Woods Fires 64 for Lead

Tiger Woods found the missing zip in his swing and overpowered the course Friday, making two eagles and a momentum-saving bogey for an eight-under-par 64 that gave him a one-stroke lead over Canadian southpaw Mike Weir after two rounds of the Bay Hill Invitational at Orlando, Fla.

Woods and Weir, who birdied his first five holes on the way to a 64, led the assault on a Bay Hill course softened overnight by rain and made even easier by constant cloud cover and the absence of wind. Seventy-five of the 120 players broke par.

Helping Woods was the fact there wasn’t much roll on the damp fairways.

“For anybody that hits the ball long, you’ve got to love coming here,” said Woods, who was at 11-under 133.

*

Karrie Webb, seeking her fifth victory in five starts in 2000, shot a three-under 69 and was one stroke off the lead in the Standard Register PING after two rounds in Phoenix.

Leading at nine-under 135 after a 68 was Annika Sorenstam, who was tied with Webb for the lead after the first round. Tied for second with Webb at 136 was Charlotta Sorenstam, Annika’s sister, who had a 64 on the Legacy Golf Resort course.

*

Making his debut on the Senior PGA Tour after seven years as a television analyst, Andy North teamed with another former commentator, Jim Colbert, to shoot a 13-under 59 for a three-shot lead after the opening round of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf at St. Augustine, Fla.

Miscellany

A Ventura County judge will allow Justin Huish, an Olympic gold medalist archer charged in a felony drug case, to leave the state and country for competitions over the next few months.

The United States set a world record in the men’s 800-meter freestyle relay, one of four marks broken in the World Short Course Championships at Athens.

The other records were set by Sweden’s Lars Frolander in the men’s 100-meter butterfly, compatriot Therese Alshammar in the women’s 100 freestyle, and Russia’s Roman Sludnov in the men’s 100 breaststroke.

Georgia won three events, highlighted by Kristy Kowal’s American record in the 100-meter breaststroke, to increase its lead in the women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Indianapolis. USC is sixth and UCLA is tied for eighth.

Demolition of Wembley will be postponed three weeks so the famous stadium can be the site of England’s World Cup qualifier against Germany on Oct. 7. A new stadium is to be built on the site north of London as the centerpiece of England’s bid to stage the 2006 World Cup. . . . Olympique Marseille was fined about $60,000 by the Union of European Football Assns. following violence at a home game against Chelsea on Feb. 29 in the Champions Cup.

The Dallas Cowboys signed veteran tight end Jackie Harris to fill the void created when Eric Bjornson left for the New England Patriots. . . . Internet job-search giant Monster.com is considering buying the naming rights to a stadium that will be built for the Patriots in Foxboro, Mass.

Jeff Gordon, in the middle of the worst slump of his career, won the pole for the Mall.com 400 at Darlington, S.C. It was Gordon’s 31st pole, but his first in 18 races since the Brickyard 400 last August. . . . Winston Cup stars Mark Martin and Jeff Burton qualified first and second for the Grand National SunCom 200 at Darlington. . . . Joe Ruttman tied a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series record by winning his third consecutive pole during qualifying for the Chevy Trucks 150 at Avondale, Ariz.

Returning to his hometown of Denver, Stevie Johnston successfully defended his World Boxing Council lightweight championship with a second-round knockout of Julio Alvarez of Mexico.

Marianne Stanley, former women’s coach at USC and California, is expected to be named an assistant coach by the Sparks.

Charlie Holt, who took New Hampshire’s hockey team to the NCAA Final Four three times and was the winningest coach in school history, died of cancer in Durham, N.H. He was 77.