Continued: Saturday's sports briefs

GOLF

Furyk takes lead in St. Louis

Jim Furyk finished with five consecutive birdies, setting the course record at Bellerive in St. Louis with an 8-under-par 62 in the second round, then followed with a 66 that put him at 12-under 198 and gave him the clubhouse lead in the BMW Championship in St. Louis. Camilo Villegas, who shot 66 in the morning for a one-shot lead through 36 holes, also was 12 under and had five holes left in the third round when play was suspended by darkness.

• Annika Sorenstam shot a 5-under 68 and trailed Melissa Reid by six shots after the second round of the Nykredit Masters in Helsingoer, Denmark. Sorenstam, in her final tournament in Europe, shared second place with Martina Eberl of Germany (73).

• Kathy Hartwiger of Birmingham, Ala., shot a 2-under 70 and took a one-stroke lead after the first round of stroke-play qualifying in the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor, Mich. Claudia Pilot of Austin was the nearest Minnesotan, seven strokes back at 5 over. Mari Miezwa of Brooklyn Park was at 8 over, Ellie Layton of Minneapolis 10 over and Leigh Klasse of St. Anthony 11 over.

• Two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Tim Jackson of Germantown, Tenn., had a 5-under-par 65 at the Milwaukee Country Club for a one-stroke lead over Scott Fawcett of Dallas at the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Milwaukee. Adam Dooley of Albany, Minn., was at 1 over. Tony Brown of Wayzata was 9 over, Shell Wheeler of North Oaks 11 over, and Daryl Schomer of St. Cloud 14 over.

NFL

Niners QB Smith listed doubtful

The San Francisco 49ers added quarterback Alex Smith to their injury report Saturday, listing him as doubtful for today's game against Arizona because of another problem in his surgically repaired right shoulder. Shaun Hill will be the backup for J.T. O'Sullivan.

• Arizona placed center Al Johnson (knee) on injured reserve, sidelining him for the season.

BASKETBALL

Sparks win, clinch playoff berth

DeLisha Milton-Jones had 16 points and seven rebounds as the Los Angeles Sparks (19-13) clinched a playoff berth with an 84-66 victorty over the Comets (14-16) in Houston on Saturday night. In other WNBA action, Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored 21 points in her return to Washington, Deanna Nolan had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and the Detroit Shock (19-12) rolled to an 84-69 victory over the Mystics (10-20).

SOCCER

U.S. tops Cuba in qualifier

Clint Dempsey scored before halftime and the United States held on to beat Cuba 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Havana. It was the Americans' first match on the Communist-run island since 1947. The U.S. leads Group One with six points.

The U.S. embargo meant there were almost no Americans among the roughly 8,000 in the stands, though a few officials from the U.S. Interests Section, which Washington maintains in Havana instead of an embassy, organized a special trip to the game.

• Jason Garey scored twice, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto had a goal and two assists as host Columbus (13-6-4) rolled to a 4-0 victory over New England (11-7-5). In other MLS games, goals by Daniel Paladini and Jonathan Bornstein rallied Chivas USA (8-9-6) to a 3-1 MLS victory at Toronto FC (7-11-5), and Stephen King's goal in the 36th minute lifted Chicago (11-7-5) to a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls (8-7-8).

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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