GOLF
Snedeker still leads
Brandt Snedeker is bracing for a long last day at the Wyndham Championship at Greensboro, N.C. Snedeker held a three-stroke lead Saturday when the third round was suspended because of severe weather. He was 16 under for the tournament with 11 holes left in the round at the final event of the PGA Tour's regular season. Brian Gay was 13 under through 12 holes, and Trey Mullinax, Keith Mitchell, C.T. Pan and D.A. Points were another stroke back at varying stages of their rounds. Thirty players were still on the course when play was halted during the mid-afternoon with thunder booming and a threat of lightning. After a 3-hour, 23-minute delay, organizers chose to hold things up overnight and resume the round at 8 a.m. Sunday. They said they expect the final round to begin in the late morning, grouping the players in threesomes starting from both the first and 10th tees.
Bradley in front
Michael Bradley shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the PGA Tour Champions' Dick's Sporting Goods Open at Endicott, N.Y. Bradley, 52, had five birdies and a bogey in the rain-delayed round to reach 11-under 133 at En-Joie Golf Club. Bart Bryant (67) and Marco Dawson (70) were tied for second. Wes Short Jr. (65), former Arkansas Razorback Clark Dennis (70) and Tom Gillis (69) were 9 under, and Kenny Perry (69) was 7 under with first-round leader Doug Garwood (73), Mark Calcavecchia (69), Woody Austin (71), Jerry Haas (68) and Scott Parel (68). Bernard Langer was 5 under after a 69. Defending champion Scott McCarron had a 71 to get to 1 under. John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) was 6 over after rounds of 73 and 77. Glen Day (Little Rock) shot a 70 and was tied for 17th at 5 under.
Salas by 2
Lizette Salas shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday to take a two-shot lead over Sung Hyun Park and Amy Yang after the third round of the Indy Women in Tech Championship in Indianapolis. Salas took the lead with a birdie on the par-4, 16th -- after Park hit her approach into the water en route to a double bogey. Salas was at 21-under 195 at Brickyard Crossing. She matched the course record Thursday with a 62 and shot 69 in the second round. Park, the two-time major winner from South Korea, was flirting with a 54-hole scoring record before the miscue. Park had a 66. Yang shot 65. Defending champ Lexi Thompson was five shots back after playing 27 holes in 10 under Saturday, posting rounds of 68 and 64. Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks) and Emily Tubert (Razorbacks) did not make the cut.
Im leads Portland
Sungjae Im shot a 3-under 68 and was in first place Saturday at 14-under 199 at the Web.com Tour's Portland Open at North Plains, Ore. Roland Thatcher (65) and Derek Ernst were tied for second at 11 under, although Ernst had not finished his round. Jimmy Stanger (68) and Kevin Dougherty (69) were tied for fourth at 10 under. Curtis Luck (66) and John Chin (69) were tied for sixth at 9 under. Taylor Moore (Arkansas Razorbacks), who was tied for second place with Im on Friday, was 3 over through 17 holes Saturday and had dropped into a tie for eighth.
TENNIS
Djokovic, Federer final
Novak Djokovic is once again so close to the one title that eludes him. And the same nemesis is standing in his way, all over again. It's a moment in time: Djokovic vs. Federer for a title. Djokovic closed in on a Western & Southern Open title with his 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic on Saturday at Mason, Ohio. Then he watched Roger Federer advance to the finals as well when David Goffin retired in the second set with a shoulder injury. The two tennis greats haven't faced each other in two years because of injuries. They're back for the 18th shared title match of their careers. Djokovic leads in head-to-head title matches 11-6. Djokovic leads the overall series 23-22. Federer is favored in this one. The second-ranked Federer has won it an unprecedented seven times, going 7-for-7 in finals. Three of those victories came over Djokovic, who is 0-5 in the finals. The only player with better finals results at one tournament is Rafael Nadal, who is 11-0 in both French Open and Barcelona finals. In the women's bracket, No. 1 Simona Halep reached the final for a second consecutive year, beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-4. Like Djokovic, she's never won the title, losing both of her chances, including the title match last year to Garbine Muguruza. She'll face Kiki Bertens, who advanced to her first Western & Southern final by wearing down No. 8 Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
GYMNASTICS
Mikulak wins 5th national championship
BOSTON — Sam Mikulak soared to his fifth US gymnastics title Saturday, rebounding from a sluggish performance in the opening round to leave little doubt that he’s fully recovered from an Achilles injury 18 months ago.
The two-time Olympian finished with the top scores on floor exercise, high bar and parallel bars while posting a two-day total of 172.900 to become the sixth man to win five national championships and the first since Blaine Wilson won five consecutive championships from 1996-2000.
Defending national champion Yul Moldauer, who is battling lower-back issues, surged to second following a rocky start during the first round on Thursday. Allan Bower finished third, followed by Donothan Bailey, Alec Yoder and Akash Modi.
Mikulak led after the first day despite an admittedly sloppy performance that included coming off early in his high bar routine and a slip off the pommel horse, both miscues coming on skills he’s completed thousands of times. The mistakes didn’t prevent Mikulak from starting Saturday atop the leaderboard, though he admitted he wasn’t quite so sure that was a good thing.
The men’s program is in the midst of a generational shift. Mikulak is the only member of the 2016 Olympic team that finished a disappointing fifth in Rio de Janeiro still competing. Yet the next wave is still finding its footing.
The Americans won just a single medal at world championships last year and Modi acknowledged the uneven display the group as a whole put on during the first day of competition is nowhere close to what will be required if the U.S. wants to nudge itself back toward the world’s elite.
If healthy, Moldauer and Mikulak are virtual locks to make the five-man world championship team when it is announced next month. After that, however, men’s program high-performance director Brett McClure will have his work cut out.
Sports on 08/19/2018