SAN FRANCISCO — Jay Don Blake shot a 5-under-par 66 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Champions Tour’s season-ending Charles Schwab Championship.
Blake, who snapped a 20-year victory drought this season when he won the Songdo IBD Championship in South Korea, had five birdies in his bogey-free round at TPC Harding Park. He pulled ahead with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 and finished at 8-under.
Jay Haas shot a 67 to join Michael Allen (69) and David Frost (69) at 6-under. Loren Roberts was another stroke back after a 65, the best round of the day.
• Fredrik Jacobson sank birdie putts of 30 feet and 40 feet on consecutive holes on the back nine, then finished with four pars for a 5-under 67 that gave him a two-shot lead over Louis Oosthuizen (68) after three rounds of the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Jacobson was at 16-under 200, while U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy got on track with bogey-free round of 65 and was at 12-under 204, along with Lee Westwood, who had a 67.
• Japan’s Momoko Ueda had six birdies on the back nine in an 8-under 64 to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of the Mizuno Classic in Shima, Japan.
Djokovic ousted in Swiss Indoors semifinals
BASEL, Switzerland — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic of Serbia was stunned in the Swiss Indoors semifinals, losing 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0 to Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
The 32nd-ranked Nishikori, a wild-card entry in the tournament, will play Roger Federer in today’s final after the defending champion beat Stanislas Wawrinka — his gold medal-winning Swiss doubles partner at the Beijing Olympics — 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the other semifinal.
• Argentina’s Juan Monaco beat defending champion David Ferrer of Spain 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the Valencia Open final in Spain.
Monaco will face fellow unseeded player Marcel Granollers, a Spaniard who beat sixth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 7-6 (4).
• Russia and the Czech Republic split the opening singles in the Fed Cup final in Moscow after Grand Slam winners Svetlana Kuznetsova and Petra Kvitova won their matches in straight sets.
Abbott, Kostner win China Cup titles
SHANGHAI — Jeremy Abbott of the U.S. rallied from a fall on his opening jump to edge Nobunari Oda of Japan for the men’s title at the Cup of China figure skating event.
Carolina Kostner of Italy wobbled on a couple of landings, but held on to beat Mirai Nagasu of the U.S. Nagasu, who trailed Kostner by less than a point after the short program, landed five triple jumps, putting pressure on the Italian to land her six planned triples.
Footnotes.
Ricky Burns earned his second world boxing title, easily outpointing Michael Katsidis in London for the interim WBO lightweight belt.
• Panama’s Guillermo Jones (38-3-2) successfully defended his WBA cruiserweight title, stopping Mike Marrone (20-4) in the sixth round in Hollywood, Fla.
• China won two gold medals in weightlifting on the opening day of the world championships in Paris, while seven countries were barred from competing because they failed to follow drug-testing procedures.
