Digest: Daniel Berger shoots 62 to take lead after three rounds at Travelers Championship
Golf: Daniel Berger shot an 8-under par 62 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.
The 23-year-old Floridian made nine birdies, including seven on his final 10 holes, to finish at 15-under 195 after 54 holes.
Last year’s rookie of the year had just one bogey and was two strokes off the course record, following up rounds of 66 and 67 that had him tied for the lead coming into the day.
“I’ve shot better than 62, but I guess it doesn’t matter unless it’s on the PGA Tour,” he said. “It was just a great day.”
Russell Knox shot a 64 and Russell Henley and Tyrone Van Aswegen each shot 65 to tie for second place at 12-under par. Patrick Rodgers shot a 66 and was five strokes off the pace.
Berger, who is coming off a shoulder injury, is looking for his second career title on the PGA Tour. He won two months ago in Memphis at the St. Jude Classic, which was his fourth top-10 finish in seven starts after a slow start to the year.
Jimenez tops 3M Championship: Miguel Angel Jimenez made a 17-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th hole for a 9-under 63 and the second-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ 3M Championship in Blaine, Minnesota.
The 52-year-old Spanish player had five straight birdies on Nos. 6-10 and also birdied the par-3 17th in good scoring conditions at generous TPC Twins Cities. He had a 14-under 130 total.
Jimenez won in Mississippi in March for his third career PGA Tour Champions victory. He has 15 regular European Tour victories, the last in the 2014 Spanish Open at a tour-record 50 years, 133 days
Kevin Sutherland was a stroke back after a 64. Sutherland tied for second last year.
First-round leader Glen Day was 12 under, following his opening 65 with a 67. He played his way into the field Monday, topping the five qualifiers with a 7-under 64 at nearby Victory Links.
Seong, Carta move to final: South Korea’s Eun Jeong Seong and Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta set up the first all-international U.S. Women’s Amateur final in 106 years – and guaranteed a rare season sweep.
They each advanced with 2-and-1 victories at Rolling Green in Springfield, Pennsylvania. The 16-year-old Seong beat 18-year-old Mathilda Cappeliez of France, and the 19-year-old Carta topped 15-year-old Yuka Saso of the Philippines.
Seong is trying to complete an unprecedented U.S. Girls’ Junior-Amateur season sweep, and Carta is attempting to become the second player to win the tournament and NCAA individual title in the same year.
Carta won the NCAA individual title in May as a Duke freshman. She’s trying to join Vicki Goetze (1992) as the only players to win the Amateur and NCAA in the same year, and the sixth to win both titles. Carta also is trying to become the second Italian winner, following Silvia Cavalleri in 1997.
In 1910 in the last all-international final, Dorothy Campbell, a Scot who was living in Canada, beat England’s Mrs. G.M. Martin at Homewood in Illinois.
Giovinco’s hat trick lifts Toronto
Soccer: Sebastian Giovinco had his second three-goal game of the season to take over the Major League Soccer scoring lead and power Toronto FC to a 4-1 victory over the visiting New England Revolution.
Giovinco has 15 goals, two more than New York City’s David Villa.
Toronto (10-7-6) moved within a point of Eastern Conference-leading New York City. Toronto has won four straight, all at home, and is unbeaten in nine games in a row at BMO Field.
Giovinco opened the scoring in the 20th minute, putting the rebound off of Michael Bradley’s strike past goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. The Atomic Ant struck again in the 29th, curling a shot into the far corner from just outside the area. The Italian completed the hat trick in the 76th, beating Shuttleworth on a penalty kick after Darrius Barnes took down Jonathan Osorio in the area.
Teal Bunbury scored for New England (6-9-8) in the 88th minute.
Jozy Altidore added a goal for scored for Toronto in stoppage time.
Mancosu, Impact edge Dynamo: Matteo Mancosu scored in his first Major League Soccer start to help the host Montreal Impact beat the Houston Dynamo 1-0.
Starting at striker in place of suspended scoring star Didier Drogba, Mancosu took down a long pass over the top from Italian compatriot Marco Donadel and slid a low shot inside the left post in the 77th minute.
Drogba missed the game after receiving a red card last week in a 1-1 tie at D.C. United.
Mancuso has two goals and an assist in first games since signing with the Impact on July. Montreal (8-5-9) is 4-1-5 in its last 10 games.
Houston (4-10-8) is winless in five games and has scored only one goal in that span.
Rapids blank Whitecaps: Marlon Hairston had a goal and an assist to help the Colorado Rapids beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 in Commerce City, Colorado. The Rapids (11-3-8) rebounded after their franchise-record 15-game undefeated streak was snapped in a 5-1 loss at New York City last Saturday. Hairston opened the scoring in the 44th minute with a close-range finish on Marc Burch’s cross. It was Hairston’s third goal in his last four games.
Dominique Badji finished Hairston’s low cross to give the Rapids a 2-0 lead in the 60th minute.
Colorado moved within three points of MLS-leading FC Dallas and remained in second place in the overall standings. The Whitecaps (8-10-6) lost their second in a row and are winless in their last four.
D.C. United ties Philadelphia: Steve Birnbaum scored for D.C. United in the 94th minute to salvage a 2-2 draw with the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night.
Birnbaum headed Patrick Nyarko’s diagonal cross into the far corner of the goal. It was the fifth shot on goal that United (5-8-9) attempted after the 88th minute.
The Union (8-8-7) took a 2-1 lead the 57th minute when Chris Pontius scored against his former team. Ilsinho made a tackle deep in United’s territory and fed Pontius with a quick pass into the middle of the area.
Taylor Kemp opened the scoring for United in the 16th minute, starting from behind the halfway line and beating Ken Tribbett with a step-over move late in his run. Tranquillo Barnetta tied it for Philadelphia with a long-range free kick in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.
Isner reaches Atlanta final
Miscellany: Three-time defending champion John Isner won the tallest matchup in ATP World Tour history, beating Reilly Opelka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2 in the BB&T Atlanta Open semifinals in Atlanta.
The 6-foot-10 Isner had 22 aces against the 6-foot-11 Opelka, the 18-year-old Michigan player who recently replaced the former University of Georgia star as the tour’s tallest player.
The top-seeded Isner has won 15 straight matches in the hardcourt event and reached the final for the sixth time in seven years. He has 10 tour titles, the last late year in Atlanta.
Marion Marauder wins Hambletonian: Marion Marauder held off Southwind Frank at the wire Saturday to capture the $1 million Hambletonian and make Paula Wellwood the second female trainer to win trotting’s biggest race at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Scott Zeron became the second youngest driver to win the race for 3-year-olds, getting the son of Muscle Hill to the wire a nose ahead of last year’s 2-year-old champion and the pre-race favorite.
Marion Marauder, who edged Southwind Frank in the second elimination for the final, trotted the mile in 1:51.4 in winning for the sixth time in seven starts this year. The winner, who is owned by the Wellwood family, paid $7, $3.40 and $3.
Southwind Frank returned $3.80 and $3, and Sutton finished third and paid $6.60.