Garcia’s 65 puts Spaniard 1 up on Woods
Golf: Sergio Garcia had one of those stretches where it felt like every putt was going to drop. He needed every one of them Friday for a 7-under 65 to match his best score on the TPC Sawgrass and take a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods at The Players Championship at Ponte Verda Beach, Fla.
Next up is Woods and Garcia in the final group on the weekend, which is sure to add even more attention to the stage that is Sawgrass.
Garcia didn’t miss a fairway and putted for birdie on every hole on the back nine and wasn’t gaining any ground. That changed on the front nine when he made seven straight putts – five of them from about 15 feet or longer – to race by Woods and into the lead.
Woods looks like he’s having a good time on the course that has vexed him more than any other on the PGA Tour, and he could be the greater threat on the weekend. Already a three-time winner this year on tour, Woods has rarely put himself in trouble and had his second straight 67.
Nadal, Serena surge at Madrid Open
Tennis: Rafael Nadal rallied past David Ferrer 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, maintaining his bid to reach a seventh straight final since returning from a knee injury.
Top-ranked Serena Williams struggled before defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 0-6, 7-5, and second-ranked Maria Sharapova joined her in the semifinals after easing by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-2, 6-4.
Nadal will play Pablo Andujar, who defeated Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-5.
Sharapova will play Ana Ivanovic, and defending champion Williams will face Sara Errani.
Oil Kings stay alive with OT victory
Hockey: Michael St. Croix’s third goal of the game at 7:24 of overtime saved the Edmonton Oil Kings’ season, as they downed the Winterhawks 3-2 in Game 5 of the Western Hockey League finals at Portland.
Dylan Wruck assisted on all three goals for the Oil Kings, who now trail the series 3-2 heading into Sunday’s Game 6 in Edmonton.
Joey Baker and Brendan Lepsic scored for Portland, which had won the previous three games in the series.
• Finland downs Russia: Reigning champion Russia lost for the second time in two days at the ice hockey world championships at Helsinki, going down 3-2 to Finland due largely to goalie Antti Raanta’s 34 saves.
Finland’s Petri Kontiola scored at 3:22 and 17:21 in the first period. He has five goals and four assists in five games. Juhamatti Aaltonen made it 3-1 in a power play at 16 minutes in the second.
In Stockholm, Czech Republic beat Slovenia 4-2.
Hansen takes stage at Giro d’Italia
Cycling: Australian rider Adam Hansen won the hilly and rainy seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia with a solo breakaway, and Benat Intxausti of Spain took the overall lead at Pescara, Italy.
Hansen, who rides for Lotto Belisol, clocked more than 4 1/2 hours over the 109-mile leg from San Salvo to Pescara.
Yacht nosedived, broke into pieces
Miscellany: America’s Cup officials say a catamaran that capsized in San Francisco Bay, killing a sailor, nosedived during a difficult maneuver and broke into many pieces.
Artemis Racing was conducting a maneuver that required it to change direction when it capsized on Thursday.
Andrew “Bart” Simpson was submerged underwater for more than 10 minutes.
Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead a short time later.
• Hardy, Schmitt cruise to wins: Jessica Hardy and Mike Alexandrov took a pair of breaststroke wins on the second night of the Arena Grand Prix at Charlotte.
They swept the 50- and 100-meter events in their signature strokes, tuning up for the world championships this summer in Spain.
Allison Schmitt, who won three golds and a silver at the London Olympics, powered to an easy win in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 58.76 seconds. Matt McLean took the men’s 200 free.
• Americans claim six events at Doha meet: World and Olympic champion David Rudisha cruised to victory in the 800 meters at the season-opening Diamond League track and field meet in Doha, Qatar, and Justin Gatlin clocked the second-fastest time of the year (9.97 seconds) to win the 100 on a strong night for the Americans.
Americans won six of the 16 events and there were meet records for Olympic women’s long jump champion Britney Reese and Ryan Whiting in the men’s shot put. Reese leapt 23 feet 9 1/2 inches, and Whiting threw 73-1 1/4 in an event in which Olympic gold medalist Tomasz Majewski was sixth.