Mickelson Takes Three-Stroke Lead at World Series of Golf

Phil Mickelson took the lead with a four-under-par 66 in the suspended second round, then cemented his position with a 68 to take a three-stroke lead Saturday through 54 holes at the World Series of Golf at Akron, Ohio. Defending champion Greg Norman is tied with Billy Mayfair for second at 207.

Thirty-five minutes after Mickelson teed off in the third round, an explosion in a cardboard trash container just behind the first tee caused minor injuries to two spectators.

An Akron police spokesman said the explosion was caused by a fused device--but not a firecracker or pipe bomb. Police were looking for two teenagers who witnesses said were near the trash container shortly before the explosion.

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Laura Davies shot a six-under-par 66 and was at 134 for 36 holes, three strokes ahead of Brandie Burton and Beth Daniel at the Star Bank LPGA Classic at Dayton, Ohio.

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Tom Wargo shot a five-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Raymond Floyd through two rounds of the Bank of Boston Senior Classic at Concord, Mass.

Auto Racing

Jacques Villeneuve won the pole position for today’s Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Formula One series points leader Damon Hill and two-time reigning Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.

Fill-in driver Mike Park was the surprise pole winner at Watkins Glen (N.Y) International, but there’s a good possibility he won’t start today’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Parts America 150.

Veteran driver Joe Nemechek, who raced at the Goody’s 500 at Bristol, Tenn. on Saturday night, is expected to replace Park.

Tennis

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain rebounded for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic in the semifinals of the Toshiba Classic at La Costa in Carlsbad.

Sanchez Vicario, who qualified for the finals in her fifth consecutive tournament, will face Kimiko Date, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Conchita Martinez.

Unseeded Australian Todd Woodbridge needed only 53 minutes to defeat Chilean Marcelo Rios, 6-0, 6-3, to reach today’s final of the du Maurier Open at Toronto.

Woodbridge, ranked 43rd in the world, will meet No. 3 Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, who beat No. 7 Todd Martin, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in the other semifinal.

Fifth-seeded Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine and unseeded Martin Damm of Czech Republic won semifinal matches to advance to the finals of the Hamlet Cup at Commack, N.Y.

Medvedev defeated Karol Kucera of Slovakia 7-6 (7-0), 6-3. Damm rallied to defeat Adrian Voinea of Romania 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.

Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, seeded seventh in the U.S. Open despite being ranked fourth in the world, withdrew from the Grand Slam event in protest over what he calls unfair seeding practices.

“I was shocked when I saw what they did to me,” said Kafelnikov, who was dropped three spots from his world ranking despite his winning the French Open and leading the ATP Tour in points this year. “I deserve to be seeded No. 4. I won a Grand Slam tournament and consider myself a good hardcourt player. It took me a few days to decide. I am disappointed, but I am sending a warning.”

Boxing

Junior bantamweight Danny Romero (28-1-0, 25 KOs) won the International Boxing Federation title by knocking out two-time champion Harold Grey of Colombia, 1:25 into the second round at Albuquerque.

Names in the News

Audrey “Mickey” Patterson-Tyler, the first African-American woman to win an Olympic medal, died at the 69 after suffering a stroke and heart attack in San Diego on Friday.

Patterson-Tyler, a sprinter who devoted much of her later life to coaching in the San Diego area, won a bronze medal in the 200 meters at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.

Simon Lessing of Britain and Jackie Gallagher of Australia won the men’s and women’s divisions of the eighth annual International Triathlon Union World Championships at Cleveland. . . . Austin Peay basketball Coach Dave Loos signed a contract extension that will keep him at the school through the 2000-01 season. . . . Former NFL star Lawrence Taylor, arrested last spring for trying to buy crack cocaine, has enrolled in a pretrial intervention program in Conway, S.C., that would wipe the charge from his record.