Zhang holds lead at Malaysian event
Stanford product Rose Zhang birdied the 18th hole Saturday for a 7-under 65 and a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the LPGA Tour's Maybank Championship.
The American had an 18-under total of 198 on the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club course in Malaysia.
“I just feel like being able to have this opportunity to come into the final round with a little bit of a lead is really great,” Zhang said. “I think that going forward it's just making sure I'm having fun, having that game plan.”
Atthaya Thitikul was tied for second place after a 62 with fellow Thai player Jasmine Suwannapura (67), who led after the first two rounds. Kim Seiyoung of South Korea was in fourth after a 65, three strokes behind Zhang.
It is the third of four LPGA events on the tour's Asian swing. Minjee Lee of Australia won last week's stop in South Korea in a playoff and the final tournament is next week's Toto Classic in Japan.
Zhang played two seasons at Stanford before she turned professional earlier this year. This summer, Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in her pro debut. Three weeks later, she was within one shot of the lead until a bogey on the 16th hole at Baltusrol in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. She tied for eighth.
Boxing
FURY ESCAPES >> Reigning WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury's appearance against an MMA fighter making his boxing debut figured to be another show to go along with his other ventures. But Francis Ngannou proved, however, he wouldn't be the pushover so many anticipated.
Ngannou not only shockingly took Fury the 10-round distance, he came within one judge's scoreboard of pulling off the upset in Riyadh, South Arabia. Juan Carlos Pelayo of Mexico scored the fight 96-93 for Fury and Alan Krebs of the U.S. gave him a 95-94 victory. Ed Garner of Canada gave the fight to Ngannou at 95-94.
NHL
DUCKS BLAST FLYERS >> Frank Vatrano recorded his fifth career hat trick and Adam Henrique, Ryan Strome, Trevor Zegras and Brett Leason added a goal apiece as Anaheim beat host Philadelphia Flyers 7-4. Lukas Dostal had 27 saves for the Ducks (4-40), who are 3-0 on their four-game trip east, with overtime wins in Columbus and Boston before the dominating effort in Philadelphia.
LUCIC TO LTIR >> The Bruins placed veteran forward Milan Lucic on the longterm injured list before their game against the Red Wings. Lucic, 35, missed the last two games with what was called a lower-body injury after getting hit with a shot off an ankle in a game against Los Angeles on Oct. 21.
A 2011 Stanley Cup winner with the Bruins, Lucic returned during the offseason, signing a $1 million deal with $500,000 more possible in performancebased incentives.
Motorsports
TRUEX IN TOUGH >> For the third time in this year's playoffs, NASCAR regular season champion Martin Truex Jr. is facing elimination and wondering how his title chances have exploded spectacularly. He heads into today's race at Martinsville Speedway tied with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin at 17 points below the cutoff line. There are six drivers vying for two spots in next week's championshipdeciding finale and Truex needs a rapid turnaround to have any shot at racing for a second title.
Truex got a boost Saturday with a pole-winning run in qualifying, as his lap at 94.153 mph was good enough for his third pole of the season.
Truex has just one top10 finish through the first seven races of the playoffs — it forced him to stave off elimination at the end of the rounds of 16 and 12 — and although he started from the pole last week in Miami.