Woods Unhappy That O’Meara Was Passed Over

Tiger Woods criticized the PGA of America for selecting Tom Lehman as captain of the 2006 Ryder Cup team instead of close friend Mark O’Meara.

“I thought he should have been captain because of the heritage of where he’s from,” Woods said Wednesday. “He’s Irish so it would have been a perfect fit for him to be Ryder Cup captain.”

The next Ryder Cup matches will be played in Ireland.

“He’s obviously very disappointed he didn’t get it,” Woods said of O’Meara. “He feels this was probably his last chance because of his age. He’ll be 51 by the time the next one comes around.”

Woods made the comments in Miyazaki, Japan, where he shot a five-under 65 today to take a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Dunlop Phoenix tournament. Kaname Yokoo of Japan was in second.

Hockey

National Hockey League Players’ Assn. officials, including Executive Director Bob Goodenow and Senior Director Ted Saskin, met with registered player agents during a meeting in Chicago amid growing expectations that the season will be lost.

“All of us have a better understanding of the process at hand,” agent Don Meehan said after the meeting. “We had every opportunity to convey our thoughts. It was a very productive meeting.”

Yet, it is not expected to spark negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, which have been stalled since Sept. 9.

Also, a group of NHL players will announce today that they will hold 10 exhibition games to benefit charity in Europe during December. New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur, Ottawa’s Dominik Hasek, the Ducks’ Sergei Fedorov and Petr Sykora, Detroit’s Chris Chelios, Toronto’s Mats Sundin and Colorado’s Rob Blake are among those who will take the two-week tour through Latvia, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway and Poland.

Tennis

Carlos Moya had to wait out a rain delay of nearly eight hours before beating Gaston Gaudio, 6-3, 6-4, in the second round of the ATP Masters Cup Championships at Houston. Top-seeded Roger Federer met Lleyton Hewitt in a late match.

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The ATP Tour will supply players with nutritional supplements checked by a World Anti-Doping Agency-affiliated laboratory starting next season. The move was recommended by the ATP Task Force on Supplements, formed in February in response to a spate of positive drug tests among male tennis players.

Jurisprudence

Kobe Bryant’s attorneys have identified about 125 potential witnesses to testify in the civil lawsuit filed against him by the woman who accused him of sexual assault, attorneys told a Denver judge.

Attorneys for Bryant and the 20-year-old woman met in Denver federal court for the first time to map out a preliminary schedule for the case.

No trial date is being contemplated for now, L. Lin Wood, an attorney representing the woman, said after the brief hearing.

Horse Racing

Eddie King, a jockey who was recently ousted from the board of the Jockeys’ Guild, has filed two suits in New Jersey against the labor organization, seeking his reinstatement and demanding an accounting of the guild’s finances.

Meanwhile, the guild stated in a news release that jockey Shane Sellers, who was handcuffed and ejected from Churchill Downs earlier this month after he engaged in discussion with other jockeys over the insurance issue, has filed an unfair labor practices claim with the NLRB.

Miscellany

Real Salt Lake obtained its first player in Major League Soccer, trading for Dallas forward Jason Kreis in exchange for future considerations.

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Junior-lightweights Edgar Vargas (7-0) and Pedro Mora (9-10) will meet in a scheduled six-round fight tonight as the main event of a Golden Boy Promotions six-bout card at the Irvine Marriott. First bout is at 7:30.

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Soka University of America swim Coach Dave Salo was selected U.S. men’s coach for the 2005 World Championships.

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Roger Clemens’ son Koby signed a national letter of intent to play baseball for the University of Texas.

His father was a star pitcher at Texas in the early 1980s. Koby Clemens will start his career as a third baseman.