DUSTIN JOHNSON TAKES SIX-STROKE LEAD INTO FINAL
SHANGHAI» Dustin Johnson shot a 4-under-par 68 in blustery conditions Saturday, building a six-shot lead at the HSBC Champions and leaving him only one round from becoming the first player to win three World Golf Championship events in the same year.
Johnson’s only setback wasn’t his own doing. His drive hit a cart path and bounced into the bushes, leading to a double bogey on No. 10. The rest of his day was solid as ever at Sheshan International, and he left the rest of the field with little hope of catching him.
Johnson was at 17-under 199. Brooks Koepka contributed with one bad hole, twice hitting into the hazard on the par-5 eighth to make a triple bogey. He shot a 1-over 73 and was six back. Henrik Stenson (69) was seven behind.
• Ryan Armour shot a 5-under 67 during a windy, chilly third round to take a five-stroke lead at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Armour, who led by one after 36 holes, had eight birdies and three bogeys to move to 15-under 201. Chesson Hadley (68) was next at 10under. Vaughn Taylor (70), Scott Strohmeyer (68), Beau Hossler (69), Ben Silverman (69) and Seamus Power (71) were tied for third, another shot back at 207.
• Cristie Kerr fired a 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Feng Shanshan at the Sime Darby. The American veteran, who posted the tournament’s lowest score of 63 on Friday, had five birdies in the opening nine holes of the third round and made two more for an overall 15-under 198.
• Bernhard Langer shot his second consecutive 3-under 69 to pull into a tie with David Toms and Miguel Angel Jimenez for the second-round lead at the Powershares QQQ Championship.
Langer, the Schwab Cup points leader who has all but wrapped up his ninth PGA Tour Champions money title in 10 seasons, birdied Nos. 12, 13 and 17 to pull even with Jimenez (70), one behind Toms (72). Toms, who had a hole-in-one in the opening round, then bogeyed No. 18 to fall into the three-way tie at 6-under 138. Results » 11CC
Williams, Wozniacki reach final. SINGAPORE» Venus Williams rallied at the WTA Finals to beat Caroline Garcia of France 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 and become the oldest women’s finalist at the year-end tournament.
In the other semifinal match, Caroline Wozniacki defeated Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (9), 6-3 to set up a championship match against the 37-yearold American star.
Williams holds a 7-0 career record over Wozniacki and has lost only one of the 15 sets they have played.
• Roger Federer cruised past David Goffin 6-1, 6-2 in the Swiss Indoors semifinals to reach an 11th straight final when playing at his hometown event.
The top-seeded Swiss star will face Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday, after the fourth-seeded Argentine swept Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4.
• Jo-wilfried Tsonga defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 7-6 (4), 7-5 at the Erste Bank Open to set up a final against fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
In the first semifinal match, Pouille rallied to beat Kyle Edmund of Great Britain 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-4 to reach his fourth final of the season. He won titles in Budapest and Stuttgart.
Players coalition calls for meeting. On the heels of Bob Mcnair’s controversial “inmates running the prison” comment, a coalition of NFL players has extended an invitation to the Houston Texans owner, commissioner Roger Goodell and unsigned quarterback Colin Kaepernick to a Monday meeting in Philadelphia at which they hope to address players’ “immediate concerns before additional progress can be made.”
The coalition consists of 11 players, including Malcolm Jenkins and Anquan Boldin. — The Associated Press