Sport in Short: Golf

LAURA DAVIES of England was 12 under and four strokes in the lead after the first four holes of the third round of the BMW Italian Open at Frassanelle yesterday. Lora Fairclough, of Lancashire, joined Australian Corinne Dibnah in second place at eight under.

PGA CUP (K Club, County Kildare): Europe v United States (Europe names first) Foursomes: R Weir and J Chillas halved with T Wargo and R McDougal; J Hoskison and C Maltman bt L Rinker and M San Filippo 4 and 3; C Hall and N Job bt L Gilbert and S Veriato 2 and 1; D Jones and P Cowen lost to B Upper and G Fieger 1 hole. Match position: Europe 5 USA 7. Fourballs: Maltman and Hoskison lost to Wargo and McDougal 2 and 1; Chillas and Weir lost to Rinker and M Schuchart 2 holes; Job and Hall bt Gilbert and B Borowicz 2 and 1; Jones and Cowen lost to Upper and Fieger 1 hole. Fourball result: Europe 1 US 3. Match position: Europe 6 US 10 (10 singles ties today).

BMW WOMEN'S ITALIAN OPEN (Padua): Leading third-round scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 205 L Davies 66 66 73. 209 S Mendiburu (Fr) 74 70 65; C Dibnah (Aus) 69 67 73. 210 C Hjalmarsson (Swe) 70 72 68; L Maritz (SA) 68 70 72. 211 L-A Mills (US) 70 69 72. 212 M Lunn (Aus) 71 70 71; D Dowling 69 71 72; X Wunsch (Sp) 71 69 72; L Fairclough 70 69 74. 213 D Reid 72 72 69; S Gronberg (Swe) 71 71 71; Li Wen-Lin (Tai) 72 69 72. 214 J Hill (Zim) 67 73 74; V Michaud (Fr) 69 70 75. 215 C Nilsmark (Swe) 72 74 69; D Barnard 75 70 70. 216 H Wadsworth 73 74 69; S Strudwick 74 71 71; L Hackney 71 72 73.

HARDEE'S CLASSIC (Coal Valley, Illinois): Leading second-round scores (US unless stated): 130 D Frost (SA) 62 68. 133 L Roberts 67 66; T Lehman 64 69; P Azinger 65 68. 135 P Horgan 67 68; R Wrenn 69 66; D Halldorson (Can) 67 68; B Bryant 64 71; B Fleisher 66 69; G Morgan 68 67. 136 L Broeck 65 71; W Wood 64 72; T Sieckmann 66 70; T Sills 67 69; M Hulbert 66 70; J Haas 66 70; D Peoples 65 71; B Zabriski 66 70.

ANA OPEN TOURNAMENT (Hiroshima) Leading third-round scores (Jap unless stated): 208 M Ozaki 70 69 69. 212 K Takahashi 74 69 69; M Kuramoto 72 70 70. 213 H Shigenobu 70 76 67. 214 Y Iwashita 72 72 70; T Otsuka 69 73 72; Chen Tze-chung (Tai) 71 70 73. Selected: 215 W Smith (Aus) 77 66 72; G Norman (Aus) 73 67 75. 218 F Minoza (Phil) 73 73 72; D Ishii (US) 72 71 75. 219 B Franklin (Can) 73 71 75. 221 W Grady (Aus) 73 72 76. 222 B Jones (Aus) 75 73 74. 224 Lim Jin-han (S Kor) 76 71 77; Chen Tze-ming (Tai) 74 72 78. 225 E Herrera (Col) 70.

SAFECO CLASSIC WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT (Kent, Washington) Leading second-round scores (US unless stated): 139 M McGann 73 66; C Walker 72 67; H Alfredsson (Swe) 71 68. 140 H Stacy 78 62; J Inkster 73 67; P Sheehan 71 69; K Postlewait 71 69; D Massey 71 69; R Jones 71 69; B Mucha 70 70. 141 B Daniel 72 69; D Mochrie 69 72. 142 L Merten 76 66; D Eggeling 74 68; V Fergon 72 70; K Williams 71 71; A-M Palli (Fr) 71 71; N Lopez 71 71; T Barrett 70 72.