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Curtis, Garcia Are Tied

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From Associated Press

Two days away from his wedding, British Open champion Ben Curtis took his mind off matrimony long enough Thursday to post his best score on the PGA Tour, a six-under-par 64 that gave him a share of the lead with Sergio Garcia in the NEC Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.

Tiger Woods, who shot a 65, was impressed that Curtis was able to play this well with so many distractions around him.

“Let’s just say if he’s in contention, I want to see how tired he is on Sunday morning,” Woods said.

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Curtis missed the cut last week in the PGA Championship, and while he has played Firestone about 20 times, no one expected much out of him this week with so much on his mind.

The wedding rehearsal is today. The wedding is Saturday. A world-class field all around him.

Garcia birdied four consecutive holes in the middle of his round, the last three from inside two feet, until he was slowed by a bogey on the par-three 12th. He finished his round with a 15-foot birdie on the final hole.

Darren Clarke joined Woods at 65, with the group at 66 including David Toms, Davis Love III, Chris Riley and Scott Verplank.

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David Oh of USC pulled off the biggest upset of the 103rd U.S. Amateur at Oakmont, Pa., a second-round win over third-seeded Trip Kuehne of Dallas, 3 and 1.

Oh, whose previous biggest accomplishment was winning the Long Beach Open, was on pace to shoot a one-under 69 before closing out the match on No. 17.

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In the third round, Oh beat Matthew Kohn of Longwood, Fla., 6 and 5. Oh will play Wake Forest star Bill Haas, the son of PGA Tour pro Jay Haas, in today’s quarterfinals.

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Bob Tway, Kirk Triplett, Paul Stankowski, Steve Pate and Andy Miller had five-under 67s to share the lead at the Reno-Tahoe Open before a thunderstorm suspended play.

Luke Donald, J.P. Hayes, Dennis Paulson and Cameron Beckman were a stroke back, but more than half of the field was unable to complete the round at the Montreux Golf & Country Club in Reno.

Tway, who won the PGA Championship in 1986 but hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 1995, made a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-five 11th and a 20-footer for birdie on the par-four 18th.

Triplett, who played his college golf at Nevada, had six birdies, including a 12-foot putt after he hit the flag with his seven-iron off the tee on the 163-yard 16th.

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Emilee Klein birdied her last three holes to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Wachovia LPGA Classic at Kutztown, Pa.

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She shot a six-under 66, two strokes ahead of Meg Mallon, Carin Koch, Dawn Coe-Jones, Soo-Yun Kang and Sunny Lee.

Klein, looking for her fourth career title, was at even par after nine holes. She then made birdies on 10, 11 and 13 before finishing with three short birdie putts.

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