GOLF
Shibuno ahead by 2
Hinako Shibuno's dream debut continued Saturday as she fired a 5-under 67 to seize a two-shot lead going into the final round at the Women's British Open at Milton Keynes, England. Shibuno, 20, a rookie on the Japan LPGA Tour who is making her LPGA Tour and major championship debut, hit six birdies in the final nine holes of the third round for a 14-under 202. Overnight leader Ashleigh Buhai (72) started with a three-shot lead at Woburn Golf Club and stretched it to five as Shibuno had bogeys on Nos. 5 and 9. But with Sung Hyun Park also closing in, Buhai stumbled with three bogeys in five holes. The 30-year-old South African, who has never won on the LPGA Tour, dropped to second at 12 under. Second-ranked Park was a shot further back in third after a bogey-free 68.
An retains lead
Byeong Hun An shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday for a one-stroke lead after three rounds at the Wyndham Championship at Greensboro, N.C. An was at 17-under 193 entering the final round of the PGA Tour's final event before the playoffs. Former Wyndham winner Webb Simpson and Brice Garnett were tied for second, with Simpson shooting a 65 and Garnett a 66. Ryan Armour was 15 under following a 65. An has held or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds, and has yet to play a hole worse than par. The 27-year-old South Korean with three international victories has put himself in position to claim his first victory on tour. Andrew Landry (Arkansas Razorbacks) is tied for 10th at 12 under after a 65. Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Razorbacks) is tied for 25th at 10 under after a 66.
NeSmith on top
Matthew NeSmith's 69 was good enough to lift him to the top of the leaderboard Saturday at the Korn Ferry Tour's Ellie Mae Classic at Hayward, Calif. Combined with back-to-back 63s on Thursday and Friday, NeSmith takes a 15-under 195 and a 1-stroke lead into the final round today. Brandon Crick (62), Zac Blair (65) and Maverick McNealy (68) were tied for second. Tyson Alexander (65) and overnight leader Scott Gutschewski (68) were tied for fifth at 13 under. Ethan Tracy (Arkansas Razorbacks) was tied for seventh at 12 under after a 66. Matt Atkins (Henderson State) shot a 67 and was tied for 26th at 7 under. David Lingmerth (Razorbacks), Nicolas Echavarria (Razorbacks), Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) and Patrick Sullivan (Maumelle, UALR) did not make the cut.
TENNIS
Kyrgios advances
Nick Kyrgios hit 19 aces, saved a match point and edged Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7) on Saturday in a semifinal matchup at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. The 52nd-ranked Kyrgios will seek his sixth ATP title today when he faces No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev in the final. Medvedev advanced with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Peter Gojowczyk. Earlier, American teens Coco Gauff and Caty McNally won their first pro tournament as a doubles team by beating the fourth-seeded duo of Maria Sanchez and Fanny Stollar 6-2, 6-2. McNally's impressive showing in Washington included a run to the semifinals in singles -- but that's where it ended for her in that event Saturday with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 loss to Camila Giorgi of Italy. In today's final, Giorgi will face Jessica Pegula, whose parents own the NFL's Bills and NHL's Sabres.
Thiem takes title
Dominic Thiem won his 14th career ATP title and first in Austria when he beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 7-6 (0), 6-1 at the Generali Open on Saturday at Kitzbuehel, Austria. The fourth-ranked Austrian, who didn't drop a set all week in the last clay-court event of the season, called it "a big childhood dream of mine" to win the high-altitude tournament in the Austrian Alps. Thiem ended the successful run of Ramos-Vinolas, who won the second title of his career in Gstaad six days ago. The 69th-ranked Spaniard led 5-4 in the opening set when the match was suspended because of rain, but Thiem dominated after play resumed and conceded just two more games. He closed out the victory on his first match point when Ramos-Vinolas hit a return long.
