Still a Front-Runner, Maggert Leads by Two

Jeff Maggert lost his cushion but not the lead at Pine Mountain, Ga., and now has a chance to become the Buick Challenge’s first wire-to-wire winner in 23 years.

After his only bogey cut his lead to one stroke, Maggert responded with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole Saturday and had a three-under-par 69 at Callaway Gardens for a two-stroke lead over Nick Price.

David Duval, in his first tournament since the British Open, was three strokes off the lead.

Maggert, who started the third round with a five-stroke margin, was 15 under at 201. Price kept his round together with a par save on the 14th and finished with a bogey-free 65 to get to 203.

Duval, who sat out the last two months because of a back injury, apparently didn’t accumulate too much rust. With eight birdies in a round of 67, he has a good chance to win for the first time in 29 tournaments.

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Larry Nelson closed in on his fourth victory in five starts, shooting a seven-under 63 to take a two-shot lead in the Vantage Championship at Clemmons, N.C.

Nelson, the Senior PGA Tour’s leading money winner with more than $2 million, broke a tour record with his 28th consecutive round of par or better.

Three others shared the previous record of 27 rounds.

Nelson’s two-round total is 11-under 129. Gil Morgan shot a 65 to get to nine under. Jim Dent (66) and Isao Aoki (67) are tied at eight under.

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Shani Waugh of Australia, who has never finished better than fourth in 97 LPGA events, shot a six-under 66 to lead defending champion Annika Sorenstam by one stroke heading into the final round of the New Albany Golf Classic at New Albany, Ohio.

Waugh was at 12-under 204.

Motor racing

Gil de Ferran of Brazil won the pole for today’s Houston Grand Prix with a lap of 93.558 mph, adding one point to his tenuous lead in the closest championship race in CART history.

Roberto Moreno, who is second in the standings, qualified at 14th at 92.209. He trails de Ferran by nine points, with Michael Andretti another two behind.

John Force closed qualifying with the best funny car lap of the weekend in the $1.9-million Advance Auto Parts Nationals at Topeka, Kan., good enough for his ninth No. 1 position this season and 98th of his NHRA career.

Other top qualifiers going into final eliminations are Gary Scelzi in top fuel, Jeg Coughlin in pro stock and Bob Panella in pro stock truck.

Tommy Fry of Simi Valley outlasted David Gilliland and Greg Voigt to win the Miller Lite 100 NASCAR Super Late Model race at Irwindale Speedway.

Voigt, of Santa Barbara, still won the Miller Lite Big 10 challenge series.

Tennis

Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria defeated top-seeded Anna Kournikova of Russia, 6-2, 6-4, to advance to final of the WTA SEAT Open at Luxembourg.

Maleeva, seeded seventh, will face third-seeded Jennifer Capriati, who beat unseeded Barbara Rittner of Germany, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

Oliver Rochus beat older brother Cristophe, 7-5, 6-4, at the $375,000 ATP tournament in Palermo, Sicily, to reach his first tour final.

Oliver, ranked 104th, needed 1 hour, 40 minutes to win the clay-court match against Cristophe, ranked 76th. Cristophe had won the Belgian brothers’ only other match.

Italy’s Diego Nargiso defeated two-time French Open champion Sergi Bruguera. 6-4, 6-4, in the other semifinal.