Digest: 62-year-old Jay Haas takes Newport Beach lead
Golf: Jay Haas shot an 8-under 63 on Saturday to take a five-stroke lead at the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, California, putting him in position to become the second-oldest winner in PGA Tour Champions history.
At 62 years, 10 months, 7 days Sunday, Haas would fall short of only Mike Fetchick, the 1985 Hilton Head Seniors Invitational winner at 63 years to the day. Gary Player is No. 2 on the list at 62 years, 9 months, 22 days in the 1998 Northville Long Island Classic.
The 2007 winner at Newport Beach Country Club, Haas has played 36 holes without a bogey. He shot a 64 on Friday for a share of the first-round lead with Billy Mayfair.
Haas won the last of his 17 senior titles in 2014. He won times on the PGA Tour and captained the United States’ winning Presidents Cup team last year in South Korea.
Haas had a 15-under 127 total. He birdied three of the final four holes, starting the run on the par-5 15th and adding two more on the par-3 17th and par-5 18th.
Jang takes 6-shot lead in LPGA Taiwan: Ha Na Jang shot a 10-under 62 in calmer conditions at rainy Miramar in Taipei, Taiwan to take a six-stroke lead in the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship.
Chasing her third victory of the year, the 24-year-old South Korean player hit a 30-yard flop shot to a foot in steady rain on the par-5 18th to reach 16-under 200.
After shooting a 69 in high wind and early rain Friday for a share of the lead with fellow South Korean player Hee Young Park, Jang matched the best score in the three years the event has been played at Miramar.
Germany flying in World Cup qualifying
soccer: While Germany eased to its second win in World Cup qualifying, England showed it has much to do to placate fans frustrated that their expectations are not being met.
Germany comfortably defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 in Berlin and might have won by more, earning plaudits from supporters who indulged in Mexican waves and created a carnival atmosphere in Hamburg.
England could manage only a 2-0 win over lowly Malta, a side ranked 176th by FIFA, for an uninspired start following coach Sam Allardyce’s dismissal over comments in a newspaper sting that called his integrity into question.
Elsewhere, Robert Lewandowski scored for the seventh straight qualifying game, this time hitting a hat trick for Poland to beat Denmark 3-2 in Warsaw.
Goffin faces Kyrgios in Japan Open final
Tennis: David Goffin booked his place in the final of the Japan Open with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over fourth-seeded Marin Cilic on Saturday.
The fifth-seeded Goffin plays Nick Kyrgios in Sunday’s final, after the Australian defeated second-seeded Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4.
Torrential rain forced both matches to be played under the Center Court roof.
Goffin trailed 5-3 in the first set before winning the next four games in the third victory this year against his Croatian opponent.
Murray, Dimitrov ease through to China Open final: Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov eased into the final of the China Open in Beijing– one of them without playing.
Top-seeded Murray beat fifth-seeded David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 to reach his ninth final of the season, while Dimitrov advanced with a walkover against third-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada.
Murray lost his serve to go 2-1 down before winning five straight games to take the opening set. He has yet to drop a set this week.
Rosberg takes pole for Japanese GP
Miscellany: Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg put himself in the best possible position to widen his lead over Formula One title rival and teammate Lewis Hamilton by securing pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Japan.
Rosberg clocked a time of 1 minute, 30.647 seconds on his final flying lap at the Suzuka circuit to beat Hamilton by just a hundredth of a second.
Hurricane Matthew postpones Saturday night Sprint Cup race: Hurricane Matthew has washed out Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and led NASCAR to schedule a doubleheader Sunday.
Rain and wind from Matthew have doused the area the last two days, so NASCAR called off Saturday night’s Cup race. The Xfinity Series race scheduled for Friday had already been moved to Sunday.
LA Rams cut CB Coty Sensabaugh: The Los Angeles Rams cut cornerback Coty Sensabaugh, just four games into his three-year contract.
The Rams (3-1) also promoted defensive lineman Morgan Fox from the practice squad.
Mathis to miss rest of season: Arizona Cardinals guard Evan Mathis will miss the rest of the season because of an ankle injury.
The Cardinals placed Mathis on injured reserve, two days after he was hurt in a 33-21 victory at San Francisco. He was playing through foot and toe injuries.
Johnson out indefinitely with injured back: Los Angeles Clippers rookie forward Brice Johnson suffered a herniated disk in his lower back in the team’s preseason game against the Toronto Raptors and is out indefinitely.
The team said that Johnson got hurt in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s win. Hoppertunity wins Jockey Club Gold Cup: Hoppertunity, trained by Bob Baffert, made a successful trip from California to New York’s Belmont Parkto win the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup and secure a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Frodeno wins Ironman triathlon: Jan Frodeno won his second Ironman triathlon world championship in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, outpacing another former world champion on the run to finish in 8 hours, 6 minutes, 30 sec.
The 35-year-old German had the third-fastest swim and the eighth-fastest bike split, before running away from 2014 world champion and fellow German triathlete Sebastian Kienle early in the marathon