Jason Bohn leads Zurich Classic

Jason Bohn had a three-stroke lead Saturday when third-round play in the weather-plagued Zurich Classic at Avondale, La., was suspended because of darkness.

Bohn, celebrating his 37th birthday, shot a five-under-par 67 in the completion of the second round and was even par through six holes in the third.

Greg Chalmers and Alex Cejka were tied for second at nine under. Chalmers played seven holes in the third round, and Cejka completed six.

Kevin Sutherland, Greg Owen, John Senden, Jeff Overton and Shaun Micheel were eight under. Sutherland finished 11 holes, and the others were still on the front nine.

The rain and lightning that stopped play Friday and delayed it Saturday morning gave way to strong wind that gusted to more than 40 mph by the afternoon.

When regular partner Jerry Pate was unable to play, Andy Bean turned to Lu Chien-soon. Turned out to be a good move.

Bean and Lu teamed to shoot a better-ball 12-under 60 in a steady, light rain for a 125 total and a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf at Savannah, Ga.

Bean and Lu played the final 10 holes in 10 under to pull ahead of the teams of Blaine McCallister and Bob Tway (63) and first-round co-leaders Nick Price and Mark O’Meara (64).

TENNIS

U.S., Russia tied in Fed Cup

Melanie Oudin defeated Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-3, 6-3, but Russia’s Elena Dementieva tied the Fed Cup semifinals matchup at Birmingham, Ala., with a straight-set win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Dementieva, ranked No. 6 in the world, won, 6-4, 6-3, and will face Oudin on Sunday in the best-of-five event.

Defending Fed Cup champion Italy took a 2-0 lead over the visiting Czech Republic in the other semifinal, with Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone each winning in straight sets. The U.S., which would host the final round Nov. 6-7 at a site to be determined, lost to Italy in the final last year.

Fernando Verdasco reached his second final in two weeks by beating David Ferrer, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-1, at the Barcelona Open in Spain.

Verdasco will play second-seeded Robin Soderling, who reached Sunday’s final by defeating Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-4.

MOTOR RACING

NASCAR rainout at Talladega

NASCAR canceled all Saturday track activity at Talladega Superspeedway because of threats of extended periods of severe weather.

Track officials said the decision was made on advice from the Talladega County Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service, which said Talladega County was one of the areas in Alabama facing a high risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.

The Nationwide Series race scheduled for Saturday now is to be held Sunday after the Sprint Cup Series race, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. PDT. It’s the second consecutive weekend that NASCAR will attempt a doubleheader.

Daytona International Speedway will be repaved for the second time in its history after a pothole on the track during this year’s Daytona 500 forced two delays that totaled more than two hours during the Feb. 14 race. The repaving project is scheduled to begin immediately after the July 3 Sprint Cup race, with a projected completion date of Jan. 1, 2011.

ETC.

Report: Oregon hires Dana Altman as men’s basketball coach

Multiple media outlets are reporting that Creighton basketball Coach Dana Altman has agreed to take over at Oregon.

Fox Sports was the first to report that Altman had been hired to replace Ernie Kent, who was dismissed last month after 13 seasons with his alma mater.

Altman spent 16 seasons at Creighton, finishing with a 327-176 record. He led the Bluejays to 11 consecutive 20-win seasons before they were 18-16 last season.

Dwayne Polee Jr., the City Section player of the year from state Division I champion Westchester, was scheduled to announce his college choice Saturday night, but he said he would not make an announcement after speaking to Oregon officials earlier in the day. He has set up a recruiting visit to Oregon on Friday.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is ready to accept his six-game suspension and will issue a statement about it Monday.

Roethlisberger does not plan to hold a news conference.

Usain Bolt ran an 8.79-second anchor leg to help his Jamaican team win the 400-meter relay in front of a record Penn Relays crowd of 54,310 in Philadelphia.