Song, Kane Share Lead in LPGA Tournament

Aree Song shot a six-under-par 66 Friday and shared the lead with Lorie Kane at the midway point of the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship at Stockbridge, Ga.

Kane made birdies on three of her last five holes to finish with a 68 that left her at nine-under 135 after two rounds.

Song, who turns 18 today, had six birdies at the Eagles Landing Country Club course, south of Atlanta. Song has a chance to become the youngest winner of an LPGA event. Hall of Famer Marlene Hagge was 18 years 14 days old when she won the Sarasota Open in 1952.

Annika Sorenstam was five shots behind the co-leaders after a 69.

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The first round of the PGA’s HP Classic at New Orleans was suspended because of rain for a second consecutive day. Seventy-five golfers have yet to complete their first round. Gene Sauers and Paul Azinger were the clubhouse leaders with six-under 66s at English Turn.

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Bruce Fleisher shot an eight-under 64 and took a two-stroke lead over Lonnie Nielsen after the first round of the Bruno’s Memorial Classic at Hoover, Ala. Nielsen’s 66 in the Champions Tour event included four consecutive birdies and a 45-foot eagle putt on the par-five 13th.

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Dana Gunderson, the head golf professional at Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook, died late Thursday night in a car accident. He was 41.

Colleges

ABC has committed to televising at least four USC and three UCLA football games in the fall.

USC’s Sept. 11 game against Colorado State at the Coliseum will begin at 5 p.m. The Trojans’ Oct. 30 game at Washington State will start at 4 p.m., and the Nov. 27 at home against Notre Dame will begin at 5 p.m.

The USC-UCLA game on Dec. 4 at the Rose Bowl will kick off at 1:30 p.m.

Other UCLA games: Sept. 4 against Oklahoma State at the Rose Bowl at 12:30 p.m.; Sept. 18 at Washington at 4 p.m..

UCLA will conclude spring practice today with a scrimmage, starting at 11 a.m. Admission is free, but seating will be on first-come basis beginning at 9 a.m. Because of injuries, several players will not participate. Among them are running back Maurice Drew (shoulder), offensive tackle Ed Blanton (knee), defensive end Kevin Harbour (knee) and centers Robert Chai (knee) and Mike McCloskey (lung ailment).

Former St. Bonaventure athletic director Gothard Lane is suing the school for libel, saying university officials maliciously damaged his reputation after last year’s player eligibility scandal.

Saint Joseph’s junior guard Delonte West has made himself available for the NBA draft, but he has not hired an agent.

Texas El Paso has accepted an offer to join Conference USA after spending 36 years in the Western Athletic Conference. The change will take place July 1, 2005.

Tennis

Kristof Vliegen of Belgium upset third-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina, 7-6 (1), 6-4, in a semifinal match of the Open Seat Godo at Barcelona, Spain. Vliegen will play Tommy Robredo of Spain. Robredo beat fifth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (2).

Top-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany was upset by Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, 6-1, 7-6 (4), in the quarterfinals of the BMW Open at Munich, Germany. Davydenko’s semifinal opponent will be Peru’s Luis Horna, who beat Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (2).

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo of France lost to Francesca Schiavone of Italy, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1, at the J&S; Cup in Warsaw, and 2003 runner-up Venus Williams easily reached the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-1, 6-0.... Martina Sucha of Slovakia beat second-seeded Petra Mandula of Hungary, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the Budapest Grand Prix in Hungary.

Miscellany

Tony Schumacher raced to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in top fuel at the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol, Tenn. Schumacher turned in a track record time of 4.529 seconds at 324.368 mph.

Whit Bazemore (funny car) and Greg Anderson (pro stock) also earned provisional No. 1 qualifying positions.

Samuel Pahlsson scored in the final minute, rallying Sweden to a 1-1 tie with Finland in a qualifying-round game at the hockey world championships at Ostrava, Czech Republic.

In other games, defending champion Canada beat Latvia, Slovakia beat Russia and the Czech Republic defeated Austria, all by 2-0 scores. The U.S. plays Russia today.

Orange County won the opening game in the inaugural National Surf League, making the most of windy conditions alongside the Huntington Beach Pier to defeat Santa Cruz, 188.25-145.50, in the four-team California Cup. Tim Reyes of Huntington Beach was the high scorer for Orange County with 28.25 points.