Woods asserts himself at CA Championship

Tiger Woods shot a four-under-par 68 Saturday and extended his lead to four shots at the CA Championship in Miami, leaving him poised to win his third consecutive title at Doral and head to the Masters on a high note.

Woods again dominated the field with clutch shots and by making enough putts to reach 11-under 205. He is 38-3 on the PGA Tour with at least a share of the 54-hole lead, and he has never lost anywhere when leading by at least four.

Brett Wetterich shot a 67 to move into second place at seven-under 209 and will play in the final group today.

Nick O’Hern, who ended Woods’ seven-tournament winning streak on the PGA Tour by beating him in the Accenture Match Play Championship a month ago, shot a 66 and was another shot behind at six-under 210.

Ernie Els got to within one shot of the lead midway through the round. He took double bogey on the 18th hole and settled for a 71. He was in a group at 211 that included Vijay Singh (69), Thomas Bjorn (71), Aaron Baddeley (71) and Charles Howell III (71).

Lorena Ochoa shot a three-under 69 to take a four-stroke lead into the final round of the Safeway International at Superstition Mountain, Ariz.

Ochoa, who completed a second-round 64 in the morning, is at 14-under 202. Suzann Pettersen (69) and Jeong Jang (68) were second at 10-under 206. Shi Hyun Ahn (68) was eight under. Annika Sorenstam (69) was in a group of four at six under.

TENNIS

Sharapova wins opening match at Key Biscayne

Maria Sharapova began her bid to regain the WTA Tour’s No. 1 ranking by defeating Chan Yung-jan, 6-3, 6-2, in her opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla.

Sharapova is seeded first, but her seven-week stay atop the rankings ended last week when she was overtaken by Justine Henin. She double-faulted eight times against the 17-year-old Chan and faced six break points but saved them all.

In the second round of the men’s draw, top-ranked Roger Federer defeated Sam Querrey, 6-4, 6-3, for his 33rd win in a row over Americans, 20th-seeded Jarkko Nieminen defeated Evgeny Korolev, 6-0, 6-0 -- the first “double bagel” of the year on the men’s tour -- and Alejandro Falla upset ninth-seeded Tommy Haas, 6-4, 6-4.

SOCCER

England is held to 0-0 tie by Israel

England was held to a 0-0 tie by Israel in a 2008 European Championship qualifying game at Tel Aviv.

England failed to win or score for the third consecutive Group E game and dropped five points behind group leader Croatia.

Midway through the first half, Israel goalkeeper Dudu Awat made a one-handed stop of Wayne Rooney’s header and then dived at the feet of Frank Lampard to cover the ball.

BOXING

Kessler beats Andrade, retains WBC, WBA titles

Mikkel Kessler retained his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Assn. super-middleweight titles with a unanimous decision over Librado Andrade of La Habra at Copenhagen.

All three judges scored it 120-108 for Kessler (39-0), who is the first Danish boxer to hold titles from two major sanctioning bodies. Andrade dropped to 24-1.

MISCELLANY

2009 figure skating event is set for L.A.

The International Skating Union reaffirmed its selection of Los Angeles as the site of the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, retreating from its hints earlier in the week that it might move the event because there is no contract in place to televise it in the U.S.

No longer referring to its awarding of the championships as provisional, the ISU said in a statement on its website that it “expects that all the conditions stated in the ISU Regulations and Council decisions for definite confirmation of Los Angeles as the site of the 2009 Championships will be satisfied. The ISU will cooperate closely to reach this goal.”

-- Helene Elliott

Australia’s Matthew Hayden struck the fastest century in Cricket World Cup history when he scored 100 from 66 balls in the final Group A match against South Africa at Basseterre, St. Kitts. Australia won, 377-194. The previous fastest hundred was scored by Canada’s John Davison from 67 balls against West Indies at the 2003 World Cup.

Chris Griesen threw seven touchdown passes to lead the Georgia Force to a 64-62 victory over the San Jose SaberCats in an Arena Football League game at Atlanta.

Bobby Sippio caught 10 passes for 118 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Chicago Rush to a 55-47 win over the host Columbus Destroyers.

Dan Alexander ran for three touchdowns, and the Nashville Kats beat the host Austin Wranglers, 70-63.

PASSINGS

Ed Bailey, 75, former Reds All-Star catcher

Ed Bailey, an All-Star catcher with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1950s, died of cancer Friday in Knoxville, Tenn. He was 75.

Al Neil, Bailey’s brother-in-law, told the Knoxville News Sentinel that Bailey had been diagnosed with throat cancer.