Sluman Has Share of Lead at Disney World Classic

Jeff Sluman shot a bogey-free nine-under par 63 Thursday to grab a share of the lead after the first round at the Disney World Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Amid good conditions, 5-foot-5 Hidemichi Tanaka of Japan made 10 birdies to tie Sluman and Bob Burns, who is 118th on the money list and needs a good week to secure his PGA Tour card for next year.

Scott Hoch was among those at 64, and Stuart Appleby continued his strong play from last week’s Las Vegas tournament with a 65.

Tiger Woods, playing for the first time since the Ryder Cup, was in a large group at 66. “I’ll take it,” said Woods, who didn’t hit the ball particularly well but made enough putts to post his 18th consecutive round at par or better.

Woods was in the first grade when Sluman jump-started his career 20 years ago by winning at Disney World on the now-defunct Space Coast Tour. The purse was $100,000; for this year’s tournament, it’s $3.7 million.

Sluman did just about everything right on Thursday, with seven of his birdies from inside six feet.

He atoned for his only big mistake by making a 35-footer for birdie on No. 10.

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Colin Montgomerie defeated Fred Funk, 3 and 2, in their 36-hole first-round match at the World Match Play Championship in Virginia Water, England. Montgomerie will next play British Open champion Ernie Els.

In other matches, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington defeated Canadian Mike Weir, 4 and 3, and will face Sergio Garcia in the quarterfinals. Vijay Singh won, 1 up, over England’s Justin Rose, setting up a match against Retief Goosen.

The fourth match will be completed today because darkness stopped play. Nick Faldo and Michael Campbell were all square after 42 holes, with defending champion Ian Woosnam awaiting the winner.

Tennis

Andre Agassi needed three sets to defeat Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and reach the quarterfinals of the inaugural Madrid Masters.

Agassi won, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (8), 7-5, before a boisterous center-court crowd at the Pabellon de Cristal.

Agassi will next play French Open finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero, who rallied to beat fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Carlos Moya blew a one-set lead and a match point in the third set before his home fans, losing to the Czech Republic’s Jiri Novak, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-5, in another third-round match. Novak will play Paradorn Srichaphan, who defeated Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4, 6-2.

Alexandra Stevenson smacked 16 aces to defeat fifth-seeded Jelena Dokic, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-5, and reach the Swisscom Challenge quarterfinals at Zurich.

Daniela Hantuchova fought off four match points and beat Elena Dementieva, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6). Kim Clijsters advanced by defeating Amanda Coetzer, 6-1, 6-1.

Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States pulled out of her match at the VUB Open in Bratislava, Slovakia, because of a stomachache, one of five seeded players to exit.

In other matches, eighth-seeded Laura Granville was upset by qualifier Iveta Benesova, 6-3, 6-4, and wild-card entry Eva Fislova beat fourth-seeded Elena Likhovtseva, 6-3, 6-4.

Michael Chang defeated former UCLA player Zack Fleishman in the second round of the USTA Challenger of Burbank. Chang, who will face Brazil’s Ricardo Mello in a quarterfinal match today, beat Fleishman, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. In other second-round matches involving U.S. players, Michael Russell downed Michael Joyce, 6-3, 6-2, and Brian Vahaly beat Jack Brasington, 6-1, 6-2. Mello beat Robert Kendrick, 6-4, 6-2, to advance.

Baseball

Lou Piniella doesn’t know where he’ll manage next, but it won’t be Boston.

Red Sox President Larry Lucchino said that the team has not asked for permission to talk to the Mariner manager and doesn’t plan to do so.

The New York Mets and Tampa Bay Devil Rays have expressed interest in Piniella, but neither team has agreed with the Mariners on compensation.

The New York Daily News and Newsday reported that the Mets also have received permission from Oakland to speak to Manager Art Howe. Howe has a year left on his contract, but the A’s have told the Mets they would not seek compensation for releasing him.

Passings

Bob Gregg, known in auto racing as “Bullet Bob the Barefoot Boy” because of his penchant for racing shoeless, has died at 82. Gregg, who died Monday in Vancouver, Wash., raced on the West Coast for six decades and once took the rookie test for the Indianapolis 500.