Els Shoots 68 to Keep His Lead

Ernie Els put himself on the verge of his first World Golf Championship title Saturday by ignoring early charges behind him and shooting a four-under-par 68, giving him a two-shot lead over Thomas Bjorn in the American Express Championship at Thomastown, Ireland.

Els has looked like a major force in the blustery conditions at Mount Juliet, where he has made only two bogeys in three rounds to reach 15-under 201 and his first 54-hole lead since he won the Memorial in May.

Els started slowly, but it wasn’t long before Bjorn, Padraig Harrington and British Open champion Todd Hamilton started closing in.

Bjorn was four under for his first five holes and shot 66. Harrington birdied six of his first 10 holes and shot 66, leaving him at 204. Hamilton finished with a 69, extending his bogey-free streak to 36 holes. He is tied for third with Harrington and David Howell (66).

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Scott Gutschewski shot a two-under 69 on a windy afternoon at Empire Lakes Golf Course in Rancho Cucamonga to take a two-shot lead after the third round of the Nationwide Tour’s Mark Christopher Charity Classic.

Gutschewski is at 10-under 203 and two up on Zoran Zorkic (65), Matthew Jones (68), Darron Stiles (68), Robin Byrd (73) and second-round leader Bubba Watson (75).

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Fred Funk surged to the top of the leaderboard in the Southern Farm Bureau Classic at Madison, Miss., shooting an eight-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Steve Pate and Chris Couch.

Funk, who won the 1998 tournament for the last of his five PGA Tour titles, is at 16-under 200. Couch shot a 68, and Pate had a 69.

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Wayne Levi shot a four-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the Constellation Energy Classic at Hunt Valley, Md., as he bids for his second career Champions Tour title.

Levi followed a first-round 64 with three birdies in the first five holes and an eagle on the par-five 16th. He bogeyed the par-four 17th but closed with a par four on No. 18 to finish at 12-under 132.

Jose Maria Canizares and Graham Marsh each shot a 66 to finish at 134.

Tennis

Roger Federer and Andy Roddick posted three-set victories to set up a No. 1 vs. No. 2 final at the Thailand Open in Bangkok. Top-ranked Federer defeated fourth-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, in the first semifinal, and Roddick beat third-seeded Marat Safin, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (0), 7-6 (2). If Federer beats Roddick, he’ll be the first man in nearly 20 years to win 12 consecutive tournament finals. The last was John McEnroe in 1984-85. Bjorn Borg did it in 1979-80.

Former No. 1 Kim Clijsters’ comeback from left wrist surgery stalled when she quit in pain while losing to Elena Bovina in the Gaz de France Stars semifinals at Hasselt, Belgium. At 2-2 in the second set, the second-seeded Clijsters decided her wrist was bothering her too much to continue. She lost the first set, 6-4. The third-seeded Bovina will play top-seeded Elena Dementieva in the final. Dementieva beat Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3, 6-3.

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova defeated Anne Kremer, 6-0, 6-2, to advance to the final of the Korea Open in Seoul. The top-seeded Sharapova will play Marta Domachowska, who defeated Abigail Spears, 7-6 (5), 6-1

Pro Football

Baltimore Raven running back Jamal Lewis has reached a plea-bargain agreement in his drug conspiracy case under which he will receive four to six months in prison -- a term he almost certainly will not begin serving until after the season is over, sources familiar with the agreement told the Baltimore Sun.

The deal, reached with federal prosecutors last week but not yet publicly announced, means that Lewis, last year’s NFL offensive player of the year, will not have to submit to a scheduled November trial in which he would have faced a career-ending sentence of at least 10 years if convicted on the principal charge.

Motor Racing

Greg Pursley of Canyon Country closed out the 2004 Lucas Oil Super Late Model season and his racing career by winning the 200-lap feature at Irwindale Speedway.

Pursley, who retires as the 2004 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series National Champion as well as the 2004 champion in the Lucas Oil Super Late Series, earned his 14th win of the season. He held off Brandon Loverock and Thane Alderwood for the victory. Ed Hoffman and Kevin O’Neil rounded out the top five.

Miscellany

Arsenal extended its record unbeaten streak in the English Premier League to 48 games, getting two goals from Thierry Henry in a 4-0 home victory over Charlton.

Natalie Coughlin, who won five medals at the Athens Olympics, withdrew from this week’s world short course swimming championships at Indianapolis because of a stress fracture in her left foot. She was injured Wednesday during training. The meet starts Thursday.

More than $6.1 million was raised for the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation at his annual Grand Slam for Children event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Passings

Wayne Rutledge, a goaltender for the Kings in their first three NHL seasons, died of cancer Saturday in Huntsville, Canada. He was 62.

Rutledge shared the Kings’ nets with Terry Sawchuk during the 1967-68 season, compiling a record of 21-15-5.

A funeral and memorial service will be held Wednesday in Bracebridge, Canada.