Figg-Currier Tied for LPGA Lead

Cindy Figg-Currier took last year off from the LPGA Tour to give birth to her second child.

In her first week away from the kids this year, she is tied for the lead halfway through the Big Apple Classic in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Figg-Currier had a bogey-free round of 65 that featured four birdies on her front nine, including a tap-in on the par-five 18th after a 35-foot putt for eagle hung on the lip. That left her tied with Hee-Won Han at eight-under-par 134.

Han also didn’t have a bogey as she matched the best round of her career (66) to share the lead in the tournament she lost last year in a one-hole playoff.

Beth Daniel had another 68 and was at six-under 136. That put her one shot ahead of Meg Mallon (67), first-round leader Mi-Hyun Kim (71), Joanne Mills (67) and Vicki Goetze-Ackerman (69).

Suzy Whaley, a teaching pro from Avon, Conn., who will play in the PGA Tour’s Greater Hartford Open next week, had a 75 and was at two-over 144, two shots better than the cut.

*

Unfazed by a sore neck and a five-hour rain delay that prevented him from finishing the second round, Steve Lowery moved into a tie for the lead at the B.C. Open at Endicott, N.Y.

With darkness falling, Lowery was at four-under par through 11 holes and was 12 under for the tournament to tie Pat Bates, Alex Cejka and Brett Quigley atop the leaderboard.

Bates had a nine-under 63, Cejka had his second consecutive 66 despite a bogey at 18, and Quigley shot 65 as the leaders in the clubhouse were at 12-under 132.

Lightning and heavy rain forced a three-hour delay at the start. More rain and some standing water on the En-Joie Golf Club course forced a stoppage 50 minutes later.

*

Tennis

Coach Billie Jean King hopes the United States’ deep pool of talent will overcome the missing star power at this weekend’s Fed Cup.

When the U.S. faces Italy in a quarterfinal match starting today in Washington, Venus and Serena Williams, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati will not be playing.

King instead will call on No. 8-ranked Chanda Rubin, No. 18 Meghann Shaughnessy and 26th-ranked Lisa Raymond when the U.S. goes after an unprecedented 18th world team championship.

The top-ranked Italian player, Francesca Schiavone, is only 32nd in the world. Italy never has beaten the United States in Fed Cup play, losing eight matches, including the 1999 semifinals.

Guillermo Coria beat defending-champion Mikhail Youzhny, 6-0, 6-0, to advance to the semifinals of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.

The second-seeded Coria eliminated Youzhny in 40 minutes to improve his record on clay this year to 26-5. He will face Feliciano Lopez, who defeated third-seeded Rainer Schuettler, 6-2, 6-4.

*

Motor Racing

NASCAR Winston Cup Series points leader Matt Kenseth got his first pole of the season when rain washed out qualifying at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon.

The 43-car field for the New England 300 was set by car owner points. So Kenseth, who has led the series standings since March, was automatically awarded the top starting spot for Sunday’s race.

Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole for today’s NASCAR Busch Series New England 200 in Loudon when rain washed out qualifying. He got the top spot because the No. 21 Chevrolet fielded by Richard Childress Racing is first in owner’s points.

Scott Dixon broke the track record with a lap of 206.211 mph in his Panoz G-Force Toyota to win a record-tying third consecutive Indy Racing League pole in qualifying for tonight’s Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. Only Billy Boat in 1998 had won three straight poles.

Dixon broke Boat’s year-old track record of 203.744, taking only 22.69 seconds to get around the 1.33-mile concrete oval. His lap was more than three seconds faster than Boat’s 2002 pole run.

Paraplegic race car driver Carol Hollfelder suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation when her Ford Mustang caught fire and crashed during a test run Thursday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. She was treated at the track hospital and released.

“We think the muffler broke and the insulation caught fire,” said crew chief Paul Brown. “Carol ended up in the wall trying to get it out. It wasn’t good, but she is OK.”

*

Miscellany

Ohio State formed a special committee to investigate allegations of academic misconduct in the football program and whether players have received preferential treatment in classes.

The university’s actions follow a New York Times story Sunday that reported that star running back Maurice Clarett received assistance from a professor who allowed him to take two oral exams to pass a class.

Athletic Director Andy Geiger and interim provost Barbara Snyder, who are heading the investigation, appointed 10 people to assist them in their probe of football players’ academic conduct.

The July 26 card at the 6,700-seat Grand Olympic Auditorium headlined by the 10-round junior-middleweight bout between Fernando Vargas and Fitz Vanderpool is sold out.

The card will be televised on HBO.