For Rahlves, Win Is All Downhill

Daron Rahlves of Sugar Bowl, Calif., won a World Cup downhill Friday, finishing 0.69 of a second ahead of Stephan Eberharter of Austria and Bjarne Solbakken of Norway, who tied for second.

Rahlves skied aggressively from the start to post a time of 1 minute 39.59 seconds on the difficult Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek, Colo. Eberharter and Solbakken finished in 1:40.28.

Austria’s Michael Walchhofer, who won the season-opening downhill last Saturday in Lake Louise, Canada, was fourth in 1;40.36, followed by Hermann Maier of Austria in 1:40.38.

Rahlves’ win marked only the second victory by an American man in a World Cup race in the United States since 1984. Bode Miller of Bretton Woods, N.H., won a giant slalom at Park City, Utah, on Nov. 22.

“It feels special, really good,” said Rahlves. “We live here, it’s like our hometown hill. It’s our only World Cup downhill. So we want to put down good performances. It gets old having the Austrians or the Norwegians skiing fast here and no Americans.”

Solbakken, the fourth skier out of the starting gate, put up a time that withstood challenges from the next 23 skiers. But Rahlves was faster.

Miller, the World Cup overall standings leader, put together a fast run but fell near the finish. He was thrown back on his skis by a tough patch on the course and went airborne, breaking his left ski as he landed. He was not hurt.

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Carole Montillet of France won the women’s season-opening World Cup downhill at Lake Louise, Canada.

Montillet picked up more than half a second on the bottom of the 2,650-meter Olympic men’s downhill course and finished in 1 minute 34.03 seconds.

Hilde Gerg of Germany, who injured her left knee on the course last year, finished second in 1:34.19. Kirsten Clark of Raymond, Maine, was third in 1:34.33.

Golf

U.S. Open winner Jim Furyk opened with a five-under-par 67 to take a five-stroke lead over Masters champion Mike Weir in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Beach, Hawaii.

British Open champion Ben Curtis shot a 73 and PGA champion Shaun Micheel had a 75 in the 36-hole event for the winners of this year’s four majors.

Daniel Chopra and Mathias Gronberg share the lead at the halfway point of the PGA Tour qualifying tournament at Winter Garden, Fla. Chopra shot a seven-under 65 for a 13-under-under 203 total.

Gronberg, who has held at least a share of the lead through three rounds, shot a 67. Omar Uresti shot a nine-under 63 and was tied for second with Danny Briggs, who shot a five-under 67.

Robert Allenby shot his second consecutive five-under 67 to take a two-stroke lead over Peter Senior after two rounds of the Australian Masters at Melbourne.

Brad Lamb and Nick O’Hern each shot a two-under 70 and were tied for third, four shots behind Allenby, who is at 10-under 134. Senior shot a three-under 69.

Rich Beem, the 2002 PGA Championship winner, missed the cut of two-over 144. He had a 76 after an opening 74 for a six-over 150.

Miscellany

The son of Miami Dolphin owner Wayne Huizenga was charged with drunk driving after police in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said he struck a pedestrian with his sports-utility vehicle.

Robert Ray Huizenga, 41, was attempting to make a left turn when he drove into the path of a 71-year-old male, who was taken to a hospital with head and leg injuries, police said.

The unidentified pedestrian’s injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The Seattle Mariners hired Bob Fontaine as vice president for scouting, reuniting him with new General Manager Bill Bavasi.

Fontaine and Bavasi worked together with the Angels. Fontaine spent the last four seasons overseeing the minor league department of the Chicago White Sox.

Former NFL running back Lawrence Phillips was released from jail in Montreal after he was charged with sexually assaulting his girlfriend.

Phillips was released by the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders on Oct. 10 for disrupting practice by arguing with Coach Jim Barker.

Jake Paterson of Australia won the $250,000 Rip Curl Cup, the second leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing held on the north shore of Oahu in Hawaii. Paterson overcame a perfect 10.00 ride by world champion Andy Irons to finish with 17.64 points to Irons’ 17.17 and the first-place prize purse of $30,000.