Bryant, Goosen Tied for Tour Lead

Bart Bryant thought Friday that he was capable of another 62. By the end of the second round at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, he settled for a two-under-par 68 and was tied for the lead with defending champion Retief Goosen at 10 under.

Goosen sprayed his tee shots all over the course but still managed to continue his mastery at East Lake, hitting only four fairways but posting a 66 to erase a five-shot deficit.

Tiger Woods hit only three fairways -- one shot wound up in a tent full of ice for the concession stand -- but still shot a 67 and was three shots back, along with Ben Crane (65) and Scott Verplank (66).

John Cook closed with four consecutive birdies for a seven-under 65 and shares the lead with five players after two rounds of the Southern Farm Bureau Classic at Madison, Miss.

Cook is tied with first-round leader Bob Tway (70), Kevin Na (68), Tag Ridings (66), Tom Pernice Jr. (68) and Jonathan Byrd (69) at 10-under 134.

Annika Sorenstam, bidding for a fifth consecutive victory in the Mizuno Classic at Otsu, Japan, opened with an eight-under 64 to finish the first round a stroke behind Young Kim.

TENNIS

Dementieva Completes

Field for WTA Finals

Elena Dementieva’s hectic schedule paid off as the 24-year-old Russian became the eighth and final qualifier in the singles field for next week’s WTA Tour Championships.

The season-ending Championships start Tuesday at Staples Center, and Dementieva needed a three-set victory in the quarterfinals Friday at the Advanta Championships in Philadelphia to secure the last spot. She played in five consecutive tournaments to stay in contention.

Dementieva’s qualification means Wimbledon champion Venus Williams is out of the picture, barring any future injury withdrawals. Williams has played only one match since the U.S. Open and pulled out of the Philadelphia event because of a knee injury.

The other seven qualifiers are No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova, Mary Pierce, Amelie Mauresmo, Nadia Petrova and Patty Schnyder.

-- Lisa Dillman

Top-seeded Andy Roddick saved two match points before beating 10th-seeded David Ferrer, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8), in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters. Roddick will play sixth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic in the semifinals. Ljubicic advanced with a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-1 win over 14th-seeded Tommy Robredo.

MOTOR RACING

Force Will Drive

in Funny Car Finals

Funny car driver John Force, seeking his 14th national championship, qualified for Sunday’s final eliminations in the NHRA’s Auto Club of Southern California drag racing finals at Pomona Raceway.

Force, who had spun his wheels and failed to qualify Thursday, qualified eighth Friday with a run of 4.761 seconds at 325.53 mph. He is third in the national standings, 28 points behind leader Gary Scelzi and 26 behind runner-up Ron Capps.

Three track records were set. Jason Line set a pro-stock elapsed-time mark of 6.667 seconds; Kurt Johnson set a pro-stock speed record of 207.62 mph, and Matt Smith set an elapsed-time mark of seven seconds flat in pro-stock motorcycles.

-- Pete Thomas

Despite having the fastest car in qualifying, Ryan Newman is going to have to race from the rear of the field in Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Newman had a qualifying lap of 192.947 mph, but he crashed on the second lap.

Newman, tied with Carl Edwards for fourth in the season standings and trailing leader Tony Stewart by 107 points in the Chase for the Championship, will have to start from the rear of the 43-car field in a backup car.

Newman also won the pole for today’s Busch Series O’Reilly Challenge 300.

Todd Bodine, driving a Toyota, slipped under Mike Skinner with 23 laps to go and then held the lead after a final restart to win the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series Silverado 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

A.J. Almendinger clinched a front-row start in Sunday’s Champ Car World Series Grand Prix of Mexico with a fast lap of 1:27.349 at 114.822 mph in a Ford-powered Lola during the first round of qualifying in Mexico City.

BASEBALL

White Sox Decide

to Buy Out Thomas

The Chicago White Sox bought out Frank Thomas for $3.5 million, making the best slugger in team history eligible for free agency.

Thomas, 37, exercised a $10-million mutual option for next season on Monday, giving the club five days to decide whether to exercise its half.

Kevin Towers has decided to remain as general manager of the San Diego Padres.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Collison Leads UCLA

to Exhibition Victory

With star guard Jordan Farmar sidelined because of a strained groin, freshman Darren Collison took the opportunity to quickly establish his own credentials as UCLA rolled to a 78-51 victory over Carleton University of Ottawa in the Bruins’ exhibition opener at Pauley Pavilion.

Collison scored the first five points of the game, 13 in all, had a team-leading five assists and showed he could handle the ball effectively.

Center Ryan Hollins had a team-high 14 points for UCLA.

-- Steve Springer

USC held off a late charge by Cal State Dominguez Hills and defeated the visiting Toros, 97-84, in the Lyons Center. The exhibition was the Trojans’ first game under new Coach Tim Floyd.

Lodrick Stewart led USC with 19 points and was one of five Trojans in double figures. USC shot 59.3%, and was even better from the three-point line -- 13 of 21 (61.9%).

-- Mike Terry

Former Fresno State coach Ray Lopes and his staff are accused of making hundreds of phone calls to recruits, a violation that has led to a self-imposed postseason ban.

Fresno State spokeswoman Shirley Armbruster confirmed that the school had been notified by the NCAA about phone call violations. The notice alleges that Lopes far exceeded the number of calls to recruits allowed per week.

HORSE RACING

Higher Fire Wins

Golden State Million

After barely qualifying in the trials, the filly Higher Fire won the $1.145-million Golden State Million for quarter horses at Los Alamitos, keeping alive her chances for winning a three-race $1-million bonus.

Higher Fire can earn the $1-million Los Alamitos Bonanza if she wins the Los Alamitos Million next month. Higher Fire won the first race in the series, the Ed Burke Million, in June.

Higher Fire, who stumbled leaving the gate in her trial race, was the 10th-fastest qualifier, but under jockey J.R. Ramirez she covered 400 yards Friday in 19.43 seconds.

“This is a miracle,” trainer Jaime Gomez said. “You know what they say -- good horses make good trainers, and this is a very good horse.”

-- Bill Christine

Martin Pedroza won his fifth race on the eight-race card when he guided General Fox to a one-length victory in the $47,400 feature at Santa Anita.