Woods Falls Six Strokes Off Pace

Tiger Woods shot a one-under-par 70 today to fall six strokes behind leader Scott Gardiner of Australia in the New Zealand Open at Paraparaumu Beach.

“I hit the ball well, I just didn’t make any putts. It was a tough day on the greens,” said Woods.

Woods is playing in New Zealand for the first time as a tribute to his caddie, Steve Williams, who grew up near the golf course.

A large crowd and security force followed Woods around the course, with no problems reported.

After Woods agreed to play, the U.S. Embassy in New Zealand received a letter containing cyanide and a threat to disrupt the event.

There also was controversy over Woods’ $2-million appearance fee, along with tickets that were priced 10 times higher than normal.

A boycott by some top New Zealand players was avoided when organizers agreed to allow fans under 16 to attend free of charge.

Gardiner eagled the par-five 18th for a seven-under-par 64 on the 6,618-yard course.

Tennis

Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt and American Jennifer Capriati will be the top-seeded players for next week’s Australian Open at Melbourne.

Hewitt has been sidelined since withdrawing from the Hopman Cup because of chickenpox.

Capriati, the defending champion, received the top seed after No. 1-ranked Lindsay Davenport withdrew because of a knee injury.

Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten was seeded second in the men’s tournament, followed by defending champion Andre Agassi. Pete Sampras was seeded ninth. Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero, seeded No. 5, withdrew because of a knee injury.

Venus Williams was seeded second in the women’s bracket and was followed by Martina Hingis, Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams.

Hingis advanced to the semifinals of the Adidas International with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over France’s Sandrine Testud today at Sydney, Australia.

Capriati struggled with her serve and a sore leg and lost to American Alexandra Stevenson, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4, on Wednesday.

Fourth-seeded Serena Williams beat sixth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, 6-4, 7-6 (6), in a quarterfinal.

Clijsters, seeded third, rallied past Italy’s Silvia Farina Elia, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1.

In the men’s bracket, Max Mirnyi of Belarus advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan.

Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic withstood three rain delays before beating Mikhael Youzhny, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals of the Heineken Open at Auckland, New Zealand.

Sampras defeated Spain’s Alex Corretja, 6-4, 7-6 (0), and Agassi beat American Taylor Dent, 6-3, 6-2, in round-robin play of the Kooyong Classic at Melbourne.

Sampras has left his longtime agent, Jeff Schwartz of Artists Management Group Sports, according to officials at the agency.

Sampras and Schwartz had been with IMG, and Sampras followed Schwartz when Schwartz left the Cleveland-based management group to work for Michael Ovitz.

College Football

Arkansas running back Cedric Cobbs was arrested at Little Rock, Ark., and charged with driving while intoxicated, speeding and marijuana possession.

Coach Houston Nutt suspended Cobbs indefinitely after learning about the Tuesday night arrest.

Oklahoma safety Roy Williams and Nebraska guard Toniu Fonoti, both All-American selections, will skip their senior seasons and make themselves available for the NFL draft in April.

Jurisprudence

Former Olympic and professional boxing champion Pernell Whitaker pleaded guilty in Virginia Beach, Va., to cocaine possession, five months after he was caught in the courthouse with a small packet of the drug.

He will be on supervised probation for a year.

Hockey

The Idaho Steelheads scored twice in the second period and once in the third to defeat the Ice Dogs, 3-2, in a West Coast Hockey League game at the Long Beach Arena.

Dan Shermerhorn scored the game-winner.