In brief: Woods takes commanding 3rd-round lead

Golf: Tiger Woods is one round away from ending his worst year with a familiar finish.

Woods regained control with three straight birdies early in his round, then finished with a shot that covered the flag for a tap-in birdie Saturday that gave him a 4-under 68 in the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

It was the first time all year that Woods has posted four straight rounds in the 60s, dating to his final-round 65 in Australia. What mattered was keeping his four-shot lead over U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, who also had a 68.

No one else was within eight shots of the lead.

“I’m excited about tomorrow because of the way I’m playing,” said Woods, who has never lost a tournament that he has led by at least three shots going into the final round.

Woods, who has gone more than a year without winning – or even close to winning – was at 17-under 199. He won the last two times he played Sherwood Country Club, where he is the tournament host, missing in 2008 after knee surgery and last year when his personal life was caving in around him.

• Kerr making run at LPGA: Cristie Kerr is making a move to become the first American in 16 years to win LPGA player of the year, trailing leader Amy Yang by three strokes entering the final round of the LPGA Tour Championship.

Kerr shot a 1-under 71 for the third straight round to put her in a tight pack at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., where anybody under par is in contention. She is the only one to shoot under par in all three rounds.

Kerr could become the first American since Beth Daniel in 1994 to claim the LPGA’s most prestigious annual award. She needs nothing short of victory to unseat points leader Yani Tseng.

Yang (73) has led all three rounds. Maria Hjorth (71) is one shot back of Yang and also will look to derail Kerr’s bid.

• Westwood has big lead: Top-ranked Lee Westwood shot a 1-under 71 to lead by five strokes after the third round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa.

Bosh leads Heat to 4th straight win

NBA: Chris Bosh scored 27 points, Dwyane Wade added 26 and the Miami Heat scored 11 straight points in the final minutes to beat the Atlanta Hawks 89-77 in Miami for their fourth straight victory.

LeBron James added 22 points for Miami.

• Rose sparks Bulls to OT win: Derrick Rose scored 30 points and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in regulation to send the game into overtime, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Houston Rockets 119-116 in Chicago.

• Bucks upset Magic: Andrew Bogut scored a season-high 31 points and had 18 rebounds in his return from a back injury and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic 96-85 in Milwaukee.

• Mavericks win again: Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd each made a pair of free throws in the final minute as the visiting Dallas Mavericks edged the Sacramento Kings 105-103 for their ninth straight win.

Lightning storm past Avalanche

NHL: Martin St. Louis and Simon Gagne each had a goal and two assists, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 6-5 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Tampa, Fla.

• Versteeg, Kessel deliver for Leafs: Kris Versteeg scored the tying goal with just over 40 seconds left in regulation and Phil Kessel netted the winner in a shootout as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Toronto.

• Panthers win shootout: Michael Frolik scored in regulation and the fifth round of a shootout, and backup goalie Scott Clemmensen stopped 40 shots to lift the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, Ariz.

• Stars nip Wild in OT: Stephane Robidas scored a power-play goal at 3:37 of overtime to lift Dallas to a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Dallas and stretch the Stars’ winning streak to six games.

• Sabres blank Senators: Thomas Vanek scored the winning goal in the shootout and Ryan Miller stopped 32 shots for his second straight shutout as the Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators, 1-0 in Ottawa.

Duke’s Krzyzewski ties Rupp for wins

College basketball: Nolan Smith scored 24 points to lead No. 1 Duke to an 82-70 victory over Butler in East Rutherford, N.J., moving Mike Krzyzewski into a tie with Adolph Rupp for third place on the coaching career wins list.

The game was a rematch of the schools that played an epic national championship game in April, a 61-59 Duke victory that gave Krzyzewski his fourth NCAA title. He has 876 wins overall, 803 at Duke.

• Aztecs remain unbeaten: Billy White scored 11 points during a 21-3 run in the second half and No. 17 San Diego State rolled to an 83-69 win over Wichita State (5-2) in San Diego to remain undefeated.

The Aztecs are 8-0 for the third time in their 90-year history.

• Cal wins on road: Harper Kamp scored 14 points with 10 rebounds and California (5-2) beat Iowa State 76-73 in Ames, Iowa, handing the Cyclones (6-2) their second straight loss.

• Buffaloes stampede Beavers: Levi Knutson scored a career-high 22 points, Alec Burks had 15 points and Colorado (4-3) used a strong first half to post an 83-57 victory over Oregon State (3-4) in Boulder, Colo.

• Adams sparks Aggies women: Danielle Adams had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Tyra White added 17 points as No. 7 Texas A&M (6-0) overcame a poor second-half start for a 74-58 win over California (5-2) in College Station, Texas.

Vonn places 2nd in World Cup downhill

Miscellany: Maria Riesch of Germany won her second World Cup downhill in as many days, followed by American Lindsey Vonn.

Riesch posted a winning time of 1 minute, 29.60 seconds. Vonn was second for the second straight day at Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada.

Vonn, the defending World Cup champion, recovered from a near crash at the top of the course to finish in 1:29.70. Dominique Gisin of Switzerland was third.

• Streitberger wins super-G: Georg Streitberger of Austria captured a World Cup super-G race when Bode Miller and three other top Americans skied off the course in Beaver Creek, Colo.

Streitberger finished the demanding Birds of Prey run in 1 minute, 17.18 seconds, edging Adrien Theaux of France by 0.11 seconds. Didier Cuche of Switzerland was third.

Miller had trouble finding the right line near a technical turn midway through the run and veered straight off the course.

It was a common theme as Americans Andrew Weibrecht, Marco Sullivan and Ted Ligety also failed to make it through the difficult section of the hill.

• France rallies in World Cup: France rallied from two sets down to defeat Serbia in doubles and take a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup final in Belgrade, Serbia.

Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra overcame Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki and the hometown crowd in Belgrade Arena to win 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.