Sports briefs

Morse leads at Q-School

John Morse shot a 2-over 74 on Thursday at TPC Eagle Trace to take a one-stroke lead over Robert Thompson after the third round of the Champions Tour qualifying tournament.

Morse had a 6-under 210 total at at Coral Springs, Fla. Thompson shot a 69.

Tom McKnight (65) and Jay Don Blake (70) were 4 under, and Ronnie Black (67), Tim Conley (68), James Mason (68) and David Ogrin (70) followed at 3 under.

The top five after the final round will receive full exempt status for the 2009 season, while the next seven players will be conditionally exempt. In addition, the top 30 finishers and ties will be eligible to compete for spots in open qualifiers at all co-sponsored events.

Nalbandian, Ferrer to open Davis Cup final

Argentina's David Nalbandian will face Spain's David Ferrer today in the opening match at Mar Del Plata, Argentina.

Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina's top-ranked player at No. 9, was drawn Thursday to play Feliciano Lopez in the second singles match of the best-of-five series.

In Saturday's doubles, Jose Acasuso and Agustin Calleri of Argentina will play Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.

The reverse singles will be held Sunday.

Crew's Schelotto wins MLS MVP award

The Columbus Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto, a midfield wizard who was a longtime star in his native Argentina, won MLS' Most Valuable Player award Thursday.

The 35-year-old Schelotto had 19 assists and seven goals for Columbus as the Crew bounced back from a 9-11-10 record the previous year to finish with an MLS-best 17-7-6 mark.

He and his teammates face the New York Red Bulls on Sunday afternoon in Carson for the MLS Cup.

Schelotto, from Buenos Aires, outpolled runner-up Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Cuauhtemoc Blanco of the Chicago Fire in the voting by the league's coaches and general managers, players and media.

USOC takes USA Boxing off probation

USA Boxing has fought its way out of the dog house with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The USOC said Thursday that it has ended the probation it placed on USA Boxing, citing progress made in reforming the organization that develops boxers to compete in the Olympics.

USA Boxing was placed on probation in 2002 and underwent a restructuring in 2006 to bring it more in line with the national governing bodies for other Olympic sports. The original probation was imposed because of a variety of problems in managing the amateur boxing program.

CHICAGO AMONG 4 CITIES PITCHING FOR 2016: Chicago and three other cities vying for the 2016 Summer Games will make their case today to the regional group with the most votes in the Olympic movement.

Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro also will make presentations to the general assembly of the European Olympic Committees.