Off the wire Funk, Sluman set record
GOLF Chappell leads by 1
Kevin Chappell birdied three of his final five holes and took a step closer to his first PGA Tour victory with a 1-under-par 71 on Saturday, giving him a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Valero Texas
Open at San Antonio. Chappell is 8-under through 54 holes. He’s ahead of first-round leader Branden Grace, who rallied with 2-under 70, and
John Huh. After an eagle-birdie finish, Huh shot 71. Ryan Palmer, a West Texas native who cut through winds as strong as 25 mph, had the round of the day with 4-under 68. He’s joined at 6 under by second round co-leaders Bud Cauley (74) and Tony Finau (74), Sweden’s Carl Pettersson (71), 2013 Texas Open champ Martin Laird (71), Kevin Tway (72) and Australian Cameron Smith (73). Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) is 1 over, Bryce Molder (Conway) is 2 over and Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) is 3 over.
Lee, Potter in lead
D.H. Lee and Ted Potter Jr. shared the lead Saturday at the United Leasing and Finance Championship in Newburgh, Ind., when the third round was suspended because of darkness. Lee (71) and Potter (72) were both at 6-under 143. Roberto Diaz (70) was alone in third place, one stroke behind. Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Arkansas Razorbacks), Scott Gutschewski, Kyle Thompson, Michael Johnson and Alex Prugh were tied for fourth at 3 under. Cook shot a 69 on Saturday. Taylor Moore (Razorbacks) was 4 over and Andrew Landry (Razorbacks) was 5 over. Ethan Tracy (Razorbacks), Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks), Zack Fischer (Little Rock) and Matt Atkins (Henderson State) did not make the cut.
Fred Funk and Jeff Sluman teamed to shoot a course-record 10 under on Saturday to take the opening-round lead in the Champions’ Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo. Funk and Sluman, who won the tournament in 2014, birdied five of their first six holes on the par-3 Top of the Rock course while playing modified alternate shot and closed with five more birdies on the back nine in a four-ball format. Davis Love III and Scott Verplank birdied their final four holes to finish at 6 under and in a tie for second place along with Fred Couples and Jay Haas. Six teams finished five shots back of the leaders at 5 under. John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) and Michael Allen are tied for 26th at 2 under. Allen won the tournament last year with Woody Austin.
BASEBALL Cabrera on DL
The Detroit Tigers have placed first baseman Miguel Cabrera on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right groin. Cabrera was injured while diving for a ground ball in the sixth inning of the Tigers’ game against the Minnesota Twins on
Friday night. The 34-year-old slugger is hitting .268 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI this season. To fill his spot on the roster, the Tigers recalled catcher John Hicks from Class AAA Toledo. Hicks has hit .424 in 10 games with the Mud Hens.
Soto returns
The Chicago White Sox have recalled catcher Geovany Soto from the 10-day disabled list and moved outfielder Charlie Tilson to the 60-day disabled list. Soto, on the DL since April 13 with right elbow inflammation, is 4 for 15 with 5 RBI in 5 games this season. He was in the lineup for Saturday night’s game against Cleveland. Tilson, who started the season on the 10day disabled list, is out because of stress reaction in his right foot. He suffered a season-ending hamstring injury last August in his major league debut.
TENNIS U.S. leads Czechs
CoCo Vandeweghe beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-4 Saturday to give the United States a 1-0 lead over defending champion Czech Republic in Fed Cup semifinals at Wesley Chapel, Fla. The Czechs have won the top team event in women’s tennis the last three years and five of the last six. The winner of this series will play Belarus or Switzerland for the title. That semifinal is 1-1. Vandeweghe, ranked No. 24, raced to a one-set lead in 27 minutes. No. 49 Shelby Rogers of the U.S. faces No. 38
Katerina Siniakova in the second singles of the best-of-five series. They have played once before, with Siniakova winning a qualifying match for the 2015 Italian Open.
Nadal tops Goffin
Defending champion Rafael Nadal beat David Goffin 6-3, 6-1 to move within one victory of a 10th Monte Carlo Masters title on Saturday. Nadal will play 15th-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas in an all-Spanish final after the latter beat Lucas Pouille of France 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in the other semifinal. Nadal is through to his fourth final of the season. He lost the other three, two of them to Roger Federer, including the Australian Open. Ramos-Vinolas has lost his two previous matches against Nadal, has reached his first Masters final and won only one title. Nadal is bidding for his 70th.
MOTOR SPORTS Power claims pole
Will Power is the front-runner at Barber Motorsports Park once again. Power claimed the pole for the fourth time at the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on Saturday in a qualifying session dominated by Team Penske. Power’s fast lap of 1:06.9614 gave him 46 career starts up front. Teammates Helio Castroneves and defending champion Simon Pagenaud lined up right behind. Current Team Penske drivers have won five of the seven IndyCar races at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham and claimed the pole seven times in eight years. They are followed by Ganassi’s Scott Dixon, Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunterand James Hinchcliffe, Reay who’s coming off a victory at Long Beach for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Honda has won the first two races but the top six qualifiers were split evenly with Chevrolet-powered teams thanks to Penske.
SOCCER Championship game set
Orlando City Stadium in Orlando, Fla., will host the National Women’s Soccer League championship game on Oct. 14. The privately funded stadium, which opened last month, is home to the league’s Orlando Pride, as well as Major League Soccer’s Orlando City. The facility has a natural grass playing surface. It also has a group of rainbow-colored seats in section 12, a tribute to the victims of last year’s Pulse nightclub shooting. The league’s top four teams at the end of the season advance to the semifinals, scheduled for Oct. 7-8.