Duval Makes Move Into Tie for Lead

David Duval shot a five-under-par 65 Friday to gain a share of the lead in the Byron Nelson Classic at Irving, Texas.

Duval caught co-leader Scott Verplank with three birdies on the front nine and kept pace during a hot, blustery day on the TPC at Las Colinas.

“I want to start winning golf tournaments again, and I feel like I’m back in that position where I can,” said Duval, who has dealt with an equipment lawsuit and a wrist injury this year.

Tiger Woods headed to the practice range after a 68 left him at 134 after two rounds--five shots out of the lead.

Verplank, who shot a 67, and Duval are at 11-under 129, one stroke shy of the 36-hole record last set by Woods two years ago.

Tracy Hanson shot her second consecutive five-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead in the rain-suspended second round of the Electrolux USA Championship at Franklin, Tenn.

Hanson didn’t let two early delays distract her from making six birdies to reach 10 under.

Annika Sorenstam was at six under with three holes to play. Karrie Webb was three under with 16 holes to play.

Bob Charles shot an eight-under 64 to lead the 16 qualifiers in the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Match Play Championship at Augusta, Mo.

Charles matched Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and Dave Stockton at eight-under 136 on the Boone Valley Country Club course.

Pro Football

Running back Corey Dillon and the Cincinnati Bengals agreed to a five-year contract that will make him the highest paid player in team history.

Neither the Bengals nor Dillon’s agents would disclose the terms of the contract. Dillon, who set an NFL single-game record by rushing for 278 yards against Denver last season, said on Thursday that he deserved a deal comparable to the seven-year, $42-million contract Tennessee running back Eddie George signed last year.

Free-agent defensive end Joel Smeenge agreed to a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears. . . . The San Diego Chargers re-signed defensive tackle Jamal Williams to a five-year contract.

College Basketball

Silvey Dominguez, USC men’s assistant coach, has resigned after five years to join Coach Jason Rabedeaux’s staff at Texas El Paso.

“I wasn’t unhappy at USC, but this was a chance to be closer to my family,” said Dominguez, 47, a native of Grants, N.M., who graduated from New Mexico in 1975. “I’m excited about the opportunity to get back to a part of the country I grew up in.”

Guard Cedric Bozeman of Santa Ana Mater Dei High, who signed a national letter of intent with UCLA, has achieved the Scholastic Assessment Test score needed to meet the NCAA’s minimum requirement for eligibility, his father Rudy said. Bozeman averaged 19.5 points and 5.1 assists last season while leading the Monarchs to the state Division I title.

Junior D.A. Layne, Georgia’s leading scorer last season, is leaving school to make himself eligible for the NBA draft. . . . North Carolina All-American Joseph Forte ended a month of speculation by announcing he will leave the Tar Heels to enter the NBA draft.

Temple center Kevin Lyde has decided to return to school after announcing last month that he would forgo his senior season for the NBA draft, a university source said.

Tennis

Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil defeated Spain’s Alex Corretja, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the Italian Open at Rome.

Earlier, Kuerten beat Argentina’s Franco Squillari, 6-1, 6-2, in a match that had been delayed from Thursday because of rain.

Kuerten will face Andreas Vinciguerra, who defeated Israel’s Harel Levy, 7-6, 6-2.

The other semifinal has Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero against Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti.

Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati moved one step closer to a rematch by winning quarterfinal matches at the German Open at Berlin. The top-seeded Hingis beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, 6-3, 7-6 (4), and Capriati defeated defending champion Conchita Martinez, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Miscellany

The Sparks and the New York Liberty will play at 7 tonight at the Long Beach State Pyramid in the first WNBA exhibition of the season for both. New York forward Rebecca Lobo will be playing her first basketball in two years, after two knee surgeries. The Sparks will be without top draft pick Camille Cooper from Purdue, who will be graduating from college. Free agent Wendi Willits of Arkansas is taking final exams.

John Harkes, 34, was traded by the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer to the Columbus Crew for midfielder Roland Aguilera, 22, and a conditional pick in the 2002 draft. . . . Syria defeated Laos, 9-0, in an Asia World Cup qualifying Group 1 match at Damascus, Syria. Yemen defeated the United Arab Emirates, 2-1, in a Group 8 match.

Kevin Harvick won his third NASCAR Busch Series pole, averaging a track-record 130.716 mph in qualifying for today’s CVS Pharmacy 200 at Loudon, N.H. Harvick broke New Hampshire International Speedway’s Busch Series record of 130.247 set last year by Tim Fedewa.