Woods, Daly Shoot to Top of Leaderboard at Bay Hill

Fans didn’t have to wander around Bay Hill to find the action--Tiger Woods working magic with his short game, John Daly right behind, booming big drives and avoiding big numbers.

Woods and Daly, two of the biggest attractions on the PGA Tour, wound up in a six-way share of the lead at five-under-par 67 Thursday in the Bay Hill Invitational at Orlando, Fla.

Angel Cabrera, John Huston, Steve Flesch and 48-year-old D.A. Weibring, who got into the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption, also shot 67s on a sunny, calm day. Sergio Garcia was among those at 68.

Woods, the two-time defending champion at Bay Hill, got off to a good start, although it was hardly a model of perfection as he hit only nine greens in regulation.

“But my short game bailed me out, and I made a lot of putts today,” he said after a round in which he required only 21 putts.

Daly joined the leaders with typical thrills.

His wedge on No. 13 found the water, but he got up-and-down for a bogey. Three holes later, he banged out a 308-yard drive on the par-five 16th then hit a six-iron from 207 yards that stopped 19 feet behind the cup. Daly holed that for eagle and was tied for the lead.

Arnold Palmer, the 72-year-old host, had an 86, beating by one his worse score at the Bay Hill Invitational.

U.S. Amateur champion Bubba Dickerson had a 72. Seventeen-year-old professional Ty Tryon had a 75.

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Defending champion Annika Sorenstam, whose 59 at Moon Valley Country Club last year was the first by a woman in tournament play, shot a five-under-par 67 to share the first-round lead in the Ping Banner Health at Phoenix.

Shani Waugh, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Emilee Klein and Kelly Robbins also opened with 67s. Only 28 players broke par in windy conditions.

Se Ri Pak, second last year, struggled to a 74. Karrie Webb, who lost a playoff to Sorenstam in the Australian Ladies Masters last month, also struggled, finishing with a 77 and four-time Phoenix champion Laura Davies shot an 81.

Auto Racing

Jimmy Vasser is the driver of the cars entered for the Indianapolis 500 by former winner Bobby Rahal and talk show host David Letterman.

Team Rahal competes in the CART series and will run as Rahal/Letterman Racing in the IRL’s California 400 on March 24 and Indy 500 on May 26. It will be the first time Rahal has entered a car at Indianapolis since the CART-IRL split in 1996.

Vasser, the 1996 CART champion, has driven in six previous Indianapolis 500s. He was seventh and fourth the past two years for Ganassi Racing.

The Rahal/Letterman cars raised the number of entries to 29, including cars for former winners Arie Luyendyk and Al Unser Jr. Michael Andretti, a CART regular, also will drive in the 500.

The entry deadline is April 3.

Pro Football

Free agent Blaine Bishop, a four-time Pro Bowl safety, signed a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Free-agent Tampa Bay running back Warrick Dunn is close to completing a contract with the Atlanta Falcons, according to his agent.

The Kansas City Chiefs retained restricted free-agent linebacker Mike Maslowski by matching the offer sheet he signed with New England.... The Seattle Seahawks signed tight end Itula Mili to a multiyear contract.... Wide receiver Johnnie Morton, second in career receptions for the Detroit Lions, was cut in a salary-cap move. The Lions still hope to re-sign him.

College Football

Nebraska has added Arizona State to its 2002 schedule. The Cornhuskers and Sun Devils will play in the Black Coaches Assn. Classic on Aug. 24, giving Nebraska 13 regular-season games.

Miscellany

A high school football star armed with a pellet gun was fatally shot during what police said was an attempted holdup of a liquor store.

Derrick Lemell Breedlove, 17, who had a football scholarship to attend Hampton University, in Hampton, Va., in the fall, died Wednesday of two gunshot wounds to the upper chest.

Richard Kosinski, 50, the clerk who fatally shot Breedlove, has not been charged, police said. The store was robbed twice last month.

Emma Igelstrom of Sweden broke the world short-course swimming record in the 50-meter breaststroke, clocking 30.24 seconds, in the Swedish Championships at Goteborg, Sweden.

Johann Muehlegg, who was stripped of a gold medal because of drug use at last month’s Winter Olympics, has retired while insisting he is innocent.

Passings

Jim Hinga, former Ball State basketball coach and Heartland Collegiate Conference commissioner, has died. He was 78.