When Fred Couples was struggling to stay near par in the first round, the cheers he heard were mostly from friends and family out to exult the Seattle native.

Fred Couples tees off the third hole in the third round of the U.S. Senior Open on Saturday in Sammamish, Wash.

On Saturday, the hometown boy gave everyone at Sahalee Country Club a reason to roar.

“Today I didn’t hear many family because it was loud and so much fun,” Couples said.

Couples shot a bogey-free 5-under 65 on Saturday, surging into a share of the U.S. Senior Open lead with Bernhard Langer with a round left. Feeding off the raucous hometown crowd, Couples made five birdies and posted the lowest score of the week.

A week after winning the Senior British Open at Carnoustie, Langer shot 68 on Saturday, posting his third straight round in the 60s.

Couples and Langer were five shots clear of Chien Soon Lu and Tom Kite, giving Sunday a match play feel with a little Ryder Cup thrown in.

Golf

Tseng leads in England

Southport, England — Yani Tseng shot her third straight 4-under 68 on Saturday, and will take a four-stroke lead into the final round of the Women’s British Open.

The 21-year-old star from Taiwan took advantage of the short, 472-yard, par-5 final hole by hitting an 8-iron to within 20 feet with her second shot. She rolled in the eagle putt to finish off her round, doubling her cushion over Australian Katherine Hull.

“I played really well again,” said Tseng, who is at 12 under and has just one bogey through 54 holes. “I really enjoyed the big crowd out there. They clap on every shot and I showed them my big smile all the way around.”

Fisher’s lead cut to one

Killarney, Ireland — Ross Fisher of England will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Irish Open after shooting an even-par 71 on Saturday.

Fisher built a five-shot lead after opening his third round with four birdies in his first seven holes. But after putting his approach shot into the water the par-4 eighth, Fisher made double bogey and dropped two more shots late in his round to finish at 12 under.

That gave renewed hope to his playing partner Francesco Molinari, who at one point was six strokes off the lead. Molinari shot a 69 to finish one behind Fisher.

Overton has 3-shot lead

White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. — Jeff Overton overcame a tough start to shoot 4-under 66 Saturday for a three-stroke lead entering the final round of the inaugural Greenbrier Classic.

Overton made five birdies on the back nine of the Old White course to move to 18 under.

The second-round leader kept the lead despite a pair of others flirting with 59. D.A. Points three-putted the par-5 17th for bogey, finished with a 61 and is alone in second at 15 under, and J.B. Holmes couldn’t convert a 10-footer for eagle at No. 17 and shot 60.

Boo Weekley shot a 67 to reach 13 under, and Holmes is in a four-way tie for fourth with Jonathan Byrd (64), Brendon de Jonge (65) and Jimmy Walker (67) at 12 under for the tournament.

Soccer

Bunbury’s header lifts Wizards

Kansas City, Kan.– Teal Bunbury took advantage of a defensive miscue and scored in the 61st minute to lift the Kansas City Wizards to a 1-0 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday.

The win gave Kansas City (5-8-4) its first three-match unbeaten streak of the year. Toronto (6-6-5) fell to 1-6-1 in road games.

College football

Former UNM assistant coach sues

Albuquerque, N.M. — A former assistant football coach has sued the University of New Mexico and coach Mike Locksley over an altercation between the two men last year.

J.B. Gerald filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque against Locksley and the University of New Mexico Board of Regents.

According to the lawsuit, Locksley attacked Gerald on Sept. 20 by choking him, punching him in the face, and cursing at him in front of peers and athletes, and should have to pay damages to Gerald. The suit also claims the university engaged in racial discrimination against Gerald, who is black, by failing to take appropriate action.

The lawsuit also states that “it was suggested to (Gerald) that his career would not benefit if he persisted in complaining of Locksley’s behavior.”

Auto racing

Sadler holds off Kahne

Long Pond, Pa. — Tears welled up in Elliott Sadler’s eyes as he drove his No. 2 truck past the white flag. Finally, victory was within reach.

After cutting off Matt Crafton’s pass attempt inside on a restart, the veteran driver pulled away from Kasey Kahne on the final lap of Saturday’s Truck Series race at Pocono for his first NASCAR win in six years.

“You sit at home a lot wondering if you’re ever going to make it back to Victory Lane,” said Sadler, a former Sprint Cup series contender who has struggled in recent years. “This time, I know it’s recent, I know it’s today, but it feels like the biggest win of my career.”ket to run good in this truck.”

Tennis

Querrey reaches final

Los Angeles — Second-seeded Sam Querrey defeated Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-7 (7), 7-6 (7), 6-4 on Saturday to reach the Farmers Classic final for the second consecutive year. Querrey will face top-seeded Andy Murray.

Querrey needed 2 hours and 47 minutes to put away Tipsarevic at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the UCLA campus, not far from his hometown of Thousand Oaks.

Azarenka upsets No. 1 seed Stosur

Stanford, Calif. — Victoria Azarenka is looking forward to celebrating her 21st birthday with a bit of champagne. It will have to wait at least a day though.

The young tennis player from Belarus reached the final of the Bank of the West Classic on Saturday, upsetting top-seeded Samantha Stosur, 6-2, 6-3.

Azarenka will face Maria Sharapova in the final.