Augusta’s Johnson Has Surgery

William W. “Hootie” Johnson, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, had heart surgery Friday.

Johnson, 71, was resting comfortably at an undisclosed location after the planned operation, according to club spokesman Glenn Greenspan.

Heart surgeons performed a coronary artery bypass, repaired an aortic aneurysm and replaced an aortic valve during the procedure.

Johnson, who lives in Columbia, S.C., is in his fourth year as chairman of the club, which opened in 1932. Johnson, who has been in charge of the Masters since becoming club chairman in 1998, is at the center of a public dispute over its all-male membership.

Thomas Bonk

*

Juli Inkster missed a four-foot putt on the 18th hole to share the lead in the opening round of the $1-million Safeway Classic with a five-under-par 67 at Portland, Ore.

Inkster’s bogey on the final hole pulled her even with leaders Donna Andrews, Rosie Jones and Karrie Webb at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. Four others shot four-under 68s.

*

Billy Andrade shot a three-under 68 to maintain a one-stroke lead at eight under par after two rounds in the Pennsylvania Classic at Paoli.

Ian Leggatt is one stroke behind Andrade, followed by rookie Kenneth Staton, who was two strokes behind at six-under. Brent Geiberger (68), Jeff Brehaut (68) and Donnie Hammond (69) are tied for fourth at five-under.

*

Bruce Fleisher birdied 10 of his first 14 holes for a 10-under 60, tying the record for the lowest 18-hole score in Senior PGA Tour history in the first round of the RJR Championship at Clemmons, N.C.

Tennis

American Cecil Mamiit knocked off fifth-seeded Agustin Calleri, 7-6 (3), 6-4, to reach the semifinals of the Brazil Open at Costa do Sauipe.

He will next face Guillermo Coria, who defeated seventh-seeded Dominik Hrbaty, 6-2, 6-4.

In the women’s semifinals, top-seeded Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia lost to Anastasia Myskina, 6-2, 6-4, and second-seeded Monica Seles lost to Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, 6-1, 7-5.

*

Fourth-seeded Anna Kournikova, who has never won a singles tournament, advanced to the semifinals of the Shanghai Open with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Croatia’s Jelene Kostanic.

Top-seeded Anna Smashnova of Israel had an easier time reaching the semifinals, defeating Japan’s Miho Saeki, 6-3, 6-2.

*

Second-seeded Lisa Raymond beat seventh-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the Big Island Championships at Waikoloa, Hawaii.

Raymond, the 29-year-old serve-and-volley player seeking her fourth WTA Tour title, will face Belgium’s Els Callens in the semifinals. Callens beat Samantha Reeves, 4-6, 7-5, 6-0.

*

Top-seeded Andrei Pavel reached the semifinals of the Romania Open by defeating Juan Giner, 6-1, 6-3, at Bucharest. Pavel next faces fifth-seeded Jose Acasuso, who defeated Franco Squillari, 6-1, 7-6 (4).

*

Yevgeny Kafelnikov easily defeated Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand to set up a final against Belarus qualifier Vladimir Voltchkov in the President’s Cup at Tashkent, Uzbekistand. Kafelnikov won, 6-2, 6-4, and Voltchkov defeated Davide Sanguinetti, 6-3, 6-2.

Motor Racing

Rookie Ryan Newman set a track record and won the pole for the New Hampshire 300 at Loudon.

Newman’s Ford got around the 1.058-mile track at 132.241 mph. The previous best for Winston Cup qualifying at New Hampshire International Speedway was 132.089, set by Rusty Wallace in July 2000.

*

Kenny Brack won his first CART pole of the season, turning the fastest lap at the Rockingham 500 in central England.

Brack, a Swede driving for Target/Ganassi, had a lap of 24.908 seconds on the D-shaped 1.479-mile course, with a top speed of 213.763 mph. Michael Andretti will start second today, while season points leader Cristiano da Matta will start third.

*

Rookie Brendan Gaughan went ahead when Ted Musgrave spun out during a caution with only 14 laps left and held on to win his second NASCAR trucks race at Fort Worth this year.

Gaughan, whose only other win was on the same 1 1/2-mile track in June, is the first two-time winner in the 10 Craftsman Truck Series races at Texas Motor Speedway.

*

Larry Dixon led qualifying at the NHRA Nationals with a 4.560-second run at 320.28 mph in top fuel at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pa.

John Force led the funny-car category with a run of 4.833 seconds at 298.80 mph, and Jim Yates led pro stock with a 6.825-second run at 200.80 mph.

Jurisprudence

Jonathan Boyer, a former Tour de France competitor, has pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of child molestation involving a girl who was 11 years old at the time the molestation began.

Boyer, 46, of Seaside, Calif., was arrested in May after the girl, now 16, told police he sexually molested her from September 1997 to September 2000.

*

Former NBA player Sylvester “Sly” Williams was sentenced to five years in prison for attacking a woman twice and holding her captive for nearly a day.

Miscellany

Atlanta Hawk forward DerMarr Johnson broke his neck in a car crash, an injury that is not life-threatening but could cause him to miss the season.

Johnson was in the intensive care unit at Atlanta Medical Center, Hawk spokesman Arthur Triche said. Team doctors recommended the 22-year-old player have surgery at Shepherd Spinal Center, but the decision will be made by Johnson’s mother, who was traveling to Atlanta from Washington.

*

FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, said it is investigating Byron Moreno, the Ecuadorean referee widely blamed for Italy’s early exit from the World Cup.

Moreno was suspended for 20 matches by Ecuadorean soccer officials on Wednesday for adding 13 minutes of injury time to a local match and reporting that the game lasted only 90 minutes, according to a federation inspector.

If found guilty of misinforming the federation, Moreno could be permanently suspended.

*

The United States reached the final of the women’s world volleyball championships at Berlin, defeating Russia, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 15-8. The U.S. will play Italy in Sunday’s final. Italy defeated China, 25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23.

*

Irvine Novaquatics Coach Dave Salo was chosen the USA Swimming Coach of the Year at the United States Aquatic Sports convention in Dallas.