SWIMMING
Lochte scratches final
Ryan Lochte scratched the B final of the 100-meter backstroke on Saturday at the U.S. national championships at Stanford, Calif. The 12-time Olympic medalist qualified 15th in the preliminaries with a time of 55.08 seconds. But he dropped out of the evening final on the same day he turned 35. Lochte is competing this week for the first time since the recent end of a 14-month suspension for receiving an infusion of vitamin B-12 above the allowable limit. He finished fourth in the C final of the 200 butterfly and failed to qualify for the 200 freestyle final. Shaine Casas won the 100 back in 52.72. Other men's winners were Elijah Winnington of Australia in the 400 free in 3 minutes, 47.39 seconds and Devon Nowicki in the 100 breaststroke in 56.69. Winnington earlier won the 200 free. Ally McHugh won the women's 400 free in 4:08.08, former Olympian Breeja Larson won the 100 breast in 1:06.78, and Amy Bilquist took the 100 back in 59.64. The meet ends today.
HORSE RACING
Long-shot Trade wins
Long-shot Forbidden Trade held off heavily favored Greenshoe in the closing strides in the $1 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands Racetrack on Saturday. Driven by Bob McClure and trained by Luc Blaise, the 3-year-old colt went the mile in 1:51 in winning trotting's most prestigious race. The result was totally unexpected with most expecting 27-year-old trainer Marcus Melander to dominate with his highly regarded trip of Greenshoe, Gimpanzee and Green Manalish S all advancing out of the heats earlier on the card to get into the 10-horse final. Forbidden Trade, a Kentucky bred who was the Canadian 2-year-old trotter of the year, paid $33.80, $7.60 and $3.80. Greenshoe, who won the second heat in 1:50.2, returned $2.60 and $2.10 as the 3-10 favorite. Gimpanzee, who was undefeated starting the day, finished third with David Miller in the bike and paid $4.
MOTOR SPORTS
Elliott takes pole
Chase Elliott has won the pole for the NASCAR Cup race today at Watkins Glen International. Elliott, the defending race winner, was the fastest Saturday in both rounds of qualifying and beat Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron with a fast lap of 127.297 mph around the 2.45-mile road course. Kyle Busch qualified third, followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson. Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10. Michael McDowell was 11th and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 12th. Clint Bowyer, in the hunt for the final playoff spot, was 13th followed by Erik Jones and Bowyer's Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Kevin Harvick. Points leader Joey Logano will start 21st.
Verstappen wins first pole
Max Verstappen produced a near-perfect lap at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest to take the first pole position of his Formula One career on Saturday. The Red Bull driver set a track record with 1 minute, 14.958 seconds and then beat it again with 1:14.572. It was another boost for Verstappen, 21, who has won two of the past three races to creep into outside contention for the title race. Valtteri Bottas qualified in second place ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, the five-time F1 champion who was chasing a record-extending 88th career pole and record-equaling seventh at the Hungaroring circuit. Charles Leclerc placed fourth ahead of Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel. The Ferraris were quickest in the first sector of qualifying but both tailed off. Earlier, Hamilton had the fastest time in the third and final practice ahead of Verstappen.
SOCCER
U.S. women prevail
Departing Coach Jill Ellis and the U.S. women's national soccer team opened their post-World Cup domestic victory tour with a 3-0 victory over Ireland on Saturday night in Pasadena, Calif. Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan and Carli Lloyd scored first-half goals on a celebratory evening at the Rose Bowl to kick off a five-city tour bringing the champions to their stateside fans. They'll also stop in Philadelphia, St. Paul and Charlotte before finishing in Chicago on Oct. 3 to conclude Ellis' 5 1/2 years in charge. Ellis announced her decision Tuesday to walk away as the first two-time women's World Cup champion coach, and this win improved her record to 103-7-18 in the U.S.'s top job since 2014. Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan missed the game while healing from minor injuries, and Mallory Pugh was scratched during warmups with a minor muscle issue. Rapinoe, the Golden Ball winner in France, and Morgan got wild cheers whenever they were shown on the scoreboard sitting on the U.S. bench.
Sports on 08/04/2019