Toms Eases Pain With Three-Stroke Lead in Buick Open

Pain relievers have been the biggest weapon for David Toms this weekend. Fighting back pain, Toms shot his second consecutive six-under-par 66 on Saturday, taking a three-stroke lead into today’s final round of the PGA Buick Challenge at Pine Mountain, Ga.

“There were more Advils than birdies,” Toms said of his round.

Popping the ibuprofen to relieve the pain, Toms put some distance between Stuart Appleby and Harrison Frazar with three birdies down the stretch to move to a 16-under 200.

Appleby closed with eight consecutive pars for a 69 and was at 203. Frazar, who also took pain relievers for his ailing right wrist, had a 70 and was another stroke back.

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Annika Sorenstam shot a three-under 69 and withstood a surge by Mardi Lunn to hold a two-shot lead after the third round of the inaugural LPGA New Albany Golf Classic in Ohio.

Sorenstam, who began the day two shots ahead of Liselotte Neumann and four ahead of Lunn, is at 13-under 203. Neumann, without a top-10 finish since placing second to Juli Inkster in the LPGA Championship in July, was third at 207. Local favorite Meg Mallon, an Ohio State graduate, was at eight under.

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Tom Jenkins shot a second consecutive five-under 65 to hold a one-stroke lead through two rounds in the Senior PGA Vantage Championship at Clemmons, N.C.

Jenkins, who won earlier this year outside of Philadelphia, is at 10-under 130 heading into today’s final round.

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Patrick Lee shot a six-under 66 to stretch his lead to three shots at the $225,000 Nike Inland Empire Open at Moreno Valley Ranch Golf Club. Lee is at 19-under 197, tied for the 54-hole course record set in 1994 by Skip Kendall. Dick Mast is second after a 65.

Boxing

Journeyman Willy Wise made Julio Cesar Chavez look like the aging fighter he is, battering him for 10 rounds in Las Vegas to win a lopsided decision and putting plans by Chavez to fight for a title again in jeopardy.

Wise (24-6-4) had only seven knockouts as a pro, but he was banging shots to the head of Chavez (102-4-2) late in the eighth round before the former champion wobbled back to his corner.

Ricardo Lopez of Mexico successfully moved up in weight and defeated Will Grigsby in a 12-round decision to take the International Boxing Federation junior-flyweight championship.

Tennis

Tommy Haas defeated Thomas Enqvist, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, and Greg Rusedski used 27 aces to defeat Andrei Medvedev, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5, in the semifinals of the Grand Slam Cup at Munich, Germany. The two will meet today for the richest prize in tennis, $1.3 million to the winner.

But the more anticipated match will be the women’s final, where sisters Serena and Venus Williams will meet, with the winner getting $800,000. Venus is 3-0 against her younger sister.

Soccer

The schedule for the 2002 World Cup was announced, with the opening match being held June 1 at South Korea and the final taking place June 30 in Japan.

Also, Asian countries formally agreed to accept a plan for the number of places per continent in the tournament. Under the plan, Asia will get a chance for a fifth spot in in a playoff with Europe.

The U.S. women’s soccer team will face South Korea in a U.S. Women’s Cup match at Columbus, Ohio, today. . . . Necaxa of Mexico got two second-half goals to defeat Major League Soccer’s D.C. United, 3-1, in a CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal late Friday night at Las Vegas. . . . The New England Revolution kept its flickering MLS playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over the New York/New Jersey MetroStars before 24,871 in Foxboro, Mass.

Miscellany

Former University of Kentucky football player Jeremy Streck was in critical condition at Columbus, Ohio, after being hit by a car driven by Paul K. Synadinos, 20, of Gahanna, Ohio, who was charged with driving under the influence.

The International Olympic Committee approved the addition of skeleton, a sport in which an athlete rides a sled head-first down an ice track, and women’s bobsled to the sports program for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. It also approved the addition of men’s and women’s 1,500-meter races in short-track speedskating, men’s and women’s cross-country ski events, and men’s combined sprints in Nordic Combined.

Also, an Olympic athletes’ group said in Athens that athletes should be ineligible to compete in future Olympics unless they carry a “doping passport” proving they have undergone regular out-of-competition drug tests.

If approved, passports would be issued before next year’s Sydney Games, but the project would only go into full effect in time for the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.

Michelle Kwan got one perfect score and defeated defending world champion Maria Butyskaya, but she couldn’t keep the United States from falling to Russia in the Keri Lotion Figure Skating Classic at Orlando, Fla.

Alina Kabaeva of Russia was awarded her third perfect score of the year as she won her first world rhythmic gymnastics title in the individual all-around event with a total of 39.924 at Osaka, Japan.

Ireland’s Keith Wood grabbed four tries, each worth five points, as Ireland defeated the United States, 53-8, to open Group E at the Rugby World Cup at Dublin, Ireland.

Eddie Hill had a run of 4.520 seconds at 323.74 mph to lead top-fuel qualifying for the Advance Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Topeka, Kan.

The Orlando Magic waived forward Harvey Grant.