Donald, Mayfair Are Tied

Luke Donald kept escaping trouble and crept into the top spot Saturday at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Donald’s five-birdie, one-bogey round of 68 left him nine under entering the tournament’s final round and sharing the top spot with Billy Mayfair -- who eagled the 17th hole to highlight his even-par 72 and reclaim a portion of the lead.

“I played solidly and didn’t really have too many mistakes,” said Donald, whose only tour win was at the 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic. “A lot of good driving, a lot of good iron playing, holed a few putts.”

Jeff Gove (69) was one shot back, and Daniel Chopra and Geoff Ogilvy were seven under after 71s.

“Two shots is nothing on this course,” Ogilvy said. “You can make up two shots in one hole.”

Defending champion Padraig Harrington got to seven under early in his round, but consecutive double-bogeys sent him to a 74 and in a three-way tie for 11th.

Defending champion Annika Sorenstam maintained a share of the lead in the MasterCard Classic in Huixquilucan, Mexico, shooting a one-under 71 to match Paula Creamer and Mi Hyun Kim at six under.

Creamer had a 67 -- the best round of the day -- and Kim shot a 69.

Sorenstam is making her first official LPGA Tour start since winning the ADT Championship in November.

South Korea’s Seon Hwa Lee (69) was five under, and Cristie Kerr (69), Candie Kung (68) and Siew-Ai Lim (68) were four under.

PRO FOOTBALL

Panthers, Foster Agree

on Three-Year Deal

Former UCLA running back DeShaun Foster agreed to a three-year, $14.5-million contract with the Carolina Panthers.

Foster, who spent most of the last three seasons playing behind Stephen Davis, finally surpassed him as the Panthers’ featured back late last season.

The Panthers also agreed to terms with defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu, who spent the last four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Miami Dolphins met with quarterback Drew Brees but were also considering a trade for Daunte Culpepper of the Minnesota Vikings, said a person involved in negotiations on the first day of free agency.

The San Francisco 49ers traded leading receiver Brandon Lloyd to Washington for the Redskins’ third-round pick this year and their fourth-round selection in 2007.

Center LeCharles Bentley, who played last season for the New Orleans Saints, and receiver Joe Jurevicius, who spent last season with the Seattle Seahawks, signed with the Cleveland Browns.... Defensive end Aaron Kampman, coming off his best season, signed a contract extension with the Green Bay Packers.... Defensive tackle Larry Tripplett, who spent the last four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, and tight end Robert Royal, who spent the last four seasons with the Washington Redskins, signed with the Buffalo Bills.

The Denver Broncos re-signed defensive end Gerard Warren, running back Ron Dayne and long snapper Mike Leach.... The Jacksonville Jaguars signed free-agent cornerback Brian Williams, who spent the last four seasons with Minnesota.... The St. Louis Rams signed free-agent safety Corey Chavous, who spent the last four seasons with Minnesota, to a five-year contract.

The Arizona Cardinals signed free-agent defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy, who played last season for the New York Giants, to a four-year contract....

Minnesota signed kicker Ryan Longwell, who played for rival Green Bay, running back Chester Taylor, a backup to Jamal Lewis in Baltimore, and linebacker Ben Leber, who was with the San Diego Chargers. The team also retained receiver Koren Robinson and safety Willie Offord.... San Francisco re-signed kicker Joe Nedney.

SOCCER

O’Reilly Factor: U.S.

Women Rout Denmark

Heather O’Reilly scored twice and the U.S. women’s team beat Denmark, 5-0, in the Algarve Cup at Faro, Portugal.

The U.S. team needs only a tie with France on Monday to qualify for the final against Germany on Wednesday.

Kristine Lilly scored the 108th goal of her career, moving her into second place on the women’s international scoring list behind Mia Hamm (158 career goals).

Former Fire forward Ante Razov scored all three goals and Preston Burpo earned the shutout as Chivas USA defeated Chicago, 3-0, in a Major League Soccer exhibition at Carson.

Sunil Gulati was unanimously elected president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. He succeeds Bob Contiguglia, who is retiring.

IDITAROD

King Makes His Move

and Takes the Lead

The dog team of three-time Iditarod winner Jeff King pulled to the front after leaving the Yukon River town of Galena.

King took the lead from Kasilof musher Paul Gebhardt, who halted his dogs in Galena for a mandatory 24-hour rest after leading since the halfway point, about 140 miles earlier in Cripple.

Meanwhile, officials said a second dog in the race died between the checkpoints of Cripple and Ruby. A necropsy was planned to determine what caused the death.

MISCELLANY

Schumacher Grabs Pole

for Bahrain Grand Prix

Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher secured the pole position for Formula One’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir. McLaren Mercedes’ Kimi Raikkonen retired from qualifying before he could complete a lap and will start from the back of the grid.

Schumacher’s 65th career pole tied Ayrton Senna’s record. It was Schumacher’s first pole since the Hungarian Grand Prix in August 2005.

Scott Speed of the U.S. qualified 16th.

Honda rider Jake Zemke held off Erion Racing’s Josh Hayes in a nine-lap shootout to win the Daytona 200 By Honda at Daytona International Speedway.

It was Zemke’s first Daytona 200 victory and Honda’s 11th in the prestigious motorcycle race.

Zemke’s margin of victory was 1.562 seconds.

Benjamin Raich of Austria secured his first overall World Cup title by finishing fourth in the men’s slalom race at Shiga Kogen, Japan.

Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, the only skier with a chance of catching Raich in the standings, finished tied for eighth.

Anja Paerson of Sweden won a women’s World Cup slalom at Levi, Finland, and Croatia’s Janica Kostelic clinched the season slalom title by finishing second.

Olympic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler and 2002 Olympian Tommy Czeschin won the U.S. Snowboard Cup halfpipe competition at Lake Placid, N.Y.

Norway’s Petter Tande won a World Cup Nordic combined event at Oslo, finishing 17.2 seconds ahead of Jason Lamy Chappuis of France in the 15-K cross-country race.

Anders Sodergren of Sweden and Julia Tchepalova of Russia won long-distance freestyle races in a World Cup cross-country ski meet at Oslo.

Heptathlon record-holder Trey Hardee of Texas injured his right foot in the hurdles event and had to drop out of the NCAA indoor track and field championships at Fayetteville, Ark. Louisiana State leads the men’s competition with 25 points, one more than Arkansas.

Terrence Trammell won the 60-meter hurdles title in 7.43 seconds at the world indoor track and field championships in Moscow.

Green Bay cornerback Ahmad Carroll has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges that he allegedly slapped the hand of a police officer who was trying to speak to him in Fayetteville, Ark.