Janzen, Cejka, Davis share lead at Zurich

Dark clouds rolled in hours before the rain started at the Zurich Classic in Avondale, La., on Friday. However, even the brisk winds before the storm did not seem to hamper those who teed off early.

Lightning forced play to be halted at 10:57 a.m. PDT, and heavy rain continued for hours. Play was officially called for the day at 3:21 p.m.

According to the National Weather Service, 1 1/2 to 2 inches of rain had fallen by noon.

Forty-seven players had finished their rounds when play was halted, and three — Lee Janzen, Alex Cejka and Brian Davis — were atop the leaderboard at seven under par after two rounds.

Janzen shot a bogey-free 66, ending a string of four missed cuts coming into the tournament.

Davis also had a 66 and Cejka shot a 67. Greg Chalmers had a 68 and was one stroke back at 138, and Chris Riley (66) was at 139.

Play is scheduled to resume at 4:30 a.m. PDT Saturday.

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Two Buckeyes were doing their best to hold off a team with five majors between them at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, Ga.

John Cook and Joey Sindelar, who have known each other since their college days at Ohio State, carded a better-ball 10-under 62 to tie Mark O’Meara and Nick Price for the lead after the first round.

HORSE RACING

Del Mar to lower some purses

Del Mar will offer lower purses for 13 stakes races and reduce the value of its overnight stakes at the seaside track’s 71st summer meet July 21-Sept. 8.

The track said the purse reductions are the result of “the realities of the racing business both in California and across the country.”

However, the track’s signature event, the Pacific Classic on Aug. 28, will retain its $1-million purse. TVG, the national TV and advanced-deposit wagering company, signed on as sponsor.

MOTOR RACING

Kurt Busch to stay with Penske

Kurt Busch signed a contract extension to continue driving for Penske Racing in the same week the former Cup champion got a new sponsor. Busch said team owner Roger Penske held an option on 2011 that had already been picked up. But when Shell Oil Co. this week moved its sponsorship to Penske, the driver agreed to a new contract.

Busch said his new contract is a five-year deal.

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Pocono Raceway will have corporate sponsorship for its June Cup race for the first time since 1996.

Pocono’s June 6 race at Long Pond, Pa., will be called the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 Presented by Target. Pocono’s June race had been called the Pocono 500 since 1997.

ETC.

Robin Soderling reaches semifinals

Second-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden cruised into the Barcelona Open semifinals by beating Eduardo Schwank, 6-2, 6-3, to set up a meeting with Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands.

De Bakker upset third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, for his first career win over a top-10 opponent. Earlier, Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer won to set up an all-Spanish matchup in the other semifinal.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship-owned World Extreme Cagefighting organization will stage its first pay-per-view show Saturday with a card headlined headlined by featherweight champion Jose Aldo’s defense versus former champion Urijah Faber at Sacramento’s Arco Arena.

—Lance Pugmire