Kenny Perry, Fred Funk two shots back in U.S. Senior Open

Kenny Perry shot a six-under-par 64 at the Omaha Country Club on Saturday and, along with Fred Funk, moved into second place for the final round of the U.S. Senior Open two shots behind leader Michael Allen.

Perry, who was 10 shots off the lead after a 73 on Friday, posted nines of 32-32 and got some help from Allen, who went from 63 on Friday to 72 on Saturday and was at eight-under 202.

“I was in that rocking-chair seat,� Perry said. “I was in a very aggressive mode, where if I go out and play great today, I’ve got a chance to move my way up the leaderboard. Or if I don’t play any good, it’s OK, too.�

It looked as if Funk, the 2009 champion, might fade after taking a double-bogey on No. 10. But he birdied the last two holes for a 67, rolling in a 35-foot putt on the 18th. Suddenly, he was right back in the tournament, too.

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Henrik Stenson held off a resurgent Phil Mickelson at the Scottish Open by shooting a six-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead with a 16-under total of 200 going into the final round at Inverness, Scotland. Mickelson was in a group of four players in a tie for second after making six birdies in his last 11 holes for a 66 on Saturday.

“I have kept the ball in play as well as I ever have� on links,� said Mickelson, who found 11 of 14 fairways on the undulating course in the Scottish Highlands.

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Daniel Summerhays shot a nine-under 62 for a two-stroke lead after third-round play of the John Deere Classic at Silvis, Ill. Summerhays enters the final round at 19-under 194 and in position for his first career win. He notched 10 birdies while matching the lowest third-round score in tournament history.

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South Korea’s Hee Young Park shot a career-best 61 to take a one-stroke lead over Angela Stanford after the third round at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic at Waterloo, Canada. Park was at 20-under 193.

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MOTOR RACING: Kyle Busch wins Nationwide race

Kyle Busch dominated in regulation, then proved he had the car to beat in three attempts of NASCAR’s version of overtime to win the Nationwide Series race at Loudon, N.H. Busch needed to drive 213 laps of a scheduled 200-lap race to get his seventh win of the season.

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Scott Dixon passed Sebastien Bourdais with nine laps to go to win on the IndyCar street course at Toronto. After the race, Dario Franchitti was initially stripped of his third-place finish because series officials ruled that he had blocked Will Power on the final lap, but Franchitti later won an appeal that reinstated him to third. Before the race, series officials placed Takuma Sato on probation for five races for running into Ryan Hunter-Reay on pit road at Pocono on July 7.

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NBA: Monta Ellis signs with Mavericks

Monta Ellis has agreed to a contract with the Dallas Mavericks, owner Mark Cuban confirmed in an email Saturday. It is reportedly a three-year deal valued between $25 million and $30 million. . . . The San Antonio Spurs have re-signed center Tiago Splitter. The contract is reportedly worth $36 million over four seasons. . . . The Atlanta Hawks have retained restricted free-agent point guard Jeff Teague, according to media reports. . . . The Philadelphia 76ers have acquired the rights to Royce White and Furkan Aldemir from the Houston Rockets for draft considerations. White, a first-round pick, was on the inactive list last season as he worked on an arrangement with the Rockets to balance an anxiety disorder with the demands of the NBA schedule.

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At his news conference in Houston, center Dwight Howard said of joining the Rockets: “It means a lot to me just to have a fresh start and have an opportunity to write my own story. I don’t think people understood the fact that I got traded to L.A., and now I had a chance to really choose my own destiny, and this is the place where I chose and I’m happy about it.�

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TENNIS: Jimmy Connors to coach Maria Sharapova

A day after parting ways with Thomas Hogstedt, second-ranked Maria Sharapova has hired Jimmy Connors as her new coach. Connors briefly worked with Sharapova before the 2008 Australian Open, which she won.

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Martina Hingis was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, R.I. At 32, she became the fourth youngest in history inducted, behind Tracy Austin (30), Bjorn Borg (31) and Hana Mandlikova (32). The Hall of Fame tournament’s semifinals were postponed a day after heavy rain wiped out most of the play on Saturday afternoon.

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Fabio Fognini will play Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final of the Mercedes Cup at Stuttgart, Germany, after each swept to semifinal victories. . . . In the semifinals at Bastad, Sweden, Fernando Verdasco of Spain defeated Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-5; and Carlos Berlocq, Argentina beat Thiemo de Bakker, Netherlands, 7-5, 6-3. . . . Top-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci will face each other in the Italiacom Open final after winning their semifinals.

Etc.

UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman and former champion Anderson Silva will meet in a rematch Dec. 28 at Las Vegas. . . . Unbeaten Khabib Allakhverdiev held on to his WBA and IBO light-welterweight titles when the referee finally stepped in to save former champion Souleymane M’baye in the 11th round in Monte Carlo at Monaco. . . . Robert Stieglitz retained his minor WBO super-middleweight title when his fight at Dresden, Germany, against Yuzo Kiyota was stopped in the 10th round with the Japanese challenger bleeding from a cut in his left eye. The judges scored it 99-90, 100-98 and 99-90 for Stieglitz. . . . France won the Under-20 World Cup for the first time as it won in the penalty shootout, 4-1, after ending extra time in a 0-0 tie with Uruguay in the title match at Istanbul.