SILVIS, Ill. — Steve Stricker assumed a familiar spot atop the John Deere Classic leaderboard, shooting an 8-under-par 63 on Saturday to go up by two strokes after three rounds.
Stricker drained a 75-foot birdie putt on the first hole and went on to post his best round of the year while closing in on his third straight victory in the tournament.
Stricker is at 20-under 193 following a par save on 18. Brendon de Jonge is alone in second at 195 after matching Stricker’s 63. Second- round leader Chez Reavie, who started the day two strokes up on Stricker, shot 68 and was 17-under, one ahead of Kyle Stanley (65).
• Jay Haas shot a 7-under 65 and took a two-stroke lead over three other players after two rounds of the First Tee Open in Pebble Beach, Calif.
• The Scottish Open was reduced to a three-round event after torrential rain overnight and throughout Saturday flooded the Castle Stuart links course outside Inverness, wiping out the entire third round.
Beckham has big hand in win
CARSON, Calif. — David Beckham assisted on Landon Donovan‘s goal and then scored on a corner kick as the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated the Chicago Fire 2-1 in MLS.
• Dwayne De Rosario scored in the 61st minute to give visiting D.C. United a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls.
• Omar Bravo scored on a header in the third minute of second- half stoppage time, lifting Sporting Kansas City to a 1-1 draw with host Chivas USA.
• Andy Williams scored on a free kick early in the 47th minute and Fabian Espindola added a goal in the final minute of stoppage time of Real Salt Lake’s 2-0 victory over visiting FC Dallas.
• Danny Cruz and Geoff Cameron scored to lead the host Houston Dynamo to a 2-0 win over Toronto FC.
• Philadelphia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon recorded his sixth shutout of the season, while San Jose’s Jon Busch had his fifth as the visiting Union and Earthquakes played to a 0-0 draw.
Bryan brothers give U.S. hope
AUSTIN, Texas — Brothers Bob and Mike Bryan earned the United States its first point of a Davis Cup quarterfinal against Spain, keeping the Americans alive with a doubles victory over Marcel Granollers and Fernando Verdasco.
Spain leads the Americans 2-1 heading into today’s singles matches pitting David Ferrer against Mardy Fish and Feliciano Lopez against Andy Roddick.
Footnotes.
First Dude held off Game On Dude by a nose to win the $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup in Inglewood, Calif., giving Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a 1-2 finish.
• Nolan Richardson resigned as coach and general manager of the WNBA-worst Tulsa Shock and will be replaced on an interim basis by Teresa Edwards.
• Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward was arrested early Saturday outside Atlanta on a drunken driving charge.
• Yao Ming‘s agent said he was “not in a position to confirm” multiple reports that Yao had informed the NBA that he planned to retire.
