HARRISON, N.Y. — Fred Couples shot a 3-under-par 68 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Senior Players Championship, the Champions Tour’s final major of the season.
Couples is at 11-under 202 for the tournament and trying for his first Champions Tour title since a seven-stroke victory last October at the Adminstaff Small Business Classic in Texas.
Peter Senior remained in second at 10-under after a third-round 68 and was tied with John Cook, who moved up from fourth with a 66. Corey Pavin was fourth at 8-under after shooting a 69.
Tom Lehman shot a 67, finishing in a four-way tie for fifth at 207 with Tommy Armour III (67), Mark Calcavecchia (67), defending champion Mark O’Meara (69) and Jeff Sluman (69).
• Webb Simpson shot a 6-under 64 to move to 15- under 195 and take a two-stroke lead after three rounds at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C. Tommy Gainey (69), who led or shared the lead each of the first two rounds, was 13-under. Carl Pettersson (63) and John Mallinger (65) were 12-under, one shot ahead of Daniel Summerhays (68).
• Na Yeon Choi took a three-stroke lead at the Safeway Classic in North Plains, Ore., shooting a 2-under 69 to reach 8-under.
Stacy Lewis was in second place after shooting a 68 while Mika Miyazato (67) was third.
Choi, a South Korean and four-time winner on the LPGA Tour, had three birdies and a bogey in the second round after reeling off seven consecutive birdies in her opening 65.
• Steven O’Hara of Scotland shot a flawless 7- under 65 to share the lead after the third round of the Czech Open in Celadna, Czech Republic.
Murray, Djokovic reach final
MASON, Ohio — Scotsman Andy Murray overcame two break points late in the second set, then another in the tiebreaker, beating American Mardy Fish 6-3, 7-6 (8) and advancing to the final at the Western & Southern Open.
Murray will play No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who advanced when Tomas Berdych withdrew from their semifinal because of a shoulder injury.
On the women’s side, Maria Sharapova rolled to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Vera Zvonareva that clinched a spot in the finals. Jelena Jankovic defeated Andrea Petkovic 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the other semifinal.
Fromm leads the way for Georgia team
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Jake Fromm, a 13-year-old slugger from Warner Robins, Ga., had a home run and four RBIs in a 6-3 win over Rapid City, S.D., at the Little League World Series.
In other games, Alex Garbrick held Cumberland, R.I., to three hits before reaching his pitch-count limit to lift Clinton County, Pa., to a 2-0 victory; Kaohsiung, Taiwan, eliminated Oranjestad, Aruba, with a 20-3 victory; and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, stayed alive with a 4-2 victory over Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Footnotes.
Jakob Fuglsang is the early leader of the Spanish Vuelta after his Leopard Trek cycling team won the opening-day team time trial in Benidorm.
• Veteran forward Ethan Moreau agreed to a one- year, $600,000 contract with the Los Angeles Kings.
• Royal Delta rallied strongly in the stretch and drew away to a 5 1/2-length victory in the $500,000 Alabama Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
