AUTO RACING
Brandon Brown became the second NASCAR driver to earn his first national series victory Saturday with a win in the Xfinity Series race shortened by darkness at Talladega Superspeedway.
Brown was the leader when a crash with 12 laps to go brought out the seventh caution of the race and slowed activity as daylight faded over the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Brown was among a handful of drivers claiming over the radio it was too dark to see and the race needed to be called, a decision NASCAR made with six laps remaining.
NASCAR TRUCKS: Tate Fogleman smashed his way to his first career NASCAR national series victory with an overtime win in the Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, the opening of NASCAR’s weekend playoff tripleheader.
Fogleman spun John Hunter Nemechek from the lead headed to the finish line on the second lap of a two-lap overtime shootout for his first victory in 46 career Truck Series starts. His Chevrolet wrecked its way across the finish line and Fogleman went to the care center for the mandatory health check instead of the victory lane.
GOLF
PGA: Sahith Theegala began the back nine the day at Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi with three straight birdies, had an eagle chip spin 360 degrees around the cup and finished with a 5-under 67 to take a one-shot lead into the final round. Cameron Tringale had a pair of eagles from long range with his putter and his wedge and matched his career best on the PGA Tour with a 62.
He was one shot behind, along with Sam Burns and Denny McCarthy, who each shot 65.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Danny Willett began his third round in sunshine and ended it in torrential rain and high winds, playing some fine golf in between on the Old Course at St. Andrews in a 6-under 66 that left the Englishman with a three-stroke lead at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland.
Willett, who is 14 under par overall, will return to the home of golf on Sunday — the day he turns 34 — seeking an eighth win of his professional career and first in two years, since the BMW PGA Championship in September 2019.
Tyrrell Hatton, the second-round leader and two-time champion of the event, shot 71 and was one of four players tied for second place, along with Shane Lowry (67), Richard Bland (64) and John Murphy (67). All of them also played their third rounds at St. Andrews.
LPGA: Inbee Park birdied three of her last five holes to match Jin Young Ko with a 6-under 65 and the leave two top South Koreans in the world tied for the lead in the ShopRite LPGA in Galloway, New Jersey.
Ko, the No. 2 player in the world, played in the morning on the windy Bay Course at Seaview and ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front nine. She had to settle for only one bogey on the back nine and was the first to post at 11-under 131.
Park is the No. 3 player in the world and putted well all day, her hallmark. She holed a 30-foot birdie on No. 6 and had a 6-foot par save on the next hole.
They were two shots ahead of ANA Inspiration winner Patty Tavatanakit, who birdied the final hole to cap off a bogey-free 65.
SOCCER
WORLD CUP QUALIFIER: Zlatan Ibrahimovic withdrew from Sweden’s squad for its upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Kosovo and Greece, with the national team saying he hasn’t fully recovered from a knee injury.
PREMIER LEAGUE: There was a trademark Cristiano Ronaldo celebration at Old Trafford on Saturday, even if it didn’t come from the Portugal superstar himself.
Everton winger Andros Townsend did a cheeky yet passable imitation of the spin-in-the-air celebration in front of his team’s jubilant fans after scoring the 65th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
• Late goals by Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell sent Chelsea to the top of the Premier League after a 3-1 win over 10-man Southampton at Stamford Bridge.
James Ward-Prowse scored an equalizer for Southampton from the penalty spot only to be sent off in the 77th minute for a late, lunging tackle on Jorginho. That opened the door for Werner and Chilwell to return the Blues to winning ways after back-to-back losses against Manchester City in the league and Juventus in the Champions League.
• Arsenal’s resurgent winning run in the Premier League ended with a 0-0 draw at Brighton.
After opening with three straight losses, Arsenal was seeking a fourth victory on the bounce and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang headed against the outside of a post with one of the Gunners’ best chances.
• Hwang Hee-chan’s two goals earned Wolverhampton a 2-1 victory over winless Newcastle in the Premier League to pile the pressure on Manager Steve Bruce.
• Burnley and Norwich saw their winless starts to the Premier League continue as they fought out a 0-0 draw which at least provided a first point of the season for the Canaries.
• Leeds held on for its first victory of the Premier League season after defender Diego Llorente scored early in the 1-0 win over Watford.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.