GOLF
Straka moves up
Sepp Straka moved into position Saturday to earn a PGA Tour card in the Web.com Tour Championship at Atlantic Beach, Fla., shooting a 7-under 64 to take the third-round lead. With the top 25 earners in the four-event Web.com Tour Finals getting PGA Tour cards today, Straka birdied the final three holes to reach 18-under 195 -- a stroke ahead of Curtis Luck, Lucas Glover and Denny McCarthy at Atlantic Beach Country Club. The series features the top 75 players from the Web.com regular-season money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings, and non-members with enough money to have placed in the top 200. The top-25 finishers on the Web.com regular-season money list are competing against each other for tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for the 25 cards based on series earnings.
Herbert in lead
Tom Lewis came within two shots of tying English countryman Oliver Fisher's European Tour record on another day of low scoring at the Portugal Masters at Vilamoura, Portugal, on Saturday. Lewis returned a 10-under 61 in the third round, just 24 hours after Fisher carded the first 59 on the circuit. Lewis moved to two strokes behind leader Lucas Herbert of Australia. Herbert, who is playing off invitations this season as he looks to earn his full tour playing privileges, shot a 64 for a 19-under total of 194. Fisher took 10 more strokes than he did on Friday and was in a group at 14-under 199. Sergio Garcia of Spain, trying to find form ahead of next week's Ryder Cup, was at 204 after a 68.
TENNIS
Klizan, Thiem advance
Martin Klizan's perfect record in ATP finals will be tested by top-seeded Dominic Thiem in the St. Petersburg Open decider. Klizan is 6-0 in finals, including a victory in St. Petersburg six years ago, and the Slovak is coming off a victory at the Austrian Open last month. Klizan ended Stan Wawrinka's latest bid on Saturday for a first title since his return from a knee injury. Klizan bounced back from losing the first set of their semifinal to beat Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Thiem defeated Roberto Bautista Agut, the big-hitting Austrian firing 15 aces on his way to reaching his fifth final of the season. Thiem is 10-7 in career finals and 2-2 this season, most recently losing the Roland Garros final to Rafael Nadal.
Osaka into final
Naomi Osaka eased into the final of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Saturday with a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 semifinal victory over Camila Giorgi. The U.S. Open champion, who upset Serena Williams in the final in New York this month, overpowered her unseeded opponent with a dominant serve and will face fourth-seeded Karolina Pliskova in today's final. Two years ago, Osaka lost in the final to Caroline Wozniacki, this year's top-seeded player who was eliminated by Giorgi on Thursday. Pliskova had to dig deep to beat Donna Vekic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in Saturday's other semifinal. After saving two match points against American qualifier Alison Riske in the last round, and coming back from a set down against Daria Gavrilova earlier in the tournament, Pliskova had to go the distance once again, needing 2 hours and five minutes.
Tomljanovic advances
Ajla Tomljanovic has ended Hsieh Su-wei's eight-match winning streak with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over the Taiwanese player on Saturday at the Korea Open in Seoul. Hsieh won last week's Japan Women's Open at Hiroshima and the first three rounds in Seoul. In today's final, Tomljanovic will play second-seeded Kiki Bertens, who beat No. 3 Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-2 in an earlier semifinal Saturday.
BOXING
Joshua keeps titles
Anthony Joshua retained his WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight titles with a seventh-round stoppage of Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium in London. Joshua, who fought with a suspected broken nose from the second round, sent the Russian to the canvas with a big right midway through the seventh and was unloading a flurry of punches before the referee stepped in to end the fight. Joshua's record moved to 22-0, with 21 victories coming inside the distance. This was another big test passed by the Briton in front of an estimated 80,000 fans at Wembley -- just like 17 months ago when he recovered from getting knocked down against Wladimir Klitschko to win an epic fight. Joshua, whose pulling power can pack stadiums, is booked to return to Wembley on April 13 for his next bout, and the plan is for the opponent to be either WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder or former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. They confirmed earlier Saturday they will be fighting on Dec. 1, likely in Las Vegas.
FOOTBALL
Titans missing two
The Tennessee Titans will be without linebacker Kamalei Correa and safety Kendrick Lewis against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Titans downgraded both Correa and Lewis to out on Saturday. Correa was added to the injury report Wednesday with a back issue. He did not practice Friday and had been listed as questionable. Correa, picked up in a trade from Baltimore in late August, is tied for the team lead with two sacks. Lewis has missed the first two games with a foot injury that had him questionable Friday.
DeCastro out for Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without All-Pro guard David DeCastro for a second consecutive week when they visit Tampa Bay on Monday night. DeCastro is still recovering from a fractured right hand suffered during Pittsburgh's Week 1 tie against Cleveland. B.J. Finney will start in Decastro's place. DeCastro isn't the only offensive linemen hurting. Right tackle Marcus Gilbert is doubtful with a hamstring issue. Matt Feiler will start if Gilbert does not play. Safety Morgan Burnett is also doubtful with a groin injury. The Steelers expect veteran cornerback Joe Haden to return after missing last week's loss to Kansas City with a hamstring problem. Guard Ramon Foster, who is monitoring a right knee issue, is also expected to play. Defensive tackle Tyson Alualu, who sat last week while dealing with a shoulder injury, is also expected to be available.
MOTOR SPORTS
Newman gets new ride
Ryan Newman will drive full-time for Roush-Fenway Racing in the No. 6 Ford next season in NASCAR's Cup series. The team announced the move Saturday at Richmond Raceway, hours before the second race of the playoffs. Newman did not make the playoffs. He has driven the No. 31 for Richard Childress Racing since 2014, but announced earlier this year he would leave the team at the end of the season. Trevor Bayne drove the No. 6 from 2015-2017, and split time this season with Matt Kenseth, the 2003 Cup series champion. Kenseth retired from full-time racing after last season, but came back to help the struggling team.
BASKETBALL
Towns signs extension
Amid the drama surrounding the future of Jimmy Butler, who is asking to be traded, Timberwolves fans can at least breathe a sigh of relief -- Karl-Anthony Towns is going to be a member of the Timberwolves for a while. Towns agreed to a designated rookie extension with the team for five years and approximately $190 million, a source confirmed to the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Saturday night. Towns is entering the final year of his rookie deal but will be in Minnesota for the long haul after agreeing to the deal. There was some uncertainty over whether Towns would sign the deal before the Oct. 15 deadline or become a restricted free agent. Towns' relationship with Butler is strained, but even though the Wolves haven't traded Butler, Towns still signed his extension. Towns tweeted "5 More" to his Twitter page shortly after the deal was reported first by ESPN along with a highlight video of some of his best plays in a Wolves uniform.
Sports on 09/23/2018