SHANGHAI — Francesco Molinari holed out for eagle from the 13th fairway, matched the lowest score of the third round and still had to make a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole to keep a one-shot lead over Lee Westwood at the HSBC Champions on Saturday.
Westwood looked like he might finally catch up when he chipped from just off the green on the par-5 18th to tap-in range for birdie and a 5-under 67. Molinari, who had to lay up on the hole, sank his putt from the back of the green for a 67.
Molinari was at 14-under 202.
Luke Donald of England was about the only player keeping it from being a two-man race. He had a 68 and was four shots behind.
• South Korea’s Jiyai Shin shot a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead over American Stacy Lewis after the second round of the Mizuno Classic in Shima, Japan.
Shin had six birdies in a bogey- free round for a 36-hole total of 13-under 131 . Shin, who is second on the LPGA money list, put herself in position to win her second tournament of the year.
• Michael Allen shot a course- record 10-under 61 to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion John Cook in the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in San Francisco.
The 51-year-old Allen had 10 birdies, the last on the par-4 18th, in his bogey-free round. He also matched the best round of the year on the Champions Tour.
The 2009 Senior PGA Championship winner had a 14-under 199 total. Cook, the winner last year at Sonoma Golf Club, shot a 67. David Frost (65) was two back.
Italy takes 2-0 Fed Cup lead
SAN DIEGO — Francesca Schiavone got defending champion Italy off to a fast start in the Fed Cup final with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over 18-year-old CoCo Vandeweghe of the United States.
Schiavone, the French Open winner, needed 1 hour, 23 minutes to put away Vandeweghe, who is the niece of former Nuggets star Kiki Vandeweghe.
Flavia Pennetta then beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6 (4), 6-2 as Italy took a 2-0 lead.
• Roger Federer made short work of Andy Roddick, winning 6-2, 6-4 in the Swiss Indoors semifinals in Basel.
Federer will face defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final today. Djokovic beat his Serbian Davis Cup teammate Viktor Troicki 7-6 (4), 6-4.
• David Ferrer reached his fifth final of the year with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Robin Soderling at the Valencia Open in Spain, while Marcel Granollers ensured an all-Spanish matchup by beating Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-4.
Footnotes.
The NBA fined Charlotte Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson $50,000 for verbally abusing the referees after a loss in Detroit a night earlier, another strong indication the league is serious about curtailing complaining.
• Kelly Slater, a 38-year-old from Florida, won a record 10th world surfing title at the Rip Curl Pro Search in Isabela, Puerto Rico.
• The Washington Nationals waived left-handers Scott Olsen and Jesse English.
