Lexi Thompson leads Lorena Ochoa Invitational - Los Angeles Times
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Lexi Thompson leads Lorena Ochoa Invitational

Lexi Thompson shot a five-under 67 to reach 13-under and take the lead at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational at Guadalajara, Mexico on Saturday.
(Ulises Ruiz Basurto / EPA)
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Lexi Thompson moved into position for her second victory in her last four starts, taking the third-round lead Saturday in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational at Guadalajara, Mexico.

The 18-year-old Thompson shot a five-under 67 to reach 13-under 203 at Guadalajara Country Club. She had a one-stroke lead over South Korea’s I.K. Kim.

Thompson won the 2011 LPGA Navistar Classic at 16, and took the LPGA Malaysia last month for her second tour title. After opening with a 72, she had a 64 — the best round of the week in the 36-player event — Friday to pull within a stroke of second-round leaders Anna Nordqvist, So Yeon Ryu and Pornanong Phatlum.

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Kim birdied the final two holes for a 67.

Third-ranked Stacy Lewis was third at 11 under after a 67.

Ryu was another stroke back after a 71. Nordqvist and Phatlum each shot 72 to remain nine under.

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Defending champion Adam Scott shot a five-under 66 at Royal Melbourne to open a four-stroke lead at 14-under 199 in the Australian Masters.

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Fifty-year-old Vijay Singh had a 63 to join Australians Matthew Griffin (69), Nick Cullen (69) and Nathan Holman (70) at 10 under. American Matt Kuchar was sixth at nine under after a 67.

Jarrod Lyle, playing his first tournament after a second bout with leukemia, was even par after a 70.

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Henrik Stenson closed in on the European Tour money title Saturday, birdieing four of the last five holes to take a one-shot lead in the season-ending World Tour Championship at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Trying to become the first player to win the FedEx Cup and European title in the same year, the Swede finished with a five-under 67 to reach 17-under 199 on Jumeriah’s Earth Course.

France’s Victor Dubuisson, coming off a victory last week in Turkey, was second after a 64.

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Harris English and Robert Karlsson shared the lead in the rain-delayed OHL Classic at Playa del Carmen, Mexico, when third-round play was suspended because of darkness.

English and Karlsson were 15 under overall with 11 holes left in the round.

English matched the lowest round of his PGA Tour career Saturday morning with a nine-under 62 on Mayakoba Resort’s El Camaleon course. The 24-year-old former Georgia star won the FedEx St. Jude Classic in June for his first PGA Tour title.

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Karlsson played 36 holes Friday, shooting 63-67.

Rory Sabbatini and Kevin Stadler were tied for second at 12 under. Sabbatini completed eight holes in the third round, and Stadler played six. None of the 78 players who made the cut were able to finish the round.

More than 4 1/2 inches of rain hit the course from Wednesday afternoon to Friday afternoon. Because of the wet conditions, players are using preferred lies.

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Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor will sit out Sunday’s game in Houston because of a sprained right knee.

The Raiders ruled out Pryor on Saturday and announced that undrafted rookie free agent Matt McGloin will start against the Texans.

Pryor had a setback at practice on Friday and had been listed as questionable.

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Atlanta Falcons running back Jason Snelling will not play Sunday at Tampa Bay after being arrested early Friday morning on misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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Mikaela Shiffrin sent an unmistakable message leading to the Sochi Olympics.

The 18-year-old American easily won the World Cup slalom opener Saturday at Levi, Finland, beating reigning Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany by more than a second.

Shiffrin, the slalom world champion, led by half a second after the first run and raced seamlessly at the top of the hill in the second to extend her advantage. She overcame a mistake near the end to finish in a combined time of 1 minute 55.07 seconds.

Shiffrin emerged as a major star in the discipline last season by winning both the World Cup slalom title and the world championship race, making her one of the major medal favorites for Sochi.

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Austin Dillon won the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship, holding off Sam Hornish Jr. in a wild season finale at Homestead, Fla.

Sprint Cup regular Brad Keselowski won the race after moving up 10 spots in the final laps.

Dillon, driving the famed No. 3 for his grandfather, Richard Childress, finished 12th. It was good enough to hold off Hornish by three points. Hornish crossed the line eighth.

“We didn’t have the car tonight at all,” Dillon said. “Probably the worst car we had all year. But we fought. My guys kept me positive in the car. I just knew I had to go on that last restart. I’ve been criticized for restarts for a long time, and that was a pretty good one.”

Hornish looked as if he would overcome an eight-point deficit in the standings for much of the 200-lap race, but a lengthy caution late posed problems. Hornish dropped from third to ninth on the final restart with five laps to go, ending his chances at getting a title in what could be his final race for Penske Racing.

Rookie Kyle Larson finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Trevor Bayne.

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Nigeria and Ivory Coast have qualified for the World Cup.

The Nigerians became the first African team to qualify for next year’s showcase, beating Ethiopia, 2-0, in the second leg of their playoff Saturday. Nigeria, playing at home in Calabar, won 4-1 on total goals.

Ivory Coast will be going to its third straight World Cup after playing to a tense 1-1 draw with Senegal for a 4-2 total-goals victory in neutral Casablanca, Morocco. Ivory Coast won the first leg 3-1.

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The Czech Republic is one victory from winning a second straight Davis Cup.

The defending champions defeated Serbia in doubles for a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup final when Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek beat Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4). The victory by the Czech pair on the indoor hard court at Belgrade Arena improved their Davis Cup doubles record to 14-1.

Berdych plays Novak Djokovic, who is on a 23-match winning run, in the first reverse singles on Sunday. The final could be decided when Stepanek is likely to play cup rookie Dusan Lajovic in the last match of the best-of-five series.

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