Singh grabs hold of BMW lead over Tiger

Golf: Vijay Singh keeps giving himself chances to end four years without a PGA Tour victory. He made four birdies around the turn Friday for a 6-under-par 66 in the BMW Championship in Carmel, Ind., putting his name atop the leaderboard for the second time in his last four tournaments.

Tiger Woods was one shot behind. So was Rory McIlroy. Going into a storm-filled weekend at Crooked Stick, four players who have reached No. 1 in the world were among the top six.

Woods started slowly and finished strongly, with birdies on his last two holes for a 67. McIlroy had to overcome four bogeys for a hard-earned 68.

• Shin maintains lead at Kingsmill: Jiyai Shin followed her opening 9-under 62 with a 68 to take a one-stroke lead in the LPGA Tour’s Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Va. The South Korean player had four birdies and a bogey to finish two rounds at 12 under on Kingsmill’s River Course. She won the last of her eight LPGA Tour titles in November 2010.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a 67 for a total of 138 and made the cut.

Armstrong banned from marathons

Cycling: Chicago Marathon director Carey Pinkowski said that sanctioning rules would prevent Lance Armstrong from running the Oct. 7 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Those rules, which prohibit banned athletes from entering races sanctioned by USA Track & Field, also apply to the Boston Marathon and New York Marathon.

Pinkowski also said Armstrong had not submitted a formal entry to the race.

• World cycling considers introducing doping amnesty: World cycling’s governing body is considering introducing an amnesty for riders and officials who confess to doping offenses in the aftermath of the Lance Armstrong case.

NHL, NHLPA hold negotiations

Labor: Representatives from the NHL and the players’ association held informal negotiations at the league offices.

With the Sept. 15 expiration date on the current collective bargaining agreement drawing near, NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, and his top assistant and brother, Steve Fehr, sat down with commissioner Gary Bettman and his deputy, Bill Daly, for a status check after a week of little to no communication. The two sides last held formal discussions last Friday, but those ended with Donald Fehr telling reporters the talks were in a “recess.”

The league has said it will lock the players out if a new deal isn’t reached by Sept. 15.

Negotiations, throughout the summer, have taken breaks during weekends. But with the deadline nearing, there’s a good chance the two sides will meet today.

Merritt sets world record in 110 hurdles

Track and field: Olympic champion Aries Merritt of the United States set a world record of 12.80 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles in the final Diamond League track meet of the season in Brussels.

At the Van Damme Memorial, Merritt shot out of the blocks, didn’t touch any of the hurdles and lunged at the line with both arms flung backward to slice 0.07 seconds off the mark set by Cuba’s Dayron Robles four years ago.

Jamaica defeats U.S. in Cup qualifier

• Miscellany: Rodolph Austin and Luton Shelton scored on free kicks as Jamaica rallied to beat the United States 2-1 in a World Cup soccer qualifier in Kingston, Jamaica.

Clint Dempsey, playing his first competitive match in three months, put the U.S. ahead 35 seconds in with the fastest American goal in a World Cup qualifier. But the 60th-ranked Reggae Boyz, who had been 0-10-8 against the U.S., rallied with goals in the 23rd and 62nd minutes on free kicks caused by fouls from Kyle Beckerman and Maurice Edu.

Jamaica (2-0-1) leads Group A with seven points at the halfway point, followed by the U.S. (1-1-1).

• NDSU players, others charged with petition forgery: Nine North Dakota State University football players were among 15 people formally charged with faking petition signatures in a scandal that blocked two voter initiatives from getting on the November ballot.

The 15 are scheduled for their first court appearance Oct. 2 in Fargo, said Birch Burdick, the Cass County state’s attorney. They were charged with a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Of the 15 defendants, 12 are present or former members of the NDSU football team, the defending NCAA Football Championship Subdivision champion.