Jackson shines, Storm earn 15th win
WNBA: Lauren Jackson had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Seattle Storm to a 75-62 road victory over the Los Angeles Sparks.
Swin Cash added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Sue Bird had 11 points and seven assists for the Storm (15-2), who won their sixth consecutive game.
Kristi Toliver scored 18 points for the Sparks (4-12), who have lost five of six. DeLisha Milton-Jones added 14 points and Tina Thompson had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Seattle opened the game with a 13-0 run over the first 3 minutes, 36 seconds, and hit 11 of 16 shots in the quarter.
Jackson scored 13 points in the opening quarter.
The Sparks, who trailed by as many as 16 points, narrowed the deficit to 60-57 with 7:37 to play, but the Storm responded with a 10-0 spurt to build a 70-57 lead with 5:30 left.
Rose strengthens AT&T National lead
Golf: Justin Rose gets to find out just how much he learned from losing a big lead on the PGA Tour.
Rose made some big par saves in the middle of his round and finished strong for a 3-under-par 67 to build a four-shot lead in the AT&T National in Newtown Square, Pa., and give himself a chance to win for the second time in three tournaments.
Rose was at 10-under 200, the only player to reach double digits under par all week on an Aronimink course that is among the toughest PGA Tour tracks of the year. He was four shots ahead of Carl Pettersson, who had a 65, and Charlie Wi, who had a 70.
A week ago at the Travelers Championship, Rose led wire-to-wire and had a three-shot lead going into the final round before he came undone on the back nine and finished in a tie for ninth.
Tiger Woods only gets into contention in the majors these days. In his final tournament before the British Open, he again finds himself out of the mix going into the final round. Woods recovered from an atrocious start with an even-par 70, putting him 13 shots behind.
This will be his seventh tournament without a victory on the PGA Tour, his longest drought since he went 16 straight tournaments in 2004 when he was going through a swing change.
• Kim slices into Choi’s lead at Farr: It doesn’t sound as if Christina Kim intends to play it safe in the final round of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.
Kim erased all but one shot of a five-stroke deficit to leader Na Yeon Choi late in the third round.
Choi had a hole-in-one at the 131-yard eighth hole and shot a 3-under 68 to get to 14-under 199. She was five shots ahead with five holes left and appeared to be close to pulling away for her third LPGA victory.
She had two more birdies before things began to unravel somewhat.
Choi bogeyed 14 and 15, and Kim – perhaps more famous these days for her book about tour life, “Swinging From My Heels,” than for her play — came roaring back. Playing in the next-to-last foursome, Kim had a birdie at the 15th to cut the gap to two shots and then rolled in an 8-footer for birdie on the closing hole.
• Cook leads Montreal Championship: John Cook shot his second straight 6-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Russ Cochran in the inaugural Montreal Championship in Blainville, Quebec.
The 52-year-old Cook, a four-time winner on the Champions Tour after winning 11 times on the PGA Tour, eagled the par-5 seventh hole and had four birdies in his bogey-free round at Fontainebleu Golf Club. Cochran followed his opening 65 with a 68.
Fred Couples (66) was three strokes back at 9-under along with Corey Pavin (67), Craig Stadler (65), D.A. Weibring (63), David Frost (68), Larry Mize (68), Peter Senior (68) and James Mason (69).
Weibring’s 63 broke the course record.
Tom Wargo, the 67-year-old player who shot a 65 on Friday to match Cochran atop the leaderboard, was 8-under after a 71.
Lee makes free agent visit to Timberwolves
NBA: Unlike Rudy Gay, free-agent forward David Lee kept his word and visited the Minnesota Timberwolves. His agent says it was worth the trip.
Mark Bartelstein said his client “had a great visit” and was “really impressed” by the pitch put on by team president David Kahn, coach Kurt Rambis and the rest of the Timberwolves.
Lee spent about nine hours in the Twin Cities, catching some of the Rays-Twins game with Kahn and Rambis before grabbing an evening flight home and Bartelstein said the two would talk things over. He declined to say if the Timberwolves made an offer.
Lee averaged 20.3 points and 11.7 rebounds for the New York Knicks last seasons and has been one of the most productive players in the league over the last three seasons.
• Cavaliers meet with LeBron: The Cleveland Cavaliers used their home-court advantage to convince LeBron James to give them a few more years to win an NBA title.
Hoping the comforts of home will sway James to stay, a contingent including new coach Byron Scott made their presentation. Following their meeting, which lasted a little more than one hour, general manager Chris Grant was pleased with the visit.
The Chicago Bulls also met with James on Saturday.
Potomac’s hopes at Henley hit bottom
Rowing: The Potomac Boat Club is out of the Thames Cup for club eights at the Henley Royal Regatta in Henley, England.
Potomac of Washington, D.C., lost by 1 1/4 lengths to New Zealand’s West End club in the semifinals on the River Thames.
The University of Washington defeated Harvard by 1 1/2 lengths in the semifinal of the Temple Cup for student eights. After the race, Harvard coxwain David Fuller protested, claiming interference because of Washington’s poor steering.
The appeal was turned down, and Washington will face Dutch university Nereus in the final.