Curtis Continues Charge Toward Tournament Title

Ben Curtis moved closer to his first title since the 2003 British Open, shooting a four-under-par 67 Saturday that gave him a five-stroke lead after three rounds in the Booz Allen Classic at Potomac, Md.

His rounds of 62, 65 and 67 put him at 19-under 213, breaking the tournament record through 54 holes. His shot of the day was an approach that landed a foot from the pin at No. 5, setting up his second birdie of the day.

“Guys are going to go out there and they are going to come firing after me,” Curtis said, “so I’m going to have to keep making birdies.”

Brett Quigley shot a 67 to put him at 14 under. Steve Stricker (66), the 1996 champion, and Daniel Chopra (67) are seven strokes off the lead.

Jeong Jang shot a six-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Mi Hyun Kim and rookie Brittany Lang after three rounds of the Wegmans LPGA event at Pittsford, N.Y.

Rookie Sun Young Yoo was tied for fourth at eight under along with Marcy Hart, Wendy Ward and Silvia Cavalleri.

Tom Jenkins was eight under through 16 holes in the second round of the Commerce Bank Championship when play was suspended for good after a third rain delay in the Champions Tour event at East Meadow, N.Y.

Jenkins was 10 under for the tournament and had a one-stroke lead over Tom Wargo, who was five under for the round through 12 holes.

David Eger shot a six-under 65 and was the clubhouse leader at seven-under 135.

USC’s Jordan Nasser built a 5-up lead after 19 holes and then hung on to defeat Jeff Gilchrist, 3 and 2, to win the 95th California Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Nasser, 22, of Anaheim Hills, became the first USC player to win the event since Nick Jones in 2000.

MOTOR RACING

Hornish Wins IRL

Race at Richmond

Sam Hornish Jr. blew by teammate Helio Castroneves early in the race to win the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond, Va.

Hornish won for the first time since getting his first Indianapolis 500 victory last month, and gave Marlboro Team Penske five wins in the first seven races as the Indy Racing League season reached its midpoint. Castroneves has won three times.

The Penske pair combined to lead every lap Saturday. Hornish beat Vitor Meira to the checkered flag by .3907 seconds for his 16th career victory. He also became the first repeat winner in six IRL visits to Richmond International Raceway.

Paul Menard took advantage of a mistake by Jason Leffler, then held on in the closing laps to win the NASCAR Busch Series AT&T; 250 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.

Leffler was in the lead when he spun out while trying to get to pit road with 45 laps to go.

Menard then overcame a challenge by Kevin Harvick after a restart with three laps to go, as well as an accident that forced the race into a two-lap green-flag sprint to the finish.

Fernando Alonso won his fifth consecutive Formula One pole, setting himself up for a strong run in the Canadian Grand Prix today at Montreal that could widen his lead in the world championship standings.

Alonso’s Renault had a time of 1 minute 14.942 seconds. Giancarlo Fisichella, his teammate, qualified second.

A.J. Allmendinger won the pole for the Grand Prix of Cleveland with a track-record lap of 56.283 seconds at a speed of 134.705 mph.

Jimmy Vasser had held the qualifying record of 56.417 seconds and 134.385 mph since 1998.

“That lap was close to being as good as I can get,” said Allmendinger, the only American driver in the Champ Car series.

Sebastien Bourdais, who won the provisional pole Friday and will start alongside Allmendinger, came close to the record (56.638).

American Nicky Hayden won the Dutch TT to go 42 points ahead in the MotoGP championship after a dramatic last lap duel with Colin Edwards at Assen, Netherlands.

Yamaha’s Edwards, overtaken by his Honda rival on the second-to-last lap, got the lead back but then fell with the finish in sight.

World champion Valentino Rossi, Edwards’ teammate, finished eighth. Rossi broke bones in his hand and ankle in practice Thursday and starting at the back of the field.

TENNIS

Henin-Hardenne Wins

Wimbledon Tuneup

French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne tuned up for Wimbledon by defeating Anastasia Myskina, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5), in the Hastings Direct final at Eastbourne, England.

“I saw very good things, I saw things I can improve,” the third-seeded Henin-Hardenne said. “But a Grand Slam is another kind of tournament.”

Mario Ancic won his second consecutive title at the Ordina Open, defeating Jan Hernych, 6-0, 5-7, 7-5, at Den Bosch, Netherlands.

In the women’s final, Michaella Krajicek beat second-seeded Dinara Safina, 6-3, 6-4, to become the first Dutch woman to win her country’s only grass-court tournament.

Richard Gasquet beat Jonas Bjorkman, 6-4, 6-3, to win the Red Letter Days Open at Nottingham, England, becoming the first player to successfully defend his title at the tournament.

Gasquet has a tougher assignment Monday for the start of Wimbledon -- a match against top-ranked Roger Federer.

MISCELLANY

West Virginia Gives

Rodriguez Extension

West Virginia football Coach Rich Rodriguez received a three-year contract extension that will pay him at least $1 million a year.

The contract includes an additional $100,000 per year in deferred compensation that Rodriguez can collect in December 2011 if he remains head coach of the Mountaineers.

Robert Stock, a junior pitcher and catcher from Agoura, has been selected The Times’ baseball player of the year. Stock led Agoura to the Southern Section Division I championship game by hitting .456 with six home runs and 25 runs batted in. On the mound, he was 5-3 with a 2.69 earned-run average.