Jones Saves a Wet Par and Third-Round Lead

Steve Jones splashed his way to a par on the last hole Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the Canadian Open over an emotional Greg Norman, who wore all black to honor the memory of Princess Diana.

Four golfers were another stroke behind and British Open champion Justin Leonard, who finished the third round with three consecutive bogeys, was three strokes off the lead.

“That was one of the best pars I’ve ever made,” Jones said after he blasted a sand wedge from the high grass at the water’s edge and then got up and down from 165 yards for a three-under-par 67 and a four-under 206 total.

Norman awoke at 5:45 a.m. to watch the princess’ funeral and stayed glued to the TV for five hours, then shot a 69. Even though he had never met Diana, Norman, an Australian, called it “the most powerful morning I’ve ever had.”

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Al Geiberger shot a five-under 67 to take the second-round lead in the seniors’ Bank One Classic at Lexington, Ky. . . . Shani Waugh shot a three-under 69 to take the second-round lead of the LPGA Safeway Classic at Portland, Ore., at eight-under 136.

Auto Racing

Dale Jarrett caught Jeff Burton with 40 laps to go and held on to win the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Dale Earnhardt showed no signs of the fuzziness that plagued him six days earlier in the Southern 500, but after quickly charging from 22nd to sixth, he was never a factor and finished 15th.

France’s Jean Alesi, in the midst of a disappointing season, returned to one of his favorite circuits and won the pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, his second such achievement in Monza. The other came in 1994.

Horse Racing

Jockey Gary Stevens escaped injury after being involved in a spill after the fifth race at Del Mar.

Riding Fly First Class, who crossed under the wire third in the one-mile turf race, Stevens went down after being put in tight along the rail by Pachira, who was ridden by Fernando Valenzuela.

Pachira had begun to tighten things up approaching the wire and was disqualified from second and placed third.

X-rays on Stevens’ right knee and right thumb were negative.

Gymnastics

A day after winning the women’s all-around, Russia’s Svetlana Chorkina claimed victory in the uneven bars as the world championships continued in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Fellow Russian Alexei Nemov, who dropped out of the all-around contention when his grip apparently cracked on the rings, redeemed himself with a gold-medal floor routine.

Soccer

Major League Soccer: Frank Klopas scored in the 48th minute to give the Kansas City Wizards a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids before 26,599 at Denver. . . . Jorge Rodriguez, Dante Washington and Wade Webber scored second-half goals as the Dallas Burn routed the visiting Columbus Crew, 3-0, before 10,383. . . . The San Jose Clash blanked the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, 4-0, at San Jose.

Tore Andre Flo led Norway into the World Cup finals by scoring the only goal against Azerbaijan in the 43rd minute. The Netherlands virtually assured itself of a place in the final by downing Belgium, 3-1. . . . Oman beat the United States, 4-0, in the under-17 world championship in Alexandria, Egypt.

Names in the News

Erik Morales recorded an 11th-round knockout of Daniel Zaragoza to capture the World Boxing Council super-bantamweight title at El Paso. Olympic bronze medalist Floyd Mayweather improved to 10-0, stopping Louie Leija in the second round of a super-featherweight bout. . . . Frank Fredericks beat Donovan Bailey and Merlene Ottey edged Marion Jones in the 100-meter races at the Toto Super International track meet in Tokyo. . . . Defenseman Boris Mironov signed a two-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers.