Ireland’s Padraig Harrington carded a 6-under-par 65 on Saturday to forge a tie with Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee atop the leaderboard with a round to play at the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Ariz.

Harrington pocketed two impressive eagles over a three-hole stretch (holes 9-11) which also included a birdie as he surged into contention at La Paloma Country Club at 11 under for the tourney.

“You know, every hole out here, if you play it well, you’ve got a birdie chance. But it’s so difficult being committed to your shots,” Harrington said. “Nobody can expect to be perfect, but you’ve got to be committed to whatever number you come up with. Whatever formula you use, you’ve got to stick to it, and probably just roll with the punches when it doesn’t quite work out.”

Harrington finished with two eagles, five birdies and three bogeys.

Jaidee’s day was much calmer, as the veteran went bogey-free while snatching four birdies. His 4-under 67 followed a Friday round that more resembled Harrington’s Saturday: two eagles, four birdies and a bogey (64).

That had been good enough to position him in second, alongside South Africa’s Retief Goosen, who fell off the pace with a 2-over 73. That tumble left Goosen in a tie for 26th.

Defending champion Steven Alker of New Zealand might have raised eyebrows with his scintillating 9-under 62 that tied the course record and brought him back within striking distance at 9 under overall. No player has yet to successfully defend his title at the Cologuard Classic, but Alker will have a chance on Sunday.

“I just wanted to put up a good day to get back in the tournament,” Alker said. “Defending champ, so I wanted to kind of give it a good run. Kind of feel like I’ve put myself in there, three or four back, you never know at the end of the day. Yeah, it was a nice round. Some positive stuff going forward.”

Bo Van Pelt, who had also tied the course record with a 9-under-par 62 on Friday, shot 10 strokes worse than that in Round 2 (1-over 72), dropping him into a tie for eighth at 8 under for the tournament.

Two golfers are ahead of Alker in a tie for third at 10 under after shooting matching 67s: Tommy Gainey and Germany’s Bernhard Langer.

Zach Johnson (65) and Jason Caron (66) are tied with Alker in fifth.

–Field Level Media

Ava Heiden scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 2 seed Iowa survive a strong upset bid from No. 15 Fairleigh Dickinson for a 58-48 win in Sacramento Region 4 first-round NCAA Tournament action Saturday in Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes (27-6) led by just two points entering the fourth quarter after they were outscored 16-15 over the middle two periods. Heiden accounted for half of the team’s scoring with 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line, all of which came in the final quarter.

Hannah Stuelke added 13 points and a career-high-tying 16 rebounds as Iowa overcame a 1-for-13 3-point performance by handily outrebounding the Knights 47-28 to win their seventh straight NCAA Tournament opener.

The Hawkeyes next host No. 10 seed Virginia on Monday for a spot in the Sweet 16.

Fairleigh Dickinson’s only lead of the game came at 3-2, but the Knights (30-5) cut a 15-point first-quarter deficit to three points by the end of the first with a 12-0 run and trailed by one at halftime. Ava Renninger was the only Fairleigh Dickinson player in double figures with 13 points.

Bella Toomey tallied nine off the bench on a trio of treys, and Madlena Gerke and Kailee McDonald chipped in eight apiece as the Knights saw their 22-game winning streak come to an end.

No. 1 South Carolina 103, No. 16 Southern 34

Joyce Edwards scored 27 points to lead five Gamecocks players in double figures in a first-round romp over the Jaguars in Columbia, S.C.

Regional top seed South Carolina (32-3) will meet Southern Cal on Monday. Ta’Niya Latson had 17 points, Madina Okat and Agot Makeer both scored 15 and Tessa Johnson had 14 for the Gamecocks, who made 54.7% of their shots from the field.

Joceyln Tate had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench for Southern (20-14), which shot just 18.5% from the field and committed 20 turnovers. The Jaguars knocked off Samford on the same court two days earlier in the First Four, but they were no match for South Carolina.

The Gamecocks led 23-6 early in the second quarter and outscored Southern 32-2 in the third quarter.

Johnson, who also pulled in 10 rebounds, connected on four of South Carolina’s eight 3-point baskets, matching Southern’s 3-point total. Alicia Tournebize had 11 rebounds for South Carolina, which built a 57-33 rebounding edge.

No. 10 Virginia 82, No. 7 Georgia 73 (OT)

Kymora Johnson poured in 28 points and Sa’Myah Smith racked up 23 as the Cavaliers dominated overtime in a first-round victory in Iowa City, Iowa.

Romi Levy provided 14 points for No. 10 seed Virginia (21-11), which takes on the Fairleigh Dickinson-Iowa winner on Monday. The Cavaliers outscored Georgia 11-2 in the extra period.

Mia Woolfolk, a Virginia native, posted 27 points and Rylie Theuerkauf, aided by five 3-point baskets, compiled 22 points for seventh-seeded Georgia (22-10). Savannah Henderson had 11 points, but the Bulldogs shot 7 of 24 on 3-pointers.

With the score tied at 71-all, Georgia got off two shots in the final seconds of regulation but didn’t connect.

Georgia wasn’t able to take full advantage of a huge edge in free-throw opportunities, going 22 of 35 at the line. Virginia was just 12 of 15, with six of those attempts coming in the final two minutes of overtime.

No. 9 USC 71, No. 8 Clemson 67 (OT)

Jazzy Davidson scored six of her game-high 31 points in overtime as the Trojans outlasted the Tigers in a first-round matchup in Columbia, S.C.

After Clemson (21-12) took a three-point lead in overtime, Davidson drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to put USC (18-13) ahead to stay. Kara Dunn scored 22, including four 3-pointers, and Kennedy Smith added 12 points and six rebounds for the Trojans.

Taylor Johnson-Matthews scored a team-high 16 for Clemson, which forced the extra session on two Mia Moore free throws with 50 seconds left. Moore finished with nine points, six rebounds and six assists, while Raven Thompson posted an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double. Morgan Lee chipped in 12 points off the bench.

The Trojans shot 45% (27 of 60) from the field while holding the Tigers to just 37.3% (22 of 59). Clemson won the rebound battle 37-33, but USC held a 32-26 edge in points in the paint.

–Field Level Media

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Friday aimed at maintaining an exclusive time window in December for the annual Army-Navy football game.

Played on the second weekend of December since 2009, it is typically a standalone game on the college football schedule and followed by the Heisman Trophy ceremony later that night. However, discussion about a potential expansion of the College Football Playoff has included an additional round of games that would also be played the same weekend.

The current 12-team playoff has begun with first-round games taking place the following weekend for the past two years. If the CFP is eventually expanded to 24 games, at least one additional round of games will be required.

Complicating matters is that it is also the final weekend that the NFL is not allowed to schedule games on Saturday’s due to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.

“Such scheduling conflicts weaken the national focus on our Military Service Academies and detract from a morale-building event of vital interest to the Department of War,” Friday’s order read. “Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that no college football game, specifically college football’s CFP or other postseason games, be broadcast in a manner that directly conflicts with the Army-Navy Game.”

Before 2009, the Army-Navy game had traditionally been played the final weekend of November or the first weekend of December. It was moved to the second weekend of December to avoid conference championship games and improve television ratings.

Whether Friday’s action is enforceable remains to be seen. Executive orders are only directives for federal agencies and the executive branch, and this order directs the FCC chairperson to work with the CFP committee, the NCAA and media partners to protect the exclusive Army-Navy window.

This year’s Army-Navy game is scheduled for Dec. 12 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The first round of CFP games are scheduled to take place Dec. 18-19.

The Army-Navy game has taken place every year since 1930 and has been contested 126 times overall.

–Field Level Media