Veronica Felibert shot a 5-under 66 to stretch her lead to four strokes in the LPGA’s NW Arkansas Classic in Rogers, Ark. The rookie from Venezuela continued her surprising run at Pinnacle Country Club, where she made the field as the second alternate. After missing the cuts in her previous three tournaments, she opened with a 65 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead.
Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a 75 for a total of 147 and missed the cut.
Cancellara wins prologue of Tour
Cycling: Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland won the Tour de France prologue for a fifth time, dominating the time trial around the city of Liege, Belgium.
Britain’s Bradley Wiggins was second over the winding 4-mile course and France’s Sylvain Chavanel was third, also 7 seconds back.
Cadel Evans of Australia began his title defense in 13th place, 17 seconds behind Cancellara.
At the first time check, around the midway point, Cancellara led Chavanel by 1 second then accelerated to the finish.
Today’s first stage takes riders over a mostly flat, 123-mile loop from Liege to the nearby town of Seraing.
Refugee makes U.S. gymnastics team
Miscellany: Danell Leyva clinched an automatic spot on the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, almost 20 years after fleeing Cuba with his mother and sister.
Leyva edged teammate John Orozco in San Jose, Calif., by almost a point. Because both finished in the top three in at least three events, they automatically qualified for the Olympic team. The remaining three members will be chosen by a selection committee, and the team will be announced today.
• Americans win twice in softball: Valerie Arioto homered in her third straight game and drove in four runs, Samantha Fischer tacked on a three-run shot and the United States beat Canada 9-0 in five innings in the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City. Arioto also delivered the tiebreaking solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning earlier in the day to lift the U.S. to a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands.
• Jeranimo pulls off upset: Jeranimo, under Garrett Gomez, rallied down the stretch for an upset horse racing win in the $300,000 Shoemaker Mile while Camp Victory took the Triple Bend Handicap at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. Jeranimo’s victory, his third in four starts at Hollywood, earned an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita in November.