LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Steve Marino shot a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday to tie Scott Verplank for the lead heading into the final round of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney World.
Verplank, who shot a 69 after 64s in his first two rounds, and Marino are tied at 19-under 197. Davis Love III (64) and Scott Sterling (66) are tied for third at 17-under.
Troy Matteson, tied for the second-round lead, shot a 69 to fall into a tie for fifth with Tommy Gainey (66) and Robert Garrigus (68), three shots back.
Should Love win today, it would be his 20th career victory, giving him a lifetime exemption.
• Bryce Molder closed in on a PGA Tour card, shooting a 7-under 64 for a share of the third-round lead with Matt Bettencourt at the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship in McKinney, Texas.
• Geoff Ogilvy’s 7-under 65 in the second round — the best of the day — put him a stroke behind co-leaders Sergio Garcia (68) and Henrik Stenson (69) at the rain-delayed HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, China.
• Women’s British Open champ-ion Shin Ji-yai shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead at the Mizuno Classic in Shima, Japan.
U.S. skaters finish 1-2
BEIJING — Jeremy Abbott led an American double in the men’s competition at the Cup of China, and South Korea’s Kim Yu-na held onto her lead to win the women’s event.
Abbott followed up his win in Friday’s short program by leading fellow American Stephen Carriere with a free-skate victory that gave him a total score of 233.44. Carriere, the 2007 junior world champion, had 217.25 points.
In ice dance, Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the U.S. were edged by Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia.
Williams, Zvonareva in Sony final
DOHA, Qatar — Venus Williams advanced to the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over top-ranked Jelena Jankovic.
Williams will face Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Olympic champion Elena Dementieva 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3 in the other semifinal at the WTA Tour’s season-ending event.
Crew, Salt Lake gain MLS semis
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Brad Evans and Robbie Rogers scored to give the Columbus Crew a 2-0 win over the Kansas City Wizards and a place in the MLS Cup semifinals.
• Dema Kovalenko and Javier Morales scored as Real Salt Lake advanced to the semifinals with a 2-2 tie with Chivas USA.
• Heather O’Reilly scored in the 72nd minute and the U.S. women’s team beat South Korea 1-0 in an exhibition match in Tampa, Fla.
Footnotes.
Joji Kato (34.70 seconds) of Japan set a track record in winning a 500-meter race at the season-opening speedskating World Cup meet in Berlin.
• The Brewers hired former Mets manager Willie Randolph as bench coach.
• Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Raven’s Pass has been retired.
The Associated Press
