Couch Vaults to Top of New Orleans Event

One day after closing with two tough pars to make the cut on the number, Chris Couch took on gusty conditions for an eight-under-par 64, leaving him atop the leaderboard after a wind-swept day at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans.

The PGA Tour did not have records of anyone going from worst-to-first in the third round.

Couch finished at 12-under 204 and had a one-shot lead over Charles Howell III (66), and Joe Durant, the 36-hole leader was still warming up when Couch signed for his card.

Durant and the late starters got the brunt of gusts up to 30 mph and they paid for it. None of the final 16 players who teed off broke par, and Durant was happy to sneak in with a 73, a round that featured only five pars and a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 18.

Dean Wilson (66) and Cameron Beckman (67), both early starters, were at 10-under 206. Masters champion Phil Mickelson figured he would need a 64 to get into the mix, and all it took was a 68 marred only by a bogey from the bunker on the 17th. He was only three shots behind, along with six others.

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South Korea’s Mi Hyun Kim birdied the final hole for a three-under 69 and a three-stroke lead over Japan’s Ai Miyazato after the third round of the LPGA Tour’s Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open at Reunion, Fla.

Kim, seeking her first tour victory since 2002, had an 11-under total. Miyazato, tied for the lead with a hole to play, closed with a double bogey for a 70.

Christina Kim was alone in third place, five shots off the lead after a 69 on a windy day that made already slick greens even more daunting.

Annika Sorenstam was 11 strokes back at even par.

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Bruce Fleisher aced the 177-yard third hole to counter two opening bogeys and finished with a three-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the windy FedEx Kinko’s Classic at Lakeway, Texas.

Craig Stadler and senior newcomer David Edwards were tied for second after 70s, and Tom Kite (71) and Des Smyth (69) were another stroke back.

MOTOR RACING

Sadler Qualifies First at Talladega Again

Elliott Sadler won his seventh NASCAR Nextel Cup pole, including his second in a row at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Sadler, who drives for Robert Yates Racing, has crashed in each of the last three fall races on the 2.66-mile Talladega oval.

Sadler posted a lap of 188.511 mph in a Ford Fusion, easily beating runner-up Tony Stewart’s 187.658 in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo to lead the field for today’s Aaron’s 499.

Roush Racing’s Carl Edwards qualified third in a Ford at 187.320 and Dale Jarrett, Sadler’s teammate, was fourth at 187.232.

Jeff Gordon, a four-time winner at Talladega and aiming for his third straight spring victory at this track, qualified 14th.

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Martin Truex Jr., the two-time Busch champion who is now a Nextel Cup rookie, returned to his roots to win his third straight race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Driving a car owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc., Truex celebrated what would have been Earnhardt’s 55th birthday by giving the company yet another restrictor-plate victory in his first Busch Series start of the season.

Earnhardt, who won 10 races at Talladega, was killed in a 2001 accident at Daytona.

Kevin Harvick finished second in a failed bid to stretch his Busch Series winning streak to three straight races.

Harvick extended his lead in the series standings to 299 points over Clint Bowyer.

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Todd Bodine raced to his second victory in the last three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events, leading a group of five Toyotas across the finish line in the Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.

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Melanie Troxel became the seventh woman in NHRA history to top a pro elimination field after qualifying No. 1, leading the top fuel field in the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol, Tenn. Troxel had a quarter-mile run of 4.539 seconds at a top speed of 324 mph.

TENNIS

Nadal Keeps Rolling to Reach Title Match

Defending champion Rafael Nadal won his 46th straight match on clay, defeating fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (2), 6-3 to reach the final at the Open Seat Godo at Barcelona, Spain.

Tommy Robredo, the 2004 champion, beat Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4, 6-4, to set up an all-Spanish final.

The top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Nadal matched 11-time Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg with 46 straight victories on clay. Guillermo Vilas holds the Open era record with 53.

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Top-seeded Nicolas Massu and seventh-seeded Daniele Bracciali advanced to today’s final of the Grand Prix Hassan II at Casablanca, Morocco.

Massu beat unseeded Bjorn Phau, 6-2, 6-4. Bracciali was leading 6-0, 3-0 when eighth-seeded Gilles Simon retired because of a leg injury.

SOCCER

Chelsea Clinches Title; Rooney Suffers Injury

Chelsea clinched its second straight English Premier League title after a 3-0 victory over Manchester United.

United striker Wayne Rooney was carried from the field because of a broken bone in his right foot that may jeopardize his World Cup chances for England.

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FC Barcelona moved within two points of its second straight Spanish league title, beating Cadiz, 1-0, on Ronaldinho’s 16th goal of the season. Barcelona will clinch the title if second-place Valencia ties or loses against Alaves today.... Claudio Pizarro’s header in the 59th minute gave Bayern Munich its 13th German Cup title with a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

MISCELLANY

Dragons Clinch Spot in Arena League Playoffs

Nick Browder threw seven touchdown passes -- five to Kevin Swayne -- to help the New York Dragons (9-5) clinch a playoff spot with a 65-58 victory over the Philadelphia Soul (7-7) in an Arena Football League game at Uniondale, N.Y.

In other games: Chad Salisbury threw seven touchdown passes -- four to Anthony Hines -- and the Grand Rapids Rampage (5-9) held on for a 61-54 win over the visiting Nashville Kats (7-7).... John Kaleo threw two touchdown passes to lead the Columbus Destroyers (7-7) to a 40-33 victory over the Austin Wranglers (8-6) at Austin, Texas.... Shane Stafford threw six touchdown passes -- three to Freddie Solomon -- and the Tampa Bay Storm (7-7) rolled to a 58-42 win over the expansion Kansas City Brigade (3-11) at Tampa, Fla.... Matt Nagy threw seven touchdown passes -- three to Derek Lee -- and the Georgia Force rolled (8-6) to a 55-20 win over the Chicago Rush (5-9) at Atlanta.

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Iefke Van Belkum scored three goals to lead No. 5 Hawaii to a 10-9 upset of top-ranked USC in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women’s water polo tournament at UC Irvine.

Hawaii will play No. 3 Stanford in the championship game today at 2:45. Stanford defeated No. 2 UCLA, 5-4, led by Katie Hansen’s three goals.

UCLA will play USC in the third-place game today at 1:30.