Couch leads after barely making cut

Chris Couch has been on a wild ride since he got to the Big Easy, and going from worst-to-first in a windswept third round Saturday at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans was only part of it.

One day after closing with two tough pars to make the cut on the number, Couch piled up birdies in gusty conditions and zoomed up the leaderboard with an 8-under-par 64, signing his card 30 minutes before 36-hole leader Joe Durant teed off. The wind only got stronger, birdies became harder to find, and the day ended with Couch in the lead by himself.

He was at 12-under 204 and had a one-shot lead over Durant (73) and Charles Howell III (66).

Dean Wilson (66) and Cameron Beckman (67) were at 10-under 206.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson figured he would need a 64 to get into the mix, and all it took was a 68 marred only by a bogey from the bunker on the 17th. He was only three shots behind, along with six others.

•Bruce Fleisher aced the 177-yard third hole to counter two opening bogeys and finished with a 3-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the windswept FedEx Kinko’s Classic Champions Tour event in Lakeway, Texas.

The 57-year-old Fleisher had a 7-under 137 on The Hills course. He used a 5-iron for the hole-in-one on No. 3 and added birdies on Nos. 9, 12 and 17.

Craig Stadler and senior newcomer David Edwards were tied for second after 70s.

•They are among the shortest LPGA players, with Mi Hyun Kim at 5-foot-1 and Ai Miyazato a mere 1 inch taller.

A diminutive duo, they’re atop the Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open leaderboard heading into today’s final round in Reunion, Fla.

Kim shot a 3-under round of 69 to get to 11-under for the tournament, three shots ahead of Miyazato – who was tied for the lead on the par-4 18th before making double bogey while Kim made birdie.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., and Rathdrum’s Tracy Hanson were both at 5-over 221. Ward finished the third round with a 73, while Hanson carded a 75.

Horse racing

Racing canceled

Saturday’s racing at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash., was canceled due to a power outage that also temporary blacked out 200 area homes.

Puget Sound Energy said the outage was caused by a squirrel.

Racing was expected to resume today.

•Record took control at the top of the stretch then held off Spotsgone by a neck to win the $100,000 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

The 3-year-old covered the mile on a fast track in 1:36:32, under jockey Rafael Bejarano.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who has three horses entered in Saturday’s Derby – Point Determined, Bob and John and Sinister Minister – said he doesn’t plan to enter Record.

Tennis

Nadal reaches final

Defending champion Rafael Nadal won his 46th straight match on clay, defeating fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (2), 6-3 to reach the final at the Open Seat Godo in Barcelona, Spain.

Tommy Robredo, the 2004 champion, beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4 to set up an all-Spanish final.

The No. 2-ranked Nadal matched 11-time Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg with 46 straight victories on clay. Guillermo Villas holds the Open era record with 53.

Soccer

Title for Chelsea

Chelsea clinched its second straight Premier League title with a 3-0 victory over Manchester United in London, in a game that could damage England’s World Cup hopes – United striker Wayne Rooney broke a bone in his foot and will be out six weeks.

Rooney’s injury is bad news for England, which begins World Cup play in Germany with a June 9 opener against Paraguay.