Pieters, Detry give Belgium 5-shot lead
MELBOURNE, Australia — Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry had a stretch of 5-underpar in four holes for a 9-under 63 Saturday to give Belgium a fivestroke lead after three rounds of the World Cup of Golf.
shot a 2-under 68 in the third round to extend his lead from four to six strokes at the Hong Kong Open.
tennis: Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-hugues herbert kept French hopes alive in the Davis Cup final with a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) win over Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic in doubles.
Figure skating: American Nathan Chen won the last round of figure skating’s Grand Prix series and secured a spot in next month’s final with a pulsating free skate at the Internationaux de France. On the women’s side, 16-year-old rika Kihira of Japan was a convincing winner. In pairs, Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres of France won the free skate for the overall victory. In ice dance, the French pair of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron won the free dance. Americans Kaitlin hawayek and Jean-luc Baker were fourth to also qualify for the final.
Autos: Formula One world champion Lewis hamilton clinched pole position for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
winter sports: Federica Brignone of Italy won a giant slalom in Killington, Vt., for her ninth career World Cup victory. American Mikaela Shiffrin was fourth . ... Max Franz of Austria was the first racer on the course and his blistering time (1:46.18) held up in the season-opening World Cup downhill . ... Natalie Geisenberger led a German sweep in the World Cup luge opening race.
NFL: Hall of Fame tight end and former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, 79, is recovering from a mild heart attack. Doctors inserted a pacemaker.
Soccer: The Copa Libertadores final in Buenos Aires was postponed to Sunday after Boca Juniors players were injured when their bus was attacked by River Plate fans. Rocks and pieces of wood were thrown, shattering bus windows. Players were also affected by tear gas and pepper spray used by police to quell the violence.