Ward’s First-Round 65 Gives Her One-Shot Lead

Wendy Ward got off to a quick start Thursday with a six-under-par 65 in the opening round of the LPGA Championship at Wilmington, Del., the perfect way to forget about last year’s bizarre finish that cost her a chance to win the title.

On a day when Karrie Webb took a step closer to the Grand Slam and Laura Davies began her bid for the Hall of Fame, Ward ran off four consecutive birdies at DuPont Country Club, capping off the torrid stretch with a near ace.

She finished with a one-stroke lead over Becky Iverson and Akiko Fukushima, with Webb and Davies among those at 67. Another stroke back was Annika Sorenstam, whose lone bogey was courtesy of a sudden blast of wind from approaching thunderstorms.

Last year, Ward had to assess a one-stroke penalty on herself in the final round because she noticed her ball moved a fraction of an inch after she had addressed her putt. Ward wound up one stroke out of the playoff, won by Juli Inkster.

Rain got the best of Tiger Woods in the Buick Classic at Harrison, N.Y., limiting him to only two shots on the waterlogged Westchester Country Club course. Woods, coming off a disappointing 12th-place finish in the U.S. Open, came up short on the par-three first hole, chipped within a few feet of the cup and marked his ball as the first of a series of downpours halted play. Scott Hoch, who finished 16 holes, was the leader at four under.

Tennis

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia defeated Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, 6-4, 7-5, to move into the quarterfinals of the grass-court Heineken Trophy tournament at Den Bosch, Netherlands.

In the women’s event, top-seeded Kim Clijsters of Belgium advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kristina Brandi of the United States.

Teenager Andy Roddick of the United States moved into the semifinals of a grass-court tournament at Nottingham, England, with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland. Roddick will play Harel Levy of Israel today. Levy upset second-seeded Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, 6-2, 6-4. . . . Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sylvia Farina Elia of Italy to reach the semifinals at Eastbourne, England, and will next play fellow American Chanda Rubin, who defeated Lisa Raymond, 6-4, 6-4. . . . Bob Bryan of Camarillo defeated Mardy Fish, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3, and qualified for Wimbledon.

Olympics

Toronto’s bid to stage the 2008 Olympics was under renewed scrutiny after the city’s mayor joked about fearing African snakes and cannibals. Mayor Mel Lastman repeatedly apologized for the comments the day after they appeared in the Toronto Star, and bid officials and Canadian government leaders insisted they would not hurt the city’s campaign.

In comments earlier this month to a reporter, Lastman said he feared making a trip to Mombasa, Kenya, for a meeting of the Assn. of National Olympic Committees of Africa, where he was due to stump for the Toronto bid.

“What the hell would I want to go to a place like Mombasa?” he was quoted as saying, adding that he feared snakes. “I just see myself in a pot of boiling water with all these natives dancing around me.”

Construction work near the planned Olympic rowing site outside Athens has uncovered an ancient grave and other antiquities, adding pressure to move the venue.

Miscellany

Nebraska running back Thunder Collins and kicker Josh Brown will remain part of the team as the investigations into their recent arrests continue, Coach Frank Solich said. Collins pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of misdemeanor assault for a fight with his girlfriend. He has a trial scheduled next month. Brown was arrested last weekend and cited on two counts of third-degree assault. He has not been charged and is scheduled to appear in Lancaster County Court on July 10.

Georgia tight end Randy McMichael was suspended for the team’s opener against Arkansas State on Sept. 1 for his role in a bar fight. There were no arrests made in the incident, which occurred Friday in Athens, Ga.

Former Dallas Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin was indicted in Denton, Texas, on a charge of possessing less than a gram of cocaine stemming from an arrest last Aug. 9. The indictment was returned by a Denton County grand jury. The charge carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Eric Lindros won’t be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, General Manager Bob Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers said. Clarke wants to deal Lindros before July 1, when the NHL’s free agency period begins. With Toronto out of the mix, Detroit appears to be the front-runner to get Lindros.

Dave Fuge, manager and crew chief for XPress Racing, said the stock car team has discontinued operations and is looking for a new owner. The shutdown came after Fuge, a former Winston Cup car owner, was fined $30,000 and suspended indefinitely by NASCAR on Tuesday for rules violations discovered during an inspection after Saturday night’s Outback Steakhouse 300 Busch Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

Jen Mascaro scored her first two goals of the season and assisted on another as the San Diego Spirit hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Washington Freedom in a WUSA game before 10,742 at Washington’s RFK Stadium. . . . Francesco Toldo joined Barcelona from Fiorentina for $22.1 million, the Italian team’s official Web site said, making him soccer’s highest-paid goalkeeper. . . . Gianluca Bortolami of Italy won the second stage of the Tour de Suisse cycling race, edging Peter Wrolich of Austria and replacing American Lance Armstrong as the overall leader. Armstrong fell to third place.

Passings

Mohamed Zerguini of Algeria, one of the IOC’s longest-standing members and among those implicated in the Salt Lake City scandal, died at 79 in Algiers. (Story, B12).