Beem (66) makes his move and shares first place

Rich Beem isn’t going quietly from these PGA Tour playoffs.

One week after he narrowly avoided elimination, Beem kept alive his improbable run Saturday at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass., with birdies on his last four holes for a five-under-par 66, leaving him in a three-way tie with Mike Weir and Aaron Baddeley.

Weir shot 68 and Baddeley birdied his final hole for a 66.

Beem cannot finish lower than second if he wants to advance to the third tournament next week, and a crowded leaderboard with 36 holes remaining includes Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, who each shot 64 to get within three of the lead.

But it was another impressive performance by Beem, who is keeping alive his hopes of earning the $10-million prize for the winner of the FedEx Cup.

Beem isn’t the only player desperate for a good week.

Weir, the former Masters champion and recent captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup, needs to finish in the top five to have any chance of moving into the top 70 in the playoff standings and advance to the BMW Championship outside Chicago.

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Sherri Steinhauer birdied three of her last six holes to retain the lead in the State Farm Classic at Springfield, Ill., with defending champion Annika Sorenstam three strokes back with one round left.

Steinhauer, who also led after the first two rounds, had three birdies and two bogeys during an up-and-down round of one-under 71 that left her at 12-under 204 on the Panther Creek Country Club course.

Rachel Hetherington was a stroke back after a 67. Christina Kim, coming off a second-place finish last week in the Safeway Classic, had a 71 to join Michele Redman at 10 under. Redman made the biggest third-round move, shooting a 64.

Sorenstam, defending the most recent of her 69 career LPGA Tour titles, had a 71. She was at nine under along with Becky Morgan (69).

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Hale Irwin shot a seven-under 65 for a share of the second-round lead with Des Smyth and Gil Morgan in the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

Irwin, in position to become the third-oldest winner in Champions Tour history at 62, matched Smyth (64) and Morgan (65) at nine-under 135.

PRO BASKETBALL

Mercury sweeps into WNBA finals

Cappie Pondexter scored nine of her 33 points in the final five minutes and the Phoenix Mercury advanced to the WNBA finals with a 98-92 win over the San Antonio Silver Stars at Phoenix.

The Mercury, which has swept both its playoff series, will play Wednesday against Detroit or Indiana. The Fever leads the best-of-three series, 1-0.

GYMNASTICS

China women lead at world championships

Four of the six members of the defending champion Chinese women’s team are new this year and 16 or younger. But despite their inexperience, and a few nervous bobbles and uncharacteristically rough landings, China was in first place after the first of two days of team qualifying at the world championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

China’s 241.175 points led second-place Romania by 1.3 points, with Italy in third and Ukraine in fourth. Two of the other favorites, the U.S. and Russia, compete today along with Brazil, Australia, Spain, Belarus and Japan.

The top eight teams after today’s competition will compete for the team title Wednesday. The top 12 teams from the finals qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

U.S. team coordinator Martha Karolyi submitted a lineup that has U.S. champion Shawn Johnson, two-time U.S. champion Nastia Liukin and Shayla Worley competing on all four apparatus and eligible for the all-around medal.

-- Diane Pucin

HORSE RACING

Lawyer Ron wins Woodward Stakes

Lawyer Ron pulled away in the stretch and won the $500,000 Woodward Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

He added the Grade I Woodward to his win in the Grade I Whitney Handicap on July 28, a race in which the 4-year-old colt earned an automatic spot in the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Monmouth Park on Oct. 27.

MISCELLANY

Niida retains WBA 105-pound crown

Yutaka Niida retained his World Boxing Assn. minimum-weight title with a unanimous decision over Eriberto Gejon at Tokyo. Niida, fighting in the 105-pound division, improved his record to 22-1-3 in his sixth title defense. Gejon dropped to 23-2-1.

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As expected, George Horton was hired as Oregon’s baseball coach. The former Cal State Fullerton coach was introduced between the first and second quarters of the Ducks’ football opener against Houston.

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What had been the longest active high school football winning streak -- and the second-longest all-time -- ended when Cincinnati Elder defeated Charlotte (N.C.) Independence, 41-34.