|
MOBILE, Ala. -- Anna Nordqvist moved into position for her third victory of the year, shooting her second straight 6-under 66 to take the third-round lead Saturday in the Airbus LPGA Classic. The 26-year-old Swede, the winner in Thailand and Carlsbad, had a 16-under 200 total on The Crossings course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trails Magnolia Grove complex. "All I can do is put myself in a position to have a chance tomorrow and I felt like Ive done that," Nordqvist said. "Last year, I was in the final group and I was playing well and there was a lot of people coming from behind, so I know this golf course, you can never relax. You always have to keep pushing forward and trying to make birdies because if you dont, someone else will." Nordqvist played the front nine in 5-under 31, birdieing Nos. 2-5 and 9, and added a birdie on the par-5 16th. She has only one bogey -- on her fourth hole Friday -- in 54 holes. "I felt very confident and very comfortable," Nordqvist said. "Got off to a really good start and just tried to keep the momentum. Had a pretty good finish the last three holes, so Im very happy with the day." She set the course record last year, shooting a third-round 61 en route to a fourth-place tie. "I definitely know I can score on this course," Nordqvist said. Catriona Matthew, the 44-year-old Scot who led after each of the first two days, was a stroke back after a 70. She bogeyed three of the first five holes to drop to 10 under, then birdied five of the last 15 -- including three of the last four. "I obviously got off to a terrible start with the three bogeys when everyone else is making birdies," Matthew said. "Just knew there was a lot of chances there on the back nine if I could just hang in and try to start hitting greens again and give myself chances. Made four birdies on the back nine, so not the greatest round, but didnt play myself out of it." She won the last of her four LPGA Tour titles in 2011. "I think you come into every tournament wanting to win it, so that was my goal, to come here and win," Matthew said. "Ive been playing well all year, just not holing any putts. So if I can get my putter going, things can go well." Second-ranked Stacy Lewis, the 2012 champion who needs to finish solo third or higher to take the top spot in the world from Inbee Park, was third after a 66. Park missed the cut Friday. "It was a pretty solid day," Lewis said. "Definitely could have been a lot better, so I like that going into tomorrow that I didnt play the best round today. I left quite a few out there, but still made a lot of birdies and got the ball in the hole." She won the North Texas LPGA Shootout three weeks ago for her ninth tour title. Michelle Wie, Jessica Korda and 18-year-old Charley Hull were tied for fourth at 13 under. Wie shot 66, Korda 69, and Hull 71. Wie had a bogey-free round. "I felt like theres a lot of low scores out there, so I was just trying to keep up with everyone else, making birdies," Wie said. "Hopefully, I can have another low one tomorrow." . Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley told local media in comments published Wednesday that John Tomic would not be allowed into Melbourne Park in any official capacity or as a spectator. . Neither made it that far in 2013. Not even close. Federer lost his second match at the All England Club. Nadal exited in the first round, a year after bowing out in the second. . 1-9 on TSN. With more than 65 hours of exclusive live coverage, TSN delivers all the action beginning with Draw 1 on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p. .5 million contract with the right-handed reliever. Ziegler revealed the agreement via Twitter, saying hes "really excited to stay in Arizona for a couple more years, at least. . Louis Cardinals, the team will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the SkyDome. Jays legends Jimmy Key and Ernie Whitt, members of playoff and World Series-winning teams of the past, will be on hand for the festivities to look back at what was the beginning of the Jays halcyon years.SUNRISE, Fla. -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. The left wing scored his first two regular-season goals in 18 months and Tim Thomas made 38 saves to lift the Florida Panthers over the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 on Monday night. It was the first time Bergenheim scored in the regular season since March 20, 2012, also against Philadelphia. His last goal came on April 24, 2012, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the New Jersey Devils. Bergenheim missed last season due to injury and was playing his 10th game this season. He had multiple surgeries before finally returning to the lineup on Oct. 25. "Its been such a long road and theres been so many downs -- a few ups, but mostly downs," Bergenheim said. "Its been tough, really." Bergenheim nearly put a third goal into an empty net but couldnt get control of the puck in the closing seconds. "Too bad I couldnt finish that last one," he said. "It was a good, good win. ... All in all it feels good that were headed in the right direction." Erik Gudbranson also scored for Florida, his first of the season. Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers, and Steve Mason stopped 28 shots. The Panthers have won three of their past five games and evened the season series against the Flyers at a game apiece. Philadelphia lost for the first time in four games and the second time in the past eight. The Flyers failed to get a point for the first time in eight games. "Coming on the road, we wanted to play a simple game," Simmonds said. "We complicated things and didnt play the way weve been playing in previous games." The Panthers stretched their lead to 3-1 on Gudbransons fluky goal with just over 4 minutes left. Gudbranson took a shot from the point that bounced over Masons shoulder at 15:56. "It was just about getting it through, getting it oon net and hoping for the best," Gudbranson said.dddddddddddd "Its nice to get the monkey off my back. I got a lucky bounce for it going up like that, but still it counts." The Flyers closed to 2-1 on Simmonds power-play goal at 7:06 of the third. Thomas stopped a shot by Scott Hartnell, but Simmonds got control of the rebound near the crease and wristed it past Thomas. The Flyers were sluggish the first two periods and might have been guilty of overlooking the Panthers. "I hope not," coach Craig Berube said. "Who are we to overlook anybody? We talked about it before the game, about being ready. Im not sure we were." Florida took a 1-0 lead in the second on Bergenheims first goal. The puck was bouncing around the Flyers net and Bergenheim had several attempts from behind. He stayed with it and finally slid in the puck with a wraparound on the short side at 3:35. The Panthers had killed off a power play moments earlier that included a 5-on-3 for 1:23. "(That) was huge. We had our chances," Flyers forward Claude Giroux said. "Five-on-three has to be automatic." Florida went ahead 2-0 on Bergenheims second goal during a power play. Marcel Goc took a shot from the top of the left circle and Bergenheim tipped it past Mason on the glove side at 13:59 of the second. It was the first power-play goal for the Panthers in their last 10 attempts over three games. NOTES: The Panthers placed RW Tomas Kopecky on injured reserve, retroactive to last Friday, with an upper-body injury. He is expected to miss two games. ... Panthers D Matt Gilroy also is on injured reserve and is expected to miss at least three games with a lower-body injury. ... Florida named its press box in memory of its first coach, the late Roger Neilson. ... The Flyers began a stretch in which they will play nine of 11 games on the road. ' ' '
|
