Friday's Sports In Brief
Saturday February 15, 2003SAN DIEGO (AP) Gone from golf for two months, it didn't take Tiger Woods long to get back in contention on the PGA Tour.
Woods chipped in from 34 yards for eagle on his final hole in the Buick Invitational, giving him a 6-under 66 and sending a strong message about the state of his knee, not to mention his game.
He didn't hit many fairways, and the rust was evident. Still, he's only two shots behind leaders Brad Faxon and Marco Dawson.
Faxon and Dawson (66) were at 10-under 134.
Dennis Paulson, a former PGA Tour winner who lost his card this year, made the most of his opportunity to play in the Buick with rounds of 68-67.
He was in a large group at 135 that included first-round leader Arron Oberholder (65-70) and Fred Funk (71-64).
PERTH, Australia (AP) Ernie Els all but wrapped up his fourth victory of the year Saturday, shooting an 8-under 64 to stretch his lead to nine strokes in the Johnnie Walker Classic.
Els had a 23-under 193 total break the European tour's 54-hole record of 194 set by Argentina's Vicente Fernandez in the 1975 Benson & Hedges Festival.< ^AUTO RACING=
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Rusty Wallace was booted 30 spots down the starting grid for the Daytona 500 and his crew chief was fined $10,000 for using an illegal carburetor in his qualifying race.
He was due to start eighth, but will now start 38th. The movement did not affect the rest of the 43-car field.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) A victory in the opening round of the International Race of Champions has Mark Martin well on the way to the goals that brought him back to the all-star series this year.
Martin, a four-time series champion, beat Roush Racing teammate and IROC rookie Kurt Busch to the finish line by 0.123-second about 1{ car-lengths.
Martin was insulted when he wasn't invited to participate in IROC the past two years because he failed to finish among the top five in NASCAR's Winston Cup series in either 2000 or 2001.< ^BASEBALL=
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) The Kansas City Royals won their arbitration case with Carlos Beltran, and the center fielder will make $6 million this season instead of the $6.95 million he sought.
Beltran made $3.45 million last year when he hit .273 with 44 doubles, 29 home runs and 105 RBIs, along with 35 stolen bases.
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Kevin Millar was returned to the Marlins after the Japanese team he agreed to sign with last month released him from his contract, and Florida is expected to trade him to the Boston Red Sox.
Millar agreed in early January to a $6.2 million, two-year contract with Chunichi of Japan's Central League, and the Marlins released him in exchange for a $1.2 million payment from the Dragons.
MIAMI (AP) An arrest warrant was issued for former baseball star Jose Canseco for violating his probation stemming from a nightclub brawl.
Circuit Judge Leonard E. Glick issued the warrant after being told Canseco has failed to begin community service, take anger control classes and not leave Florida for longer than 30 days. <
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) Baltimore pitcher Sidney Ponson avoided arbitration by signing a one-year contract for a guaranteed $4.25 million. ^BASKETBALL=
NEW YORK (AP) Shawn Kemp was reinstated by the NBA, three days after he was suspended without pay for violating the league's anti-drug policy for the third time.
Kemp, 33, told coach Doc Rivers that the suspension was because he missed a drug test, not because he had failed a test.< ^FOOTBALL=
SAN DIEGO (AP) The Chargers have reached an agreement with backup quarterback Doug Flutie on a restructured contract that could be worth $1.5 million next season.
Flutie, 40, had been due to make $4.5 million next season.< ^TENNIS=
ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) Top-seeded Venus Williams beat Tina Pisnik 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals of the $585,000 Diamond Games.
Williams will face fourth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) winner over Nathalie Dechy, in the semifinals.
In other quarterfinals matches, second-seeded Kim Clijsters defeated Patty Schnyder 7-5, 6-1. She will play fellow Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Ai Sugiyama.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Andre Agassi saved a match point in the second set to defeat Vladimir Voltchkov 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Siebel Open.
Justin Gimelstob also advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kenneth Carlsen.
In other quraterfinal matches, Davide Sanguinetti beat Vincent Spadea 6-1, 7-5 and will face Gimelstob in one of Saturday's semifinals, and third-seeded James Blake beat Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-2 and will play Agassi.
MARSEILLE, France (AP) Top-seeded Roger Federer advanced to the semifinals of the Open 13 tennis tournament with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Raemon Sluiter.
Federer will play Karol Kucera, who beat Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-3.
Also, Nicolas Escude defeated Rodolphe Cadart 7-5, 6-3. Jonas Bjorkman beat Dominik Hrbaty, 7-6 (7), 6-4.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) Seventh-seeded Conchita Martinez withdrew from the Qatar Open because of a right ankle injury, allowing wild card Lina Krasnoroutskaya to advance to the semifinals.
Martinez was trailing 7-6 (4) 4-0 when she dropped out of the quarterfinal round match.
The 18-year-old Krasnoroutskaya will face fifth-seeded Elena Likhovtseva, a 6-4, 6-2 quarterfinal winner over Magdalena Maleeva.
In other quarterfinal matches, second-seeded Anastasia Myskina defeated Dinara Safina 6-2, 7-5, and Patricia Wartusch beat Nicole Pratt 0-6, 6-2, 6-4. ^SAILING=
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) Two-time defending champion Team New Zealand was forced to withdraw from the opening race of the America's Cup after its boat broke down twice less than 20 minutes after the start Saturday.
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