Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — GOLF

Lewis keeps lead

Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 3-under-par 69 to keep the lead after the second round of the LPGA Evian Masters on Friday in Evian-Les-Bains, France, one stroke ahead of South Korea’s Ilhee Lee. Lewis finished at 12 under, a day after shooting 63 in an opening round that included nine birdies. “Today was actually a little bit of a struggle for me. I wasn’t really sure how I would play coming off a good score yesterday,” said Lewis, who is chasing her third LPGA Tour title of the year. “It’s hard when you make pars and you feel like you’re going backwards because of all the birdies I made yesterday.” Lewis seemed to pick up where she left off with a birdie on No. 4 and an eagle on No. 7. But she had bogeys on the 12th and 14th holes. Lee had four consecutive birdies on the back nine to finish with a 67. American Paula Creamer (67), the 2005 Evian champion, and former U.S.Women’s Open champion Inbee Park (64) were three shots behind Lewis. Creamer had five birdies in her round. Natalie Gulbis had a 69 to trail by six shots, while Karrie Webb (69) and Se Ri Pak (69) were another stroke back. Cheyenne Woods (69), Cristie Kerr (69), Brittany Lang (69) and Suzann Pettersen (71) were eight shots behind the leader. Lewis recovered to make birdies on 15 and 18 and did just enough to regain the lead from Lee, who was three shots behind to start the day. On Thursday, Lewis’ birdie run included seven in a row. It matched three-time champion Helen Alfredsson’s tournament record round set in 2008. Lee tied for fourth place at the U.S. Open three weeks ago. Defending champion Ai Miyazato shot 70, nine shots back. Karen Stupples (Arkansas State) missed the cut after shooting a 69 Friday. She finished at 6-over 150.

William McGirt shot a 4-underpar 66 Friday for a share of the second-round lead with Scott Piercy in the PGA Canadian Open in Ancaster, Ontario. Piercy followed his opening 8-under 62 with a 67 to join McGirt at 11-under 129 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, matching the tournament 36-hole scoring record. Robert Garrigus was two strokes back after a 66, and Bo Van Pelt was 9 under after a 66. Tim Clark and Vijay Singh were 8 under. Clark had a 62, and Singh shot 67. British Open champion ErnieEls missed the cut with rounds of 72 and 70. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) had a 65 and is 5 under. John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 69 and is at 2 under.

American Gary Hallberg shot a 7-under-par 63 in the windy second round of the Champions Tour’s Senior British Open in Turnberry, Scotland, to take a three-stroke lead over Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman. Hallberg was 6 under on Turnberry’s Ailsa Course. Langer followed his opening 64 with a 73. Lehman had a 71. Jeff Sluman was 2 under after a 68. Fred Couples was tied for ninth at even par after a 68. Tom Watson was 10 strokes back after a 75. He lost a playoff to Stewart Cink in the 2009 British Open at Turnberry, and won the1977 British Open and 2003 Senior British Open at the course. The 62-year-old American is a five-time British Open winner and three-time Senior British Open champion. England’s Roger Chapman, the Senior PGA and U.S. Senior Open winner, withdrew before the round because of a neck injury. He shot a 72 Thursday. Greg Norman missed the cut with rounds of 72 and 77.

Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen shot a 4-under-par 68 to take a three-stroke lead over Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg after the third round of the European Lyoness Open in Atzenbrugg, Austria. Olesen, the Sicilian Open winner in April, was 16 under at Diamond Country Club. Karlberg shot a 66.

Trevor Murphy leads the Web.com Children’s Hospital Invitational after second-round play was suspended Friday because of inclement weather. Murphy is at 9 under through 11 holes in the second round. Glen Day (Little Rock) shot a second-round 67 and is 4 under. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) had a 75 Friday and is 2 over for the tournament. Brenden Pappas (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 71 and is at 7 over.

BASKETBALL

Wolves sign Kirilenko

Andrei Kirilenko is returning to the NBA, this time with Minnesota. The Timberwolves found the versatile, tough-defending small forward they’ve been seeking to fill out their roster, and this one they didn’t have to try to pry away from a division rival. Kirilenko’s signing of a two-year, $20 million contract was completed Friday after a three-team trade with New Orleans and Phoenix cleared the necessary space under the salary cap. Kirilenko, 31, spent last season with CKSA Moscow after a 10-year run with Utah, choosing to play in his native Russia during the lockout and staying there once it ended.

The Chicago Bulls have signed free agent center Nazr Mohammed. The 14-year NBA veteran played for the Oklahoma City Thunder last season. He appeared in 63 games, averaging 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

HORSE RACING

Street Life rallies

Favored Street Life, ridden by Jose Lezcano, rallied in the stretch, overtook Five Sixteen inside the sixteenth pole and scored a 1 3/4-length victory in the $100,000 Curlin Stakes for 3-year-olds Friday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Chad Brown trained Street Life ran 1 1/8 miles over a muddy track in 1:50.68 for his third victory in seven starts this year.He earned $60,000 for his owners, Magnolia Racing Stable and Hidden Brook Farm. Street Life paid $6.30, $3.90 and $3.10. Five Sixteen paid $11.40 and $4.80 and Ever So Lucky, third of six, paid $4.40 to show. The race was followed by the announcement of a name selected for a weanling colt sired by Curlin, 2008 Horse of the Year, from the champion Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year. The colt will be named Jess’ Dream for Jess Jackson, who owned both.

BASKETBALL Hornets get Lopez in three-team deal

The New Orleans Hornets, Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves have completed a three-team deal that will send 7-foot center Robin Lopez and forward Hakim Warrick from Phoenix to New Orleans, while moving forward Wes Johnson and a future first-round draft pick from Minnesota to the Suns.

Word of the multiplayer trade first broke Wednesday, though the final version had minor changes.

The deal sends the contracts of Jerome Dyson and Brad Miller from New Orleans to Phoenix. Minnesota also receives three second round draft picks in the deal.

The acquisition of Lopez fills a need at center for the Hornets, who traded Emeka Okafor and let Chris Kaman go in free agency. While the Hornets drafted 6-11 Kentucky star Anthony Davis first overall in last month’s draft, Davis is expected to play often at power forward because his slender build could leave him at a defensive disadvantage in 1-on-1 match ups against some of the league’s more powerful centers such as Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum.

The Hornets also have 7-footer Jason Smith on the roster, and while he has filled in at center well when called upon, he has been primarily a reserve power forward during his career. New Orleans now has made two trades to acquire new front court players, having also dealt forward Gustavo Ayon to Orlando for 6-10 Ryan Anderson, a perimeter threat who can space out a defense.

Lopez was drafted 15th overall by the Suns in 2008. Before that, he starred at Stanford with his twin brother, Brook, now a starter with Brooklyn Nets. Robin Lopez has been an off-and-on starter in the NBA and was a reserve for all 64 games in which he appeared last season, averaging 5.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 14 minutes a game.

Warrick, a former Syracuse standout now entering his eighth season, started periodically in Memphis early in his career, but played a reserve role the past two seasons in Phoenix. For his career, he has averaged 9.5 points and 4.1 rebounds in 20.4 minutes.

In Johnson, the Suns get a 6-7 small forward who has averaged 7.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in 24.6 minutes during the first two years of his career. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft out of Syracuse but has not developed into a dependable scorer or defender in the NBA.