RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Stacy Lewis persevered through desert heat that topped 100 degrees to shoot a 3-under 69 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship on Friday, opening a three-stroke lead over Yani Tseng (68), Brittany Lincicome (68) and Jane Park (70).
Lewis finished at 9-under par after several big putts during the second round, reaching the halfway point of the LPGA Tour’s first major in position to chase her first victory.
Michelle Wie shot a 67, matching the day’s best round and is at 3-under.
• PGA Tour rookie Chris Kirk shot a 3-under 69 to take a one- stroke lead over defending champion Anthony Kim (64) and 2008 winner Johnson Wagner (67) after two rounds of the Houston Open in Humble, Texas.
Kirk was at 9-under par. Padraig Harrington (69), first-round leader Jimmy Walker (74) and Josh Teater (72) were two shots back at 7-under.
• Jeff Sluman tied a course record with a 6-under 66 to take a one-shot lead over Tom Lehman after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Saucier.
• Defending champion Rhys Davies of Wales (70) shared the lead with the Netherlands’ Joost Luiten (69) after the second round of the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II in Agadir, Morocco.
BYU’s Fredette is player of year
HOUSTON — BYU guard Jimmer Fredette was named The Associated Press’ college basketball player of the year after leading the nation in scoring (28.5 points per game).
Fredette received 48 votes from the 65-member panel. The voting was done before the NCAA Tournament. Kemba Walker of Connecticut was second with 11 votes. Nolan Smith of Duke had five and Jared Sullinger of Ohio State one.
Notre Dame’s Mike Brey was selected coach of the year.
• Lon Kruger, who turned around a sagging program at UNLV, said he has accepted a seven-year contract to become Oklahoma’s new head coach.
• E.J. Singler hit a bank shot from just inside the lane with two seconds left to give Oregon a 71-69 win over visiting Creighton in the third and deciding game of the College Basketball Invitational.
Nadal, Djokovic reach Sony final
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Rafael Nadal advanced to the final at the Sony Ericsson Open by beating rival Roger Federer 6-3, 6-2.
Nadal’s opponent Sunday will be No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who stretched his winning streak to 25 consecutive matches by beating Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-1.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova seeks her first Key Biscayne title today against 2009 champion Victoria Azarenka.
Red Bulls obtain De Rosario
TORONTO — Toronto FC traded captain Dwayne De Rosario to the New York Red Bulls for midfielder Tony Tchani, defender Danleigh Borman and a first-round draft pick in 2012.
• Andres Mendoza converted a penalty kick in the 55th minute and Eddie Gaven scored in stoppage time to lead the Columbus Crew to a 2-0 win over FC Dallas.
