Hayes Breezes to Honda Lead

The wind was back Friday, but several players continued to breeze through the Honda Classic at Coral Springs, Fla.

J.P. Hayes shot a second-round 67 and moved to 12 under par, one stroke ahead of David Sutherland and Hal Sutton.

Rick Fehr, Paraguay’s Carlos Franco, Dudley Hart, Skip Kendall and Kevin Wentworth were at 10 under.

“There is a tremendous amount of golf left,” said Hayes, whose only PGA Tour victory was the 1998 Buick Open. “Who knows what the weekend weather is going to bring us. There is a ton of guys within three or four or five shots of the lead.”

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Hubert Green and Jim Ahern shot seven-under 65s to share the first-round lead in the Audi Seniors Classic at the La Vista Country Club in Puebla, Mexico, the first official Senior PGA Tour event in that country. . . . Cristie Kerr continued her strong play in the Welch’s-Circle K Championship in Tucson, shooting a four-under-par 68 that allowed her to maintain a two-shot lead at the midpoint of the LPGA Tour event.

Skiing

The United States again showed surprising strength on the World Cup circuit, with Kristina Koznick winning a slalom at Sestriere, Italy, for her first victory this season.

The 24-year-old from Burnsville, Minn., won less than a week after Daron Rahlves gave the U.S. men their first World Cup win in five years.

Koznick’s victory was the third of her career and the first for an American woman since she won in Semmering, Austria, 15 months ago.

Boxing

Mike Tyson’s European tour will resume May 20, when the former heavyweight champion fights Lou Savarese in Milan, Italy. . . . Joey Gamache Jr., who recently suffered a crunching knockout by Arturo Gatti, said he is following his doctors’ advice and retiring after a 14-year pro career. . . . Felix Trinidad, who last week won the World Boxing Assn. super-welterweight title, has relinquished his International Boxing Federation welterweight title, after deciding to remain in his current weight class. . . . Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield agreed to end his four-year marriage to Janice Holyfield. Settlement terms are confidential but court papers indicate Holyfield’s estate is worth more than $90 million.

Miscellany

Clemson senior Shawn Crawford set an American indoor record in the men’s 200-meter dash of 20.26 seconds at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at Fayetteville, Ark., edging Florida’s John Capel, who had the same time. To separate the two, the times were taken to thousandths of a second, with Crawford timed at 20.252 and Capel at 20.257.

In other events, Brandon Couts of Baylor broke the collegiate 400-meter record, winning his preliminary heat in 45.60 seconds; UCLA’s Tracy O’Hara broke the women’s collegiate pole vault record, clearing 14-6; and Florence Ezeh of Southern Methodist won the women’s 20-pound weight throw with a mark of 69-11 1/2 on her final attempt, edging UCLA’s Seilala Sua, who threw 69-0.

Elaine Pedersen, who was one of the first women to run in the Boston Marathon, died after a bone marrow transplant failed. She was 63.

A high school basketball player sentenced to five years in prison for elbowing an opponent during a game remained in jail when a San Antonio judge declined to change his sentence. Judge Mark Luitjen had until Friday to modify the sentence of 18-year-old Tony Limon, but he took no action.

Bill Elliott, 1988 Winston Cup champion and a Ford driver during his entire career, signed to drive for Ray Evernham’s new Dodge team next season. . . . Dale Jarrett won his second pole of the season, barely keeping Dale Earnhardt Jr. from winning the first of his career. Jarrett’s fast lap of 192.574 mph gave him the top spot in the lineup for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. . . . Mika Hakkinen won the pole for the Australian Grand Prix for the third consecutive year, and McLaren teammate David Coulthard was second at Melbourne.

Former Manchester United star George Best, 53, was hospitalized in London after complaining of severe stomach pains, but doctors said his condition is not life threatening. . . . The Los Angeles Sports Council and the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce will host the Galaxy at a luncheon Thursday at the Regal Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles in honor of the team’s season opener next Saturday. The reception at 11:30 a.m. and the noon luncheon are open to the public. Tickets are $60. Reservations: (213) 482-6352.

A day after the top two seeded players were out of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz., third-seeded Marcelo Rios and No. 4 Nicolas Lapentti followed. Rios retired because of leg cramps while trailing No. 6 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, 7-6 (5), 4-2, and Lapentti was ousted by No. 5 Tim Henman of Britain 6-3, 6-2. . . . Unseeded Mariano Puerta of Argentina outdueled Spain’s Felix Mantilla, 7-6 (1), 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the Club Colombia tournament at Bogota. Puerta will play the winner of today’s match between top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil and Germany’s Markus Hantschk.