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Matt Kuchar leads Colonial golf after three rounds

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Matt Kuchar finished a long Saturday at Colonial exhausted and still a stroke in front.

“This morning feels like a day ago,” Kuchar said. “It’s hard to believe it’s the same day.”

After making a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th hole, the same place where his day began at 7:13 a.m. to finish the suspended second round, Kuchar had two nifty par-savers to finish a one-under 69 in the third round at Fort Worth. He was at 11-under 199, one ahead of Graham DeLaet, Boo Weekley, Chris Stroud and Matt Every.

When the second round was suspended Friday night because of an approaching storm, Kuchar had just hit his tee shot at the 16th. He resumed there early Saturday with a two-putt from about 40 feet. That was part of three quick pars to keep his one-stroke lead after two rounds, then he played in the final group that finished just after 5 p.m.

Jeff Overton tweeted his frustration after being disqualified midway through the third round for illegally using a putting aid when he went to a nearby putting green while waiting for the long backup of groups to tee off.

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Overton, who was four under par and seven strokes behind the leader at the time, tweeted: “Rules official tells me we can practice chipping and putting. Disqualified for using my practice putting aid! ... Why do rules officials initiate that conversation to begin with. I wouldn’t even have gone up there if I had know that. What a joke!”

PGA Tour rules official Mark Russell said another player asked a scoring official about Overton’s use of an alignment stick on the putting green. “We don’t like to disqualify players. But that’s what the rule says.”

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Kenny Perry had an eagle, five birdies and four bogeys for a three-under 68 and a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Senior PGA Championship at St. Louis. Perry was at 10-under 203 overall at Bellerive Country Club, which had a rain delay of more than two hours before the last twosome of Perry and Russ Cochran teed off. Two-time champion Jay Haas was second after closing with two birdies for a 67. Cochran, who shot a 71, was three strokes back.

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Lee Westwood shot a 67 to move into second place, a stroke behind Alejandro Canizares, after three rounds of the third round of the BMW PGA Championship at Virginia Water, England. Canizares birdied his closing two holes to finish with a 68 at Wentworth for an overall nine-under 207.

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Paola Moreno of Colombia shot a second-round 41 on the makeshift, 12-hole Ocean Club course to take a one-stroke lead over Lindsey Wright in the flood-shortened Bahamas LPGA Classic at Paradise Island. Wright had seven birdies for a 38 that put her at eight-under 82 overall. Because of flooding earlier in the week, the tournament has been reduced to three rounds of 12 holes each.

MOTOR RACING: Kyle Busch takes Nationwide race

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In NASCAR, Kyle Busch led 186 of the 200 laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway at Concord, N.C., to race to his sixth Nationwide Series victory of the season and record seventh career win at the track. Ten years and a day after his Nationwide debut, Busch won for the record 57th time in the series. Busch needed to manage several late restarts to break a tie with Mark Martin for the most Nationwide victories at the track.

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Nico Rosberg clocked the fastest qualifying time at the Monaco Grand Prix, with a lap of 1 minute 13.876 seconds, to secure his third consecutive pole position and the fourth straight for Mercedes.

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Ryan Villopoto swept the 450 class motos at Thunder Valley Motocross Park to remain unbeaten after two rounds in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Lakewood, Colo.

TENNIS: Montanes sweeps Monfils

Albert Montanes of Spain clinched his sixth title by defeating French wild-card entry Gael Monfils, 6-0, 7-6 (3), in the rain-interrupted final of the Nice Open in France. ... In the final of the Brussels Open, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia beat Peng Shuai of China, 6-2, 7-5.

HOCKEY: Coyotes’ sale approved

The NHL has approved the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to a group of Canadian-led investors, but the deal is contingent on reaching a lease agreement with the city of Glendale, two people familiar with the situation told the Associated Press.

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ETC: Beckham’s soccer career ends

David Beckham was not included on Paris Saint-Germain’s roster for the season-ending game Sunday against Lorient, meaning his tearful farewell at the Parc des Princes in Paris on May 18 was the soccer star’s final match before retiring. ... On a cold, rainy afternoon in New York, Tyson Gay ran into a headwin to win the 100 meters with a time of 10.02 seconds at the Adidas Grand Prix. ... Vincenzo Nibali nearly wrapped up cycling’s Giro d’Italia title with a dominating solo performance to win the penultimate stage, leaving behind his rivals under a blizzard of snow on the final climb. An Italian with the Astana team, Nibali clocked 5 hours 27 minutes 41 seconds over the 131-mile leg, which ended in Tre Cime de Lavaredo, Italy. ... In the USA Cycling Pro Championships at Chattanooga, Tenn., Tom Zirbel won a national time-trial title, edging Brent Bookwalter by 17 seconds. Carmen Small of Durango, Colo., won the women’s time trial in 42:37. ... David Lawson scored the go-ahead goal with 6:35 left in the fourth quarter to lift Duke to a 16-14 victory against Cornell in the NCAA lacrosse semifinals at Philadelphia. Duke (15-5) will play the winner of the Syracuse-Denver match in the championship Monday.

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