Howell, Perry Lead After First Round

In the pressure-packed finale of the PGA Tour season, Tiger Woods had no trouble distancing himself from chief rival Vijay Singh in the first round of the Tour Championship at Houston.

It’s the dozen guys ahead of him who present the problem.

Charles Howell III and Kenny Perry led the way Thursday, each with a four-under 67 in the tricky breezes at Champions Golf Club to tie for the lead.

Woods was tied for the lead at one point after a brilliant start in which he put five strokes between him and Singh after the first five holes.

But he let a good round get away with three straight bogeys on the back nine, including a three-putt on the par-five 13th, for a one-under 70 that left him tied for 13th.

“I hit two bad shots, and that was it,” Woods said.

“The rest were mostly putting mistakes.”

Singh was even worse, using his putter 36 times in a round of 73 that kept him at the bottom of the leaderboard.

“I let the putts get away from me,” Singh said. “And I got very tentative after that.”

At stake in the final tournament of the season are the money title -- advantage Singh -- and player of the year, with Woods, Singh, Mike Weir and Davis Love III in the hunt.

Love finished with a double-bogey and a bogey for a 73. Weir, the Masters champion, made four bogeys in his last 10 holes and shot 72.

Perry had the only bogey-free round.

Fred Funk, Jerry Kelly and Chris DiMarco all had a three-under 68.

Miscellany

Charlotte and Saint Louis were invited to join the Atlantic 10 Conference in an expansion that would boost the league to 14 teams. Charlotte and Saint Louis are currently in Conference USA, which will lose Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Marquette and DePaul to the Big East in 2005.

Although neither school announced a decision, Atlantic 10 Commissioner Linda Bruno said the offers would not have been extended unless the conference knew the universities would accept.

“They were interested in joining us, and we were interested in them,” Bruno said.

She said the schools would have to pay an entrance fee, although she would not say how much it was.

The Atlantic 10 already has 12 members: Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, St. Joseph’s, Temple and Xavier.

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Kentucky State fired men’s basketball coach Winston Bennett for hitting a player.

Last week, senior guard Ricky Green filed a complaint with the Franklin County attorney’s office, accusing Bennett of striking him in the face during practice.

In a statement, Bennett said he and Green overreacted to a heated situation and both threw blows.

He also expressed regret and remorse for what happened.

“If there was ever a time when I wish the hands of time could be turned back, it is right now,” Bennett said.

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The United States blanked Olympic champion Canada, 2-0, in the Four Nations women’s hockey tournament at Skovde, Sweden.

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Swimmer Michael Phelps of Baltimore, who set five world records at the World Championships in Spain in July, has signed a long-term sponsorship deal with Speedo that includes a $1-million bonus if he wins seven gold medals at the Athens Olympics or at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Phelps, 18, told reporters during a conference call he can’t guarantee he’ll match the feat accomplished by Mark Spitz at the 1972 Munich Games. “A lot can happen in a year,” Phelps said. “I can only control what I do..... I can say it’s going to be very hard to win seven gold medals next year.”

Phelps said he would await a final schedule of the Athens swim events before deciding how many he will enter.