Sheehan Moves Into Tie for Lead

Patrick Sheehan birdied his first hole of the third round Saturday to move into a four-way tie for the lead in the rain-delayed Houston Open.

He was tied with PGA Tour rookie Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker and Steve Lowery at five-under-par when play was suspended because of darkness.

Sheehan completed only one hole at the Redstone Golf Club, and his co-leaders had just teed off in the twilight when tournament officials called a halt because of darkness.

The round didn’t begin until late afternoon after a rain delay of more than seven hours. When the rain stopped, 30 golfers took to the soggy course to finish a second round also cut short by bad weather and darkness.

Play was scheduled to resume at 5:30 a.m. PDT today with the fourth round to follow as conditions allow. Officials hoped the final round could begin before noon, but the weather forecast called for more rain.

PGA Tour officials said the event could be extended to Monday. After play stopped Saturday evening, another heavy shower hit the course.

*

Gil Morgan had his 23rd consecutive round of par or better, shooting a four-under 68 to maintain a one-stoke lead over Hale Irwin and Dave Barr at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, Ga.

Morgan was at 11-under 133. Irwin and Barr also shot 68 to move to 134 heading into the final round at the Club at Savannah Harbor, a 6,997-yard island layout in the middle of the Savannah River.

Tennis

Venus Williams defeated Katarina Srebotnik, 6-1, 6-2, allowing the U.S. to pull even with Slovenia in their Fed Cup match.

Slovenia won the opening match in the best-of-five first-round series in Portoroz when Tina Pisnik upset Lisa Raymond, 7-5, 7-5, on a soggy clay court.

Guillermo Coria advanced to the final of the Monte Carlo Masters with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Marat Safin and in so doing, extended his winning streak on clay to 25 matches. The third-seeded Coria, a runner-up last year, will play fourth-seeded Rainer Schuettler, who defeated fifth-seeded Carlos Moya, 7-6 (5), 6-4, in the other semifinal.

Motor Racing

Martin Truex Jr. won his second NASCAR Busch Series race, taking the checkered flag just ahead of Dale Earnhardt in the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega, Ala., Superspeedway.

The last 31 laps of the 117-lap event on the 2.66-mile oval were marred by four of the six caution flags in the race. One, brought out by a 10-car crash, sent Tim Fedewa to a hospital for a precautionary examination.

With Truex and Earnhardt just ahead of a long line of contenders, rookie Clint Bowyer, who started from the pole, spun on Lap 116. That started a chain reaction crash that involved five other cars, forcing the race to finish under yellow.

Truex led four times for 29 laps, including the final 23. He averaged 136.783 mph in his Chevrolet.

Jenson Button beat Michael Schumacher for the pole for today’s San Marino Grand Prix, breaking the Ferrari driver’s run of three consecutive Formula One poles to open the year.

Schumacher, who won the season’s first three races, lost control slightly and swerved in the final section, placing him in the second front-row spot.

Button, of BAR Honda, covered the 3.058-mile Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, Italy, in 1 minute 19.753 seconds, a track record. Schumacher finished in 1:20.011. BMW Williams’ Juan Pablo Montoya took the third spot in 1:20.212.

Russell White earned his first win of the season as he held off Greg Pursley and Brandon Loverock in the 75-lap Lucas Oil Super Late Model series feature in front of 3,800 at Irwindale Speedway. In the 50-lap Auto Club Late Model Series feature, Deryk Ward earned his first victory since the 2001 season.

Beach Volleyball

Misty May and Kerri Walsh, the world’s top-ranked women’s team, won two matches at the $125,000 AVP Tempe Open. The wins extended their overall victory streak to 66 matches.

Winners of 11 consecutive tournament titles, the top-seeded May and Walsh defeated 16th-seeded Alicia Potzin and Ali Wood, 21-14, 21-13, and ninth-seeded Ashley Bowles and Rachel Wacholder, 21-15, 21-14, to advance to the finals of the winner’s bracket.

Miscellany

Mighty Duck Coach Mike Babcock replaced Joel Quenneville as Canada’s coach for the world hockey championships in Prague, Czech Republic, after Quenneville was hospitalized for exhaustion.

Babcock was originally slated to be Quenneville’s assistant. Tom Renney of the New York Rangers, the other assistant coach, became associate coach.

Quenneville was taken to a hospital Friday night and the former St. Louis Blues coach was released under doctor’s care Saturday night.

Diego Maradona was put back on a respirator in a Buenos Aires hospital while he battles serious heart and lung problems. The 43-year-old soccer great has been in intensive care for nearly a week. The return to the respirator was meant to assist his breathing.

Ken Hinsley kicked a 52-yard field goal as time expired to lead the Philadelphia Soul to a 60-58 victory over the New York Dragons in an Arena League game in front of 17,597 in Philadelphia.

Passings

Bill Brundidge, a member of the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame who was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, has died. He was 89. Story in Section B.

Art Devlin, a former U.S. Olympic ski jumper and sports broadcaster, died Thursday at his home in Lake Placid, N.Y. He was 81. Story in Section B.