Harris English has two-stroke lead in St. Jude Classic

Harris English shot a six-under 64 on Friday to open a two-stroke lead in the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn., the final event before the U.S. Open next week at Merion.

The 23-year-old former Georgia player had never even had a piece of a lead on the PGA Tour until Thursday when he found himself tied with five others, including Davis Love III, after 18 holes.

English used a hot putter to roll in five birdie putts, holed out from 181 yards for eagle on the par-4 fifth and had only one bogey to finish the second round at 10-under 130.

Shawn Stefani was second after a 65. Paul Haley II and Scott Stallings each shot 68 to reach five under. Love was tied with four others at four under after a 70, and defending champion Dustin Johnson also had a 70 to finish at three under. Phil Mickelson was two under after a 67.

South Korea’s Chella Choi shot a five-under 67 to take a one-shot lead over Morgan Pressel after the first round of the rain-delayed LPGA Championship at Pittsford, N.Y.

Winless on the LPGA Tour, Choi had five birdies and in a bogey-free front nine to move into the lead and held on in steady rain over her final seven holes.

Pressel closed with four straight birdies over the soggy Locust Hill Country Club course to gain the early lead. It was just her second sub-70 round of the year. Brittany Lincicome was tied for third at 69 with Jiyai Shin, and Jessica Korda was another stroke back, tied for fifth with Se Ri Pak.

More than nine inches of rain fell on the course in the previous nine days, half of that coming Thursday when the opening round of the second major of the year was pushed back one day.

Duffy Waldorf shot a four-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead over Jeff Sluman after the weather-delayed second round of the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala.

Waldorf had three birdies and a bogey on both the first nine holes and the last nine to top the Shoal Creek leaderboard at nine-under 135. The Champions Tour rookie also led after two rounds last week in Iowa in the Principal Charity Classic, but closed with a one-under 71 to tie for third.

Sluman, the first-round leader, had a 71. Fred Couples, Mark Calcavecchia, Michael Allen and Canadian Rod Spittle were three strokes back. Couples had a 71, Calcavecchia and Allen shot 69, and Spittle had a 66.

Dutchman Joost Luiten shot a four-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead at 11-under 133 after the second round of the Lyoness Open at Atzenbrugg, Austria.

Scotland’s Callum Macaulay, England’s Paul Waring and Spain’s Eduardo de la Riva were tied for second. Macaulay had a 66, Waring shot 67, and De la Riva had a 69.

Bryshon Nellum and Reggie Wyatt won individual titles Friday as USC’s men’s team moved into a first-place tie heading into the final day of competition in NCAA track and field championships at Eugene, Ore.

Nellum, a senior from Los Angeles, won the 400-meters final in a personal-best 44.73 seconds. He finished ahead of Texas A&M;’s Deon Lendore (44.94 seconds) and Florida’s Arman Hall (45.02).

Wyatt, a senior from Riverside, won the 400-meter hurdles in 48.58 seconds.

USC and Texas each have 32 points. Arkansas is in third place with 30.5 points.

USC’s Aaron Brown, a junior who competed for Canada in the 2012 London Games, finished fifth in the 100-meter final, clocking 10.01 seconds.

Nellum and Brown will compete in Saturday’s 200-meter final.

UCLA’s Julian Wruck won the discus at 213 feet 1 inch and the Bruins’ Turquoise Thompson finished third in the women’s 400 hurdles.

— Gary Klein

USC freshman receiver Steven Mitchell will miss the 2013 season because of a knee injury suffered Friday during a voluntary workout, the school announced.

Mitchell suffered torn knee ligaments in his right knee, the school said.

The loss of Mitchell leaves the Trojans with only five scholarship receivers: Biletnikoff Award winner Marqise Lee, sophomore Nelson Agholor, senior De’Von Flournoy, sophomore Victor Blackwell and freshman Darreus Rogers.

Junior George Farmer suffered a season-ending knee injury during spring practice.

The Trojans open training camp in early August in preparation for their Aug. 29 opener at Hawaii.

— Gary Klein

Jeb Burton got his first career NASCAR Truck Series victory, holding off a hard-charging Ty Dillon to win at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.