Baird Shoots 66 and Takes One-Shot Lead

Briny Baird shot a six-under-par 66 for a one-shot lead over Tom Lehman after the second round of the Funai Classic golf tournament at Disney on Friday at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Baird, at 13-under 131, had seven birdies, six par saves and only 23 putts on the Palm course. Winless for almost five years, Lehman put himself in contention for the third consecutive week with a 66 on the Magnolia course.

Hank Kuehne had a 64 on the Palm and finished in a group at 11-under 133 that included Cameron Beckman (65), Kirk Triplett (67) and Skip Kendall (67).

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Tom Kite shot a two-under 70 to maintain his one-shot lead over Morris Hatalsky, Dana Quigley and Hale Irwin after the second round of the Charles Schwab Championship at Sonoma Golf Club.

Hatalsky’s five-under 67 was the best round among the leaders, but Kite stayed in front at 10-under 134 in the Champions Tour event.

LPGA Tour rookie Isabelle Beisiegel’s goal of becoming the first woman to qualify for the men’s PGA Tour quietly ended with a round of seven-over 79 at the Norman Course at PGA West in La Quinta.

Her 72-hole total of 35-over 323 was last among the 78 golfers who completed all four rounds.

Tennis

Second-seeded Andre Agassi defeated eighth-seeded Tommy Robredo, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2, and advanced to the semifinals of the Madrid Masters. He will play third-seeded Marat Safin, who beat Luis Horna, 6-4, 6-4. Ivan Ljubicic and fourth-seeded David Nalbandian will meet in the other semifinal. Ljubicic beat seventh-seeded Joachim Johansson, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3). Nalbandian beat Taylor Dent, 7-6 (4), 6-3.... Fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova defeated seventh-seeded Venus Williams, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the semifinals of the Swisscom Challenge at Zurich, Switzerland. She will play third-seeded Elena Dementieva, who beat ninth-seeded Ai Sugiyama, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5.

Motor Racing

Ryan Newman, ninth among 10 drivers and 271 points behind NASCAR Nextel Cup Series leader Kurt Busch halfway through the 10-race playoff, turned a lap at 97.043 mph in his Dodge to win the pole for Sunday’s Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. He will be joined on the front row by Rusty Wallace, who had a fast lap of 96.234.... NASCAR Busch Series points leader Martin Truex Jr. won the pole for today’s Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis, Tenn. Truex, 144 points ahead of Kyle Busch, sped around the three-quarter-mile oval in a Chevrolet at 120.198 mph.

Soccer

A Japanese investment bank is exploring ways of blocking a possible takeover of Manchester United by U.S. businessman Malcolm Glazer, who owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Nomura, Japan’s biggest investment bank, said it was working with British investment banker Keith Harris on a financing package for the soccer club. The Financial Times reported that Nomura already had offered $365.6 million to help finance Harris.

Glazer has raised his stake in the club to 28.11% in the last week. He is just short of the stake held by major shareholders John Magnier and J.P. McManus, who have a 28.9% stake.

Miscellany

The Breeders’ Cup and Lone Star Park in Texas announced that jockeys’ accident insurance, which had been capped at $100,000 in coverage at Lone Star and many other tracks, would be increased to $500,000 for all riders who have mounts next Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Gary Stevens, who said it was almost impossible for him to buy private insurance because of his medical history, still doesn’t plan to ride in the Breeders’ Cup. Stevens said that he would ride only in the states -- California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Idaho -- that protect jockeys through workers’ compensation insurance.

A boxer who fights under the nickname “The Harlem Hammer” pleaded not guilty to charges that he had used a hammer to murder a freelance sportswriter and then torched his Hollywood apartment. James Butler, 31, was charged with murder and arson and was being held on $1.25-million bail, said Sandi Gibbons, the district attorney’s spokeswoman.

Sam Kellerman, 29, was found dead Sunday at his apartment. Authorities believe he was killed on Oct. 12, according to a district attorney’s statement. He was the younger brother of Max Kellerman, host of Fox Sports Net’s “I, Max.”

President Bush signed legislation that would curtail sales of steroid precursors and seek to toughen penalties for offenses involving anabolic steroids. The legislation adds 18 substances to the list of banned anabolic steroids, including androstenedione and tetrahydrogestrinone.... The Ice Dogs opened their East Coast Hockey League season with a 3-0 victory over the San Diego Gulls in front of 4,083 at the Long Beach Arena.