Perry Gets a 64 for His Birthday

On his 41st birthday, Kenny Perry tied the tournament nine-hole record and shot an eight-under-par 64 to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of the Buick Open Friday at Grand Blanc, Mich.

When Perry talked to his wife, Sandy, on the phone Thursday night, she said, “Go out and give yourself a good birthday present.”

Perry made seven birdies for a front-nine 29 to tie the Buick Open’s nine-hole record. Six other players shot 29s, but Trevor Dodds was the only one to do it on the front nine.

“When I birdied 7, 8 and 9,” Perry said, “I started thinking crazy numbers. I started thinking 58 and 59.”

Perry missed birdies by inches on Nos. 10 and 11. If Perry had birdied the 18th, which he bogeyed, he would have tied the tournament’s 18-hole and 36-hole records.

He had a 14-under 130 total on the Warwick Hills course.

The cut was four under, the lowest in the 43 years of the Buick Open.

Jim Furyk, who shared the first-round lead with Brian Henninger, shot a 69 to join Brett Quigley (65) and Bob Tway (65) at 133. John Cook (68) and Padraig Harrington (67) are in a group at 134. Phil Mickelson and Henninger topped a large group at nine under.

Leta Lindley matched the course record with a career-best 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Wendy’s Championship for Children at New Albany, Ohio.

Wendy Ward is one shot back at seven-under 65 and Donna Andrews, Rosie Jones, Emilee Klein and Michelle McGann are among eight players who opened with 66s.

Karrie Webb, Annika Sorenstam, Dottie Pepper and Grace Park are among the group at 67.

Mike McCullough made five putts of 40 feet or longer and shot six-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead over Hale Irwin in the 3M Senior Championship at Blaine, Minn.

Tennis

Gustavo Kuerten took the lead in the ATP Champions Race, beating Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati at Mason, Ohio.

The victory gave the Brazilian enough points to overtake Andre Agassi.

In a match that was postponed because of a late-afternoon thunderstorm, Lleyton Hewitt beat Ivan Ljubicic, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-4. Eighth-seeded Patrick Rafter beat Greg Rusedski, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Auto Racing

Dale Jarrett won the pole for the Global Crossing at Watkins Glen, N.Y., and will start 12 positions ahead of Jeff Gordon, the Winston Cup points leader. Jarrett trails Gordon by 160 points.

Jarrett drove his Ford around the 11-turn, 2.45-mile layout in 1 minute 1.884 seconds at a track record of 122.698 mph. He beat Robert Yates Racing teammate Ricky Rudd, who turned a lap at 122.301.

Penske Racing Teammates Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves, who qualified first and second for last year’s race, had the top two times in Friday’s practice round at Lexington, Ohio, for CART’s Miller Lite 200.

College Football

A state ethics board is investigating University of Washington President Richard McCormick and Athletic Director Barbara Hedges for their use of 2000 Rose Bowl and 1999 Holiday Bowl money. University officials said they didn’t do anything wrong and an official from Oregon State said their spending seemed typical.

Kelly Baraka, one of the nation’s top football recruits, will not play for Michigan this season. The running back was arrested in May and July on marijuana possession charges. Coach Lloyd Carr said Baraka will remain on scholarship but won’t dress for games.

Alabama and Notre Dame, two of college football’s traditional powers, will not meet in 2006 as initially planned. The teams have not met since 1987.

Basketball

UC Irvine has received “oral confirmation” from the NCAA that guard Jerry Green will be eligible to play for the Anteaters this season, an athletic department spokesman said.

Green, the Big West Conference player of the year last season, had made himself available for the NBA draft but was not selected.

NCAA rules allow a player not selected to regain his eligibility if he declares his intention within 30 days after the draft, provided he did not hire an agent and repays any expenses incurred during professional tryout camps.

Duke’s Chris Duhon and Iowa’s Reggie Evans scored 17 points each to help the United States defeat Slovenia, 110-83, to advance to the semifinals of the World Basketball Championship for Young Men, in Saitama, Japan. The Americans won their sixth game in a row and will play Argentina today in the 12-nation tournament for players under 22.

Miscellany

Sean Townsend won the all-around title in the gymnastics nationals at Philadelphia. He finished with 109.200 points, 1.425 points ahead of Brett McClure. Stephen McCain finished third and Raj Bhavsar was fourth. The four automatically qualify for the world championships, to be held Oct. 28-Nov. 4 in Ghent, Belgium. . . . UC Santa Barbara will discontinue its sponsorship of men’s and women’s gymnastics as an NCAA sport, Athletic Director Gary Cunningham said Friday.

Pittsburgh Penguin forward Martin Straka was awarded a two-year, $7.2-million contract by an arbitrator. . . . Minnesota Wild goaltender Manny Fernandez was awarded a two-year, $3.05-million contract through salary arbitration.

Argentine defender Diego Sonora was signed by Major League Soccer as a “discovery player” for the Chicago Fire, then was traded to Tampa Bay for the Mutiny’s third-round draft choice next year.