Romero has problems, but he’s still in charge

Eduardo Romero missed a chance to take a big lead into the final day of the Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, S.C., bogeying the final two holes to finish the third round with a two-stroke advantage.

Romero was nine under and four shots ahead after a birdie on the par-three 14th but hit into a bunker on the 17th hole, leading to one bogey. Then he missed a seven-foot par putt on the 18th hole to tighten up a tournament he appeared to have a lock on.

Still, he was at seven-under 209 after his one-under 71, two strokes better than Denis Watson (69) and Nick Price (70). Joe Ozaki (72) was fourth at four under.

No one else was under par after three days at Pete Dye’s seaside layout. Romero had played the best of anyone through two rounds of wind gusts as high as 31 mph. He had gone 17 holes without a bogey before closing with two in a row.

Nevertheless, Romero remains poised for a second consecutive major on the Champions Tour -- he won the Tradition in his rookie season last summer -- and to become the first international player to take this tournament since Gary Player did it in 1990.

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Playing through periodic rain showers at Fort Worth, Scott Verplank had five birdies in 13 holes before the third round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial was suspended by impending darkness and more rain. The round will resume this morning.

Verplank got to nine under for a share of the lead with Rory Sabbatini, Pat Perez, Kevin Na, Arron Oberholser and Ben Curtis. Sabbatini had seven birdies and a bogey through 12 holes.

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Paula Creamer birdied her two final holes for a six-under 66 to tie Beth Bader and Young Kim for the third-round lead at the LPGA Corning Classic at Corning, N.Y.

Creamer, who began the day three shots behind Bader, completed a bogey-free round by chipping to three feet at No. 17 and finishing with a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

Bader (69), who began the day with a one-shot lead over Kim (68), fell behind by two shots at the turn, but she tied Kim at 16 under with a birdie at No. 13, and the two parred the final five holes to finish at 16-under 200 and one shot ahead of Mi Hyun Kim (66).

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Paul Broadhurst and Ross Fisher each birdied the last three holes to share the third-round lead of the BMW PGA Championship at Virginia Water, England.

Broadhurst had a four-under 68. Fisher overcame a mid-round collapse that cost him four strokes to birdie five of the last seven holes for a 70. They are at 10-under 206.

TENNIS

Mauresmo loses in Strasbourg final

Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo was upset by sixth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in the final of the Strasbourg International in France.

It’s the first final and title of the season for Medina Garrigues. It was her seventh WTA title and first since winning the Palermo International for a record fourth time last July.

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Second-seeded Elena Dementieva won the Istanbul Cup in Turkey when Aravane Rezai withdrew from the final because of a knee injury.

Dementieva led, 7-6 (5), 3-0, when Rezai retired. Rezai suffered the injury during her semifinal victory over top-seeded Maria Sharapova on Friday.

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Juan Monaco, who had six double faults in his first five service games, defeated Gael Monfils, 7-6 (3), 6-0, to win the Hypo Group International at Poertschach, Austria.

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Argentina defeated the Czech Republic, 2-1, at Duesseldorf, Germany, to win the World Team Cup for the third time. Agustin Calleri and Jose Acasuso beat Tomas Berdych and Martin Damm in the deciding doubles match, 2-6, 6-4, 10-4.

Berdych put the Czech Republic ahead with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Juan Ignacio Chela, and Calleri tied it by beating Jan Hajek, 6-3, 6-1.

SOCCER

Beckham helps Madrid keep Spanish league lead

Real Madrid defeated visiting Deportivo La Coruna, 3-1, to keep its Spanish league lead with two rounds left.

Sergio Ramos put Madrid ahead in the 29th minute, and David Beckham almost made it 2-0 when he hit the post on a free kick.

Deportivo’s Joan Capdevila tied it in the 57th, but Raul Gonzalez scored with a header a minute later on a cross by Beckham. Ruud Van Nistelrooy made it 3-1 in the 75th.

Real Madrid leads the standings with 72 points, three more than second-place FC Barcelona.

Beckham, England’s former captain, is set to make his first appearance for the national team since last year’s World Cup after being named to the team by Coach Steve McClaren for an exhibition match against Brazil next Friday and a European Championship qualifier against Estonia on June 6.

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Juventus clinched its first Italian Serie B title with a 2-0 victory over Mantova. It added the second-division championship to its record 27 Serie A titles a week after ensuring promotion to Serie A.

Juventus, which was relegated and penalized nine points in the Italian match-fixing scandal, has 85 points with two games remaining. Genoa is second with 77.

TRACK AND FIELD

Wariner wins 400 at Netherlands meet

Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner won the 400 meters at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands, in a stadium-record 44.43 seconds.

Wariner held off a strong challenge by Gary Kikaya of Congo, taking a lead on the final turn and extending it during the final 50 meters. Kikaya finished second in 44.77.

BOXING

Abraham stops Demers to retain IBF title

Germany’s Arthur Abraham stopped Canada’s Sebastien Demers in the third round at Bamberg, Germany, in the fourth defense of his International Boxing Federation middleweight title. Abraham (23-0, 18 knockouts) dropped Demers (20-1) with a right hook with seconds left in the round.

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