Woods in Danger of Not Making Cut

Moments after the Funai Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., was suspended Friday because of storms, a frustrated Tiger Woods spiked his golf ball onto the cart path in front of the 17th green, sending it 20 feet in the air and into a nearby pond.

Woods had made double and triple bogeys in the same round for the first time since the 2000 Masters and was on the verge of missing a cut for the second time this year, and will have to return today to finish his round.

With 74 players at six under par or better -- and 53 players still on the course -- Woods was at four under and most likely needed two birdies to make the cut. That looked improbable when his tee shot on the 17th narrowly cleared the lake, leaving him in sticky rough under a tree about 150 yards from the hole.

Woods missed the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship in May, ending his PGA Tour record of 142 consecutive cuts that spanned seven years.

He started his round on the Magnolia course with two birdies in the first three holes but on the 494-yard fifth -- the toughest of the tournament -- he hit his tee shot into the trees, took a penalty drop and stumbled to a triple bogey.

Vijay Singh, who hit into the water on the sixth hole at the Palm course and shot 71 to finish at four-under-par 140, is virtually assured of missing the cut for the third time this year.

Tom Pernice Jr. set the pace early in the day with a 10-under 62 on the easier Palm course to take the lead at 15-under 129, one shot ahead of Geoff Ogilvy, who had a 66 at Magnolia.

Meichtry Wins State Open Title in Playoff

Eric Meichtry of Murrieta hit his approach to within four feet of the pin on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff in near darkness to win the California State Open Championship over Shaun Haberstroh of Carlsbad and Brendan Steele of Idyllwild.

All three players finished at eight-under 208 as dusk fell on the Redhawk Golf Club in Temecula. With daylight fading fast, all