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Whitney has surgery, to miss 3-5 months

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney will be out three to five months following surgery to correct a chronic problem with his left foot.

The team didn’t describe the nature of the problem in a statement released Saturday.

Whitney told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review his left foot is misaligned and that attempts to correct it with orthopedic inserts in his skates didn’t work.

Dr. Robert Anderson operated Friday in Charlotte, N.C. The newspaper described the surgery as an osteotomy, defined as a procedure to shorten, lengthen or realign a bone or bones.

Whitney is entering the second year of a $24 million, six-year deal.

Whitney signed the contract after a breakthrough season in 2006-07 when he had 14 goals and 45 assists. His production dropped to 12 goals and 28 assists last season, and he added a goal and five assists in the playoffs when the Penguins advanced to the Stanley Cup finals.

Whitney said his teammates knew his foot was in bad shape last season.

golf

PGA-Wyndham

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Carl Pettersson topped the Sedgefield Country Club leaderboard for the second straight day, following his tournament-record 61 with a 66 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead.

A local fan favorite who went to high school in Greensboro and is on the tournament’s board of directors, Pettersson had a 19-under 191 total. The Swede is in position to claim his third career PGA Tour victory and first since 2006.

Scott McCarron was second. He holed a 45-yard sand shot on 18 for a 64. Briny Baird (62), Garrett Willis (69) and Kevin Streelman (67) were six strokes back.

Canadian Women

OTTAWA — Yani Tseng finished off a course-record 8-under 64 in the rain-delayed second round, then shot a 68 in the third to take a four-stroke lead in the Canadian Women’s Open.

Tseng, the 19-year-old Taiwanese star who won the McDonald’s LPGA Championship in early June and finished second two weeks ago in the Women’s British Open, had a 14-under 202 total at Ottawa Hunt.

South Korea’s Se Ri Pak (68) was second, and defending champion Lorena Ochoa (74) and Hull (72) followed at 8 under.

Michelle Wie, using the last of her six LPGA Tour exemptions this year, was tied for 14th at 2 under after a 69. She opened with rounds of 75 and 70.

JELD-WEN Tradition

SUNRIVER, Ore. — Fred Funk moved into position for his first major victory on the Champions Tour, shooting a bogey-free 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Jay Haas after the third round of the JELD-WEN Tradition.

The 52-year-old Funk, the winner of the season-opening MasterCard Championship in Hawaii, had a 16-under 200 total on the Crosswater Club course.

Haas, the Senior PGA Championship winner in May, shot a 66. Tim Simpson (69) was 13 under, and Tom Watson (68), Joe Ozaki (64), Scott Hoch (66) and Mike Goodes (69) were another stroke back. Scott Simpson (67) and Bernhard Langer (72) were 10 under.

nation

Favre tosses TD pass

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Brett Favre proved he’s a quick study. The New York Jets’ new quarterback also showed he has plenty of zip remaining in that rocket right arm.

The three-time MVP was solid in his brief Jets debut after a week of cramming to learn his new playbook, throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Keller to cap his second series in a 13-10 loss to the Washington Redskins on Saturday night.

Del Potro beats Haas

WASHINGTON — Juan Martin del Potro won his 18th consecutive match and a spot in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic final with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Tommy Haas on Saturday.

Del Potro will face either Igor Kunitsyn or Viktor Troicki, who play later Saturday. Neither player has reached an ATP final.

The second-seeded del Potro has won his last three tournaments. The winning streak is the second best on the ATP this year, behind Rafael Nadal’s 32 straight.

Del Potro broke Haas for a 3-2 lead in the first set, starting a streak of eight games won.

Haas said it was del Potro’s talent, not fatigue, that gave the 19-year-old the edge.

Boxer gunned down

NEW YORK — Police say a promising New York City boxer is dead after being shot during a fight in the Bronx.

Ronney Vargas was gunned down about 3:30 a.m. Saturday after the dispute with a group of men who fled the scene in a white car.

Police say the 20-year-old Vargas was shot once in the torso. The three-time Golden Gloves champion was pronounced dead at the hospital.

No arrests have been made.

The junior middleweight turned professional last year and was 8-0. He lived in the Bronx with his family.

Alabama Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Proud Spell won the $600,000 Alabama Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Saturday at Saratoga, beating Music Note by a head.

Proud Spell, ridden by Gabriel Saez and trained by Larry Jones, ran 11‚Ñ4 miles in 2:04.08, and paid $5.90 and $2.60 in the five-horse field. The Kentucky Oaks winner this season, earned $360,000 for owner Brereton C. Jones.

Music Note, whose four-race winning streak was snapped, returned $2.60.

Earlier, Grand Couturier duplicated his 2007 victory in the $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational with a late rally, giving the 5-year-old a two-length win over 9-year-old Better Talk Now.

world

Germany Rally

TRIER, Germany — Sebastien Loeb increased his lead after two days of racing at the Rally Germany and stayed on course for his seventh consecutive victory.

The Frenchman ended Saturday with a 40.3-second lead over Citroen teammate Dani Sordo of Spain.

Skier dies after fall

VIENNA, Austria — Austrian Nordic combined skier Alfred Rainer died Saturday from severe head injuries in a paragliding accident last week, the Austrian Ski Federation said. He was 20.

Rainer was kept in an artificial coma at a hospital in Innsbruck after crashing from 66 feet above ground and suffering a head injury, a bruised lung and several broken leg bones.

Vindicator staff/wire report