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Watson Charges to Lead With a 64

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From Associated Press

Tom Watson loves playing in Scotland.

Watson matched the course record at Royal Aberdeen set only hours earlier Saturday, a seven-under-par 64 in mostly calm conditions that gave him a one-shot lead over Craig Stadler going into the final round of the Senior British Open.

Watson was at three-under 210 and poised to win a British Open title on his fifth links course in Scotland. He won the British Open at Carnoustie, Muirfield and Royal Troon, and the British Open and Senior British Open at Turnberry.

Watson was four over to start the third round but picked up birdies on the third and fifth holes, then made an eagle on the par-five sixth -- his first eagle of the year -- and was on his way to the 54-hole lead.

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Stadler didn’t get as much out of his round, making a birdie on the par-three 17th for a one-under 70 that put him at 211 and in the final group with Watson.

Greg Norman also had a 70 and was at even-par 213 with Des Smyth, who had a 68.

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Ben Crane, a notoriously slow player, was on the clock when rains interrupted play at the U.S. Bank Championship for 3 hours 42 minutes hours at Brown Deer Park.

After the restart, Crane finished with a six-under 64 to take the 54-hole lead at 19-under 191, two shots better than playing partner Scott Verplank.

Smith (64) and Kenny Perry (65) were five shots off the lead, tied for third.

“Certainly, you never want to go on the clock. We fell behind today and we had to close the gap,” said Crane, who is trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner in Milwaukee since Robert Gamez in 1991. “It’s one of those things that happened. I’m trying to get better at it.”

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Paula Creamer won her second LPGA title at the Evian Masters, beating fellow teenager Michelle Wie and Lorena Ochoa by eight shots at Evian, France.

The 18-year-old Creamer shot a one-under 71 to finish at 15-under 273. Wie, 15, shot a 68 and Ochoa a 69 to tie for second at the $2.5-million event.

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The $375,000 prize boosted Creamer to second on the LPGA money list behind Annika Sorenstam, who finished 12 strokes back with a 75.

Creamer, who won the Sybase Classic two months ago, shot rounds of 68-68-66 to take a seven-shot lead entering the final round and cruised to victory.

“I’ve just had a great week,” Creamer said. “Just the strength of this field and the Evian ensemble makes it huge for me to win here.”

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Kevin Tway gave himself a nice 17th birthday present.

Tway, the son of 1986 PGA champion Bob Tway, won four of the first nine holes, then held off Bradley Johnson in the 36-hole final, 5 and 3, to win the 58th U.S. Junior Amateur at Longmeadow (Mass.) Country Club.

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In-Kyung Kim won her first attempt at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur, beating 2002 champion In-Bee Park, 5 and 4, at Eagle, Idaho.

Kim, a 17-year-old Korean who came to the United States in March, never trailed, winning the first two holes.

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