Webb Simpson leads Wells Fargo Championship

Webb Simpson, who lives about a mile from the course, emerged from a crowded leaderboard with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C. He finished with a three-under 69 for a one-shot lead in the Wells Fargo Championship.

Simpson was among seven players who had a share of the lead at some point in the third round. One of them was Rory McIlroy, who can return to No. 1 in the world this week. McIlroy was slowed by a three-putt, but had a 66 and was among those two shots behind.

Ryan Moore (68) and D.A. Points (69) were one shot behind.

Fred Funk shot a three-under 69 in sweltering heat for a share of the second-round lead with Tom Lehman in the Champions Tour’s Insperity Championship at the Woodlands, Texas. Lehman followed his opening 65 with a 70 to match Funk at 9-under 135 on The Tournament Course.

Mike Goodes and Brad Bryant were one shot back.

The main attraction was the grouping of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player in an exhibition scramble. Palmer curled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole, prompting a roar from the massive gallery that followed the greats all day. The team of Nicklaus, Palmer and Player won the three-team event at 11 under.

Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum and France’s Karine Icher each shot seven-under 66 to share the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s 36-hole Brazil Cup exhibition event at Rio de Janeiro. American Katie Futcher was a shot behind at Itanhanga Golf Club.

Venus Williams held off a late surge by Simona Halep to win, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (6) in the first round of the Madrid Open on Saturday.

Fifth-seeded Sam Stosur also needed three sets to beat Petra Martic. Stosur saved six break points to claim the tight contest from the Croatian, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (5).

Stosur will next face American Christina McHale, who converted five of 14 break points to beat Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson, 6-4, 7-5.

Joey Logano nipped Kyle Busch at the finish line to win the Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

The race was marred by a late accident that sent Eric McClure to an Alabama hospital by helicopter. McClure was awake and speaking to emergency workers after the accident.

Jeff Gordon won the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega.

Gordon ran a lap at 191.623 mph in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in Saturday’s qualifying session, good enough to bump AJ Allmendinger, who was on top of the board for most of the session, to second.

Lionel Messi scored four times to take his season tally to an unprecedented 72 goals and give Barcelona Coach Pep Guardiola a 4-0 win over crosstown rival Espanyol in his last home game at Camp Nou Stadium.

Messi’s scoring display was a fitting farewell for the coach who helped the Argentina forward become the world’s best player and forged Barcelona into one of the best teams to have played football.

After scoring his Spanish league-record 50th goal late on, Messi went to the sideline to embrace Guardiola, who is leaving after 13 titles in four seasons.

Real Madrid, which clinched the league title in the last round, won 2-1 at Granada thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 45th league goal and David Cortes’ own goal in stoppage time.

Arizona State guard Trent Lockett, the team’s leading scorer last season, says he will transfer to Marquette for his senior season to be closer to his mother, who has been diagnosed with cancer.

Lockett, whose mother lives in Minnesota, already has earned a bachelor’s degree in business communication from Arizona State.

Jack Johnson scored his second goal of the game 1:47 into overtime to lift the United States to a 5-4 win over Canada on Saturday at the hockey world championships in Helsinki.

Jim Slater, Patrick Dwyer and Nate Thompson also scored in regulation for the Americans (2-0-0), who beat Canada at the event for the first time since 2001 and just the fourth time in 42 tries overall.

Jimmy Howard stopped 42 shots for the U.S., while Cam Ward had 29 saves for Canada.

Dick Beam, an assistant on two of USC’s national championship football teams and later an executive with the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has died. He was 75.

Beam died of cancer Thursday in Corona, the university said.

Beam worked under coach John McKay at USC from 1972 to 1975, spending the first two seasons as a part-time assistant and scout while teaching physical education at a high school. He was a full-time assistant in his final two seasons. The Trojans won national titles in 1972 and 1974 and played in three Rose Bowls.

He followed McKay to the NFL, working from 1976 1980 with the Buccaneers as an assistant and director of administration. He spent 1981-90 as director of operations for the Rams.

Beam helped organize the NFL’s American Bowl in London (1987), Tokyo (1989) and Berlin (1990). He also served as a consultant to the NFL at 29 Super Bowls, including last year.

Beam began his coaching career at his alma mater, Whittier College, where he assisted coach Don Coryell. He played three sports at Whittier, including football, where he was coached by George Allen and then by Coryell, both future NFL coaches.