Irwin in Front at Senior PGA

Hale Irwin led Dave Barr by a stroke Saturday when the third round of the Senior PGA Championship in Louisville, Ky., was suspended because of darkness.

Tom Watson, Gil Morgan, Jay Haas, John Harris and Wayne Levi were two strokes back when play was suspended. The players were scheduled to resume the round this morning, with the final round to follow.

Irwin, seeking his fourth victory in the tournament, topped the leaderboard at six under with nine holes to play in the third round. He made nine consecutive pars in the third round after shooting a two-under 69 earlier in the day, putting him at six-under 136 after 36 holes.

“It’s really hard to play in the dark. Let’s go home and eat,” said Irwin, who turns 59 on Thursday.

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David Toms, who started the third round with a one-stroke lead over Vaughn Taylor, extended his advantage to seven strokes with a six-under 65, giving the defending champion control of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn. Taylor shot even-par 71.

The biggest challenge facing Toms, who is at 18-under 195, might be the weather. Officials will send threesomes off the first and 10th tees today in an effort to finish by 4 p.m. EDT and avoid expected severe thunderstorms.

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Playing in the final twosome with Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Estill matched the Swedish star stroke for stroke and made a four-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to gain a one-shot lead over her after three rounds at the Corning Classic in Corning, N.Y.

Estill finished at 15-under 201 and will begin the final day of a tournament in first place for the first time since she joined the LPGA Tour in 1991.

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Motor Racing

Kyle Busch needed a bit of good fortune to take the lead late in the NASCAR Busch Series Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. He went ahead when leader Joe Nemechek lost control of his Chevrolet with 18 laps to go, then pulled away from the field in his Chevrolet.

Busch benefited from the late caution on Nemechek’s spinout to save gas for a final push to the checkered flag. He won under caution after Tony Raines hit the wall in his Chevrolet with two laps to go. Jamie McMurray finished second in a Dodge.

Michael Schumacher won the pole position for today’s Formula One European Grand Prix in Nuerburgring, Germany, the 60th pole of his career. Schumacher is closing in on Ayrton Senna’s record of 65 poles.

Schumacher was timed in 1 minute 28.351 seconds in his Ferrari on the 3.2-mile Nuerburgring circuit. Takuma Sato of BAR-Honda was second in 1:28.896.

Burney Lamar used a perfect sprint car slide to take the lead with 10 laps left and won the AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series’ Schwan’s Home Delivery 150 at Irwindale Speedway.

In the 50-lap West Coast Pro Truck series feature, Dean Kuhn led the entire race as he earned a win in his first race of the season, holding off Aaron Staudinger and Chris Johnson. Travis Thirkettle won the 35-lap Grand American Modified series feature.

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Soccer

Paris Saint-Germain won the French Cup final, beating Chateauroux, 1-0, on Geredro Pauleta’s goal in the 65th minute at Saint-Denis. The French Cup is the first trophy won by PSG since 1998.... Werder Bremen completed its first league-cup double, beating Alemannia Aachen, 3-2, in the German Cup final at Berlin. Bremen, the Bundesliga champion, became the fourth German team to win the league and cup in the same season.

Bart Goor’s penalty kick in the 77th minute gave Belgium a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in a European Championship warmup match in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The Dutch are among the favorites in next month’s Euro 2004 finals.... Cruz Azul advanced to the semifinals in the Mexican league playoffs after tying Chiapas, 2-2, in Mexico City and winning, 4-3, on aggregate. Chiapas had won 17 in a row before the first leg loss.

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Miscellany

The NCAA infractions committee won’t include potential violations involving a former softball team doctor when it considers Washington’s gambling case June 11 in Indianapolis.

Investigators had considered incorporating a prescription drug scandal that centered on the softball program into the earlier violations, which include a “lack of institutional control” charge against Washington.

France clinched a berth in the men’s volleyball tournament at the Athens Olympics after defeating Japan, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-12, in a qualifying tournament in Tokyo. Eight nations are competing in the seven-day, round-robin event. The overall winner and the best Asian team gain Olympic berths.

The United States won the women’s eights at the rowing World Cup in Munich, Germany.