Off the wire

GOLF Recari, Creamer lead

Spain’s Beatriz Recari birdied the two closing par 5s to catch Paula Creamer atop the leaderboard through 54 holes Saturday in the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio. Recari, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour, matched Creamer’s 4-under-par 67. Both are at 12-under 201. Creamer, who won in 2008 when the tournament was known as the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic, led by as many as two shots before Recari’s late surge at Highland Meadows. Rising American teen Lexi Thompson had a 67 and, along with Jacqui Concolino and Japan’s Chie Arimura, was three shots back. Concolino, whose career-best tie for 11th came at the event last year, had a 69. Arimura three-putted the final hole for bogey and a 68. Top-ranked Inbee Park, chasing her seventh victory of the season, sagged to a 73. Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) had five birdies and three bogeys for a 2-under 69. Her three-round total of 211 places her in 33rd with seven others.

Chesson Hadley lead by one stroke on a rainy Saturday at the Midwest Classic in Overton Park, Kan. Hadley had eight birdies on his third round for an 8-under 63 and a three-round total of 198. Paul Claxton was close on his heels after shooting a 4-under 67. Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) had two birdies and four bogeys for a 2-over 73. His three-round total of 214 has him in 77th place, just above the cut line. Brenden Pappas (Arkansas Razorbacks) had two birdies and five bogeys for a 3-over 74 and failed to make the cut.

Nicholas Thompson fired a third-round 7-under 65 on Saturday and had the lead for a time at the storm-tossed Sanderson Farms Championship in Madison, Miss. Then Daniel Summerhays, who waited out a one-hour-plus rain delay, made his final 19-foot putt for birdie, finished at 69 and tied Thompson for the lead. Thompson and Summerhays are at 17 under, two shots ahead of Chad Campbell (65), Cameron Beckman(65), Kyle Reifers (65) and Woody Austin (67). Glen Day (Little Rock) had five birdies and a bogey along with a 7 on the par-4 ninth hole for a 1-under 71, giving him a three-round total of 210. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) had two birdies and a bogey for a 1-under 71 and a three-round total of 211.

Zachary Olsen won the 107th Southern Amateur on Saturday, birdieing the final hole of regulation and the first hole of a playoff in The Woodlands, Texas. Olsen, the 19-year-old Cordova, Tenn., player who will be a freshman at Oklahoma State, made a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th to get into the playoff with Joey Garber and Sam Love, then won with a 20-footer. Olsen closed with a 1-under 71 to match Garber and Love at 12-under 276 on the Nicklaus Course at The Club at Carlton Woods. Garber, a Georgia senior from Petoskey, Mich., shot a69, and Love, a senior at Alabama Birmingham from Trussville, Ala., had a 66. Olsen received a spot next year in the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Oklahoma State sophomore Jordan Niebrugge won the U.S. Amateur Public Links on Saturday at Laurel Hill in Lorton, Va., beating California junior Michael Kim 1 up in the 36-hole final. The winner traditionally receives a spot in the Masters, if still an amateur. The 19-year-old Niebrugge, from Mequon, Wis., was 1 up after the morning round and increased the margin to four in the first six holes in the afternoon. Kim, the 20-year-old Walker Cup player from Del Mar, Calif., rallied with birdie wins on the 27th, 30th and 31st. They halved the final five holes, with Kim virtually ending any chance of extra holes when he hit his second shot on the 36th into the water.

TENNIS Serena advances

Serena Williams defeated Klara Zakopalova 6-0, 6-4 on Saturday in the semifinals of the Swedish Open in Bastad. After losing the first eight games, the Czech managed to break Williams’ serve and tie the set at 2-2. Zakopalova used the momentum to keep the set close, but top-ranked Williams broke back to take the set and the match. In the other semifinal, Sweden’s Johanna Larsson rallied to overpower Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Williams will meet Larsson in today’s final of the clay court tournament.

Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic edged Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-5, 6-7 (1), 6-4 to set up a final against Yvonne Meusburger at the Gastein Ladies on Saturday in Bad Gastein, Austria. Meusburger reached her second consecutive WTA final by defeating Karin Knapp of Italy 6-4, 6-3. The Austrian was beaten by Romania’s Simona Halep for the title in Budapest last week. Hlavackova had not been beyond the quarterfinals of a WTA event before. Ranked 108th, she specializes in doubles, where she won the French Openin 2011 and finished runner-up at Wimbledon, the London Olympics and the U.S. Open last year. Hlavackova and Meusburger will meet for the first time. In her third career final, Meusburger is looking for her first title.

HORSE RACING ‘Delta’ tops rivals

Royal Delta went right to the front at the start of the Grade I $750,000 Delaware Handicap and led all the way Saturday in a 10¾-length victory over four over matched rivals. Under confident handling by jockey Mike Smith, Royal Delta moved clear soon after the start, then opened a long lead after five furlongs. She was almost seven lengths in front after a mile and opened up even more through the stretch and was a dominating winner under only the mildest of urging. Royal Delta returned $2.80 for her second consecutive victory in the race, covering 1¼ miles in 2:02.04. Long-shot She’s All In, under apprentice Victor Carrrasco, rallied from last to finish second. And Why Not was third, and Centring finished fourth. Royal Delta, trained by Bill Mott, earned $450,000 to raise her career earnings to $4,251,126.

Princess of Sylmar pulled away for a 6-length victory in the $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course in New York. On Saturday, Javier Castellano rode the Todd Pletcher-trained Princess of Sylmar, who had won the Kentucky Oaks victory in her previous start. She ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.07 and paid $6.30, $3.50 and $2.60. My Happy Face, the runner-up, paid $3.80 and $3.50, and Marathon Lady, third of five, paid $3.30 to show. Princess of Sylmar earned $180,000 for her owner, the King of Prussia Stable. Earlier on Saturday’s program, heavily favored Authenticity won the $200,000 Shuvee Handicap for fillies and mares by a length over Flashy American. Rosie Napravnik rode the winner, who ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:52.33 and paid $3.00, $2.30 and $2.10.