Off the wire
GOLF Johnson shares lead
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson used a fast start and a late eagle to grab a share of the lead Saturday in the RBC Canadian Open. Johnson shot a 7-under 65 at Glen Abbey to match Kevin Tway, Byeong Hun An and Whee Kim at 17-under 199. Johnson birdied the first three holes and five of the first six, then rebounded from two back-nine bogeys with a birdie-birdie-eagle run. He’s seeking his third victory of the season and 19th on the tour. Tway, the second-round leader, had a 68. An shot 66, and Kim 67. Mackenzie Hughes was the top Canadian. He was tied for 13th at 11 under after a 67. David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) was 2 under after a 75.
DeChambeau, McEvoy on top
Bryson DeChambeau shared a one-shot lead with Richard McEvoy heading to the final round of the European Open at Hamburg, Germany, on Saturday. Both golfers are seeking their first European Tour title. DeChambeau started the third round ahead by a shot. But McEvoy carded a 3-under 69 for the Englishman to lead the tournament at 12 under. DeChambeau had to birdie the last hole to tie him with a 70 at Green Eagle Golf Courses. Right behind them were Masters champion Patrick Reed (69) and Austria’s Matthias Schwab (70). McEvoy’s momentum was stalled by a three-hour delay for lightning in the area.
Jutanugarn, Yang lead
Ariya Jutanugarn and Amy Yang led the Ladies Scottish Open by one stroke after an increasingly tough scoring day in the third round on Saturday. None of the top five broke par 71, as the wind picked up in the afternoon and grew to a howling 35 mph at Gullane. Ariya and Yang carded 2-over rounds of 73 to be 8 under for the tournament. Their closest challenger was Minjee Lee of Australia (71) at 7 under. Two more South Koreans, Haeji Kang (71) and So Yeon Ryu (72), were a shot further adrift. American golfer Tiffany Joh, the overnight leader after a course-record 62 on Friday, dropped seven shots over six holes before the turn, and finished her round at 9-over 80. But she was only four shots back. Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks) was tied for 17th at 2 under after a 69.
Jimenez up by 2
Miguel Angel Jimenez shot par 72 in blustery conditions to remain 9-under overall and two shots clear heading to the final round of the Senior British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland, on Saturday. Tied for second were Tom Pernice (71) and Kirk Triplett (73) of the United States, defending champion Bernhard Langer (73) and Stephen Ames (74) of Canada. A dozen others, including 68-year-old Tom
Watson, were within four strokes of the leader. Only 13 men broke par in the third round with winds gusting up to 25 mph. John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) tied for 31st at 1 under after a 72. Glen Day (Little Rock) did not make the cut.
Bruce Lietzke dies
Bruce Lietzke, the fun-loving, draw-hitting PGA Tour winner, died Saturday of brain cancer. He was 67. His family said he died at his Athens, Texas, ranch. Lietzke played in the United States’ 1981 Ryder Cup victory in England, and finished second to John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) in the 1991 PGA Championship. He won seven times on the senior tour, the last victory coming in the 2003 U.S. Senior Open at Inverness. Lietzke is survived by wife Rose, son Stephen and daughter Christine.
TENNIS Isner advances
Top-seeded John Isner advanced to the Atlanta Open final for the eighth time, beating fourth-seeded Matthew Ebden of Australia 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1 on Saturday. Seeking his fifth victory at Atlantic Station in the last six years, Isner will face the winner of the night semifinal between eighth-seeded Ryan Harrison and Britain’s Cameron Norrie. Isner beat Harrison in the final last year. Isner improved to 4-1 against Ebden, rebounding for a loss in the Australian Open. Isner is 8-1 in the Atlanta semifinals, with the lone loss coming to Andy Roddick in 2012. Isner’s only other losses in the event came in the finals, to Mardi Fish in 2010 and 2011 and Nick Kyrgios in 2016. Isner won titles in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017.
MOTOR SPORTS Bell wins in overtime
Christopher Bell moved back out front in overtime to win the NASCAR Xfinity series race Saturday at Iowa Speedway, becoming the first series regular with three straight victories since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1999. Coming off victories in Kentucky and New Hampshire, Bell led 94 of 257 laps. He broke a tie with Cup driver Kyle
Larson for the series season victory lead with four. Bell fell back to fourth in the first attempt at overtime before a red flag halted the race. He retook control in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 car, going low to beat Justin Allgaier —the winner of the June race at Iowa. Allgaier finished second, followed by Kyle
Benjamin and Ross Chastain.
Busch takes Trucks
Kyle Busch held off Erik Jones down the stretch to win the NASCAR Trucks race Saturday at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania and tie the record for most career wins in series. Busch won for the 51st time in Trucks and matched NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Ron
Hornaday Jr. on the list. Busch battled side-by-side with Jones during the last 10 laps. But Busch shook off Jones and pulled away over the final laps and won for the second time in the series this season.
SWIMMING Baker sets record
Kathleen Baker set a world record in the 100-meter backstroke Saturday night in the U.S. national championships at Irvine, Calif. The 21-year-old Olympian won in 58.00 seconds, lowering the mark of 58.10 set by Kylie Masse of Canada at last year’s world championships in Hungary. Olivia Smoliga was second in 58.75 and 16-year-old Regan Smith took third in 58.83. Katie Ledecky dominated the 400 freestyle, leading all the way to win by 3.12 seconds for her third victory of the meet. It was the 10th-fastest swim ever in the event, with Ledecky owning the other nine best times. Ledecky also won the 200 and 800 freestyles. Michael Andrew, who turned pro five years ago at 14, won the 100 breaststroke. He rallied from fourth to first in 59.38 seconds, beating a field that included three Olympians. The men’s 100 back was a duel of current and former Olympic champions. Ryan Murphy, who swept the backstroke events in Rio, edged 2012 Olympic winner Matt Grevers, who at 33 is 10 years older. Murphy touched in 52.51 and Grevers in 52.55. Olympic champion Lilly King won the women’s 100 breast in 1:05.36. Zane Grothe won the men’s 400 free.
BASKETBALL Moore MVP of All-Star Game
Minnesota Lynx star Maya Moore won her third consecutive All-Star MVP award to lead Team Parker past Team Delle Donne 119112 in the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday in Minneapolis. Moore scored 18 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 6 assists to win the MVP award on her home court. She joined Lisa Leslie as the only three-time MVP of the game and became the all-time scoring leader in All-Star history, passing Tamika Catchings’ mark of 108 points. Allie Quigley of the Chicago Sky also scored 18 points and
Skylar Diggins-Smith added 17 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists for Team Parker. Team Delle Donne’s
Kristi Tolliver of the Washington Mystics led all scorers with 23 points, including 7-for-11 shooting on three-pointers. Rookie A’ja Wilson of the Los Vegas Aces added 18 points. Liz Cambage capped off the game with a dunk, becoming the sixth different player to do it in the game. Eschewing the traditional East-vs.-West format for the first time, the league let captains Elena Delle Donne of the Mystics and
Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks choose up sides from a pool of the top players in All-Star voting. That allowed for the rosters to be heavily dominated (16 of the 22 players) by the Western Conference, home of six of the top seven teams in the league standings.