Golf
Cochran holds onto share of Champions Tour lead
Russ Cochran birdied three straight holes before a bogey on the 18th dropped him into a tie for the lead with Andy Bean at 8-under 134 after the second round at the AT&T Championship on Saturday in San Antonio. Cochran, a Paducah native and former University of Kentucky golfer who was a first-round co-leader, shot a 3-under 68 at Oak Hills Country Club. Bean birdied the 15th and 16th holes before he parred out for 67.
Bean and Cochran tied for second at the Greater Hickory Classic in North Carolina last month when Jay Haas won after a final-round 65.
"I thought I had a chance to win, but Jay looked like Usain Bolt running past me," Cochran said.
Cochran, who's trying to become the first left-hander to win on the Champions Tour since Bob Charles in 1996, let some adrenaline from the three-straight birdies and new shafts get to him on the tee at the 203-yard 18th.
"I just had the shafts put in on Thursday night, and if I hit them just right the ball will really take off," Cochran said. "But I thought I would really have to work hard to get a 7-iron there, and I went from working really hard to get it there to being 50 feet past the pin. I hammered it."
■ Troy Matteson had never shot a 61 until this week. Now he's done it twice in a row to set a PGA Tour record. His second straight 9-under round at the Frys.com Open on Saturday in Scottsdale, Ariz., gave him a three-shot lead at 16-under 194 heading into the final day of the third stop in the tour's Fall Series. Matteson's 122 score in consecutive rounds broke the tour record of 123 set this year by Steve Stricker in the third and fourth rounds of the Bob Hope Classic.
In an amazing stretch, Nicholas Thompson had a double eagle on the par-5 11th, followed by a hole-in-one on the par-3 13th, a drop of five shots in three holes. He finished with a 65 and is at 11 under.
"He needs to go straight back to Vegas and put some money down," said Matteson, who teamed with Thompson at Georgia Tech.
■ Matt Every made a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead Saturday over money leader Michael Sim after the third round of the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship in Charleston, S.C. Henry Clay graduate Josh Teater shot a 69 and is five shots back.
■ Michael Jonzon of Sweden shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead the Castello Masters after the third round in Spain on Saturday. Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia were tied for second.
Horse racing
Dominguez wins four stakes at Belmont
Ramon Dominguez rode four stakes winners Saturday at rainy Belmont Park, including a three-quarters of a length victory by Haynesfield in the $250,000 Empire Classic.
The card featured five stakes for New York-bred horses, but it was the jockey from Venezuela who stole the show.
The victory on Haynesfield gave Dominguez a sweep of the final four stakes races on the card. He rode Driven by Success in the Hudson, Rightly So in the Iroquois and Fenway Faithful in the Sleepy Hollow.
"It doesn't get any better. I'm very excited," Dominguez said. "It's special, especially being my first year riding year-round here."
The win aboard Haynesfield capped the memorable afternoon. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Haynesfield took charge early and held off a late run from Ruffino. Haynesfield, a 3-year-old, improved to 5-for-8 with the victory.
Kent Desormeaux won the only stakes race that eluded Dominguez as Mineralogist, the 3-5 favorite, beat Embrace Change by three-quarters of a length in the $100,000 Maid of the Mist for 2-year-old fillies. Dominguez was third aboard Stellaluce.
■ Vineyard Haven won the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash over a sloppy track at Laurel Park in Maryland. It was the colt's first win in more than a year. Ridden by Alan Garcia, the 3-year-old Vineyard Haven found running room on the inside and took the lead in deep stretch Saturday to win by a half length over Ravalo.
■ British-bred filly April Pride and jockey Garrett Gomez rallied past pacesetter Century Park to win the $100,000 Harold C. Ramser Sr. Handicap at Santa Anita Park on Saturday. Century Park and jockey Tyler Baze went straight to the front and led throughout the turf mile with April Pride a distant fifth on the backstretch, but April Pride moved up to second at the top of the stretch and overtook the leader in the final furlongs, winning by 1½ lengths in 1:34.02.
Sports on TV
Griese apologizes for Montoya remark
ESPN broadcaster Bob Griese apologized twice Saturday for a remark he made about NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya while announcing the Minnesota-Ohio State game.
During the broadcast, ESPN ran a graphic listing the top five drivers in NASCAR's Chase for the championship points race. Fellow analyst Chris Spielman asked where was Montoya, who is Colombian. Griese replied that he was "out having a taco."
As the game was wrapping up, Griese, the Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Miami Dolphins quarterback, apologized for the remark and said that Montoya is one of the best drivers in NASCAR.
At halftime of ESPN's coverage of Florida-Mississippi State, Griese apologized again.
In a statement, ESPN called the remark "inappropriate."
"ESPN has spoken to Bob and he understands that his comment was uncalled for," the statement said.
UK sports
Volleyball rallies past Louisiana State
In a match that featured 32 ties and 13 lead changes, the seventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats overcame a one-set deficit and defeated No. 20 Louisiana State 25-23, 19-25, 16-25, 25-15, 15-12. The Cats (20-2, 10-1) regained sole possession of first place in front of LSU (15-5, 9-2) in the Southeastern Conference standings. Junior Sarah Mendoza led the Cats with 21 kills. Senior setter Sarah Rumely had 56 assists.
■ Junior Megan Broderick won both her matches Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women's Ohio Valley Championships in Cincinnati. Broderick, the tournament's No. 5 seed, defeated Cincinnati's Ksenia Slyncko 6-2, 6-3 and Indiana's Evgeniya Verteshva 6-1, 6-3. Broderick will play top-seeded Caitlin Whoriskey of Tennessee at 10 a.m. Sunday.
College basketball
Duke routs Pfeiffer in exhibition
Kyle Singler scored 21 points to lead eight double-figure scorers, and Duke routed Pfeiffer 128-70 on Saturday night in its exhibition opener in Durham, N.C. Freshman Mason Plumlee had 18 points and 12 rebounds while older brother Miles Plumlee had 11 points and 14 boards for the Blue Devils. Duke shot nearly 61 percent, scored the game's first 14 points, needed fewer than nine minutes to build a 20-point lead and went up 30 with about 5½ minutes before the break. Freshman Ryan Kelly had 18 points. Chris Woods had 22 points to lead Pfeiffer, a Division II school located about an hour's drive north of Charlotte.
The last word
Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco is used to making news. Now, he's trying to break some. He's planning to form his own social news network on Twitter, using his player contacts around the league to develop news about other teams. He's dubbed the venture OCNN, for the Ochocinco News Network. Ochocinco told the Associated Press:
"I'm knocking out the middle man. Are you nervous?"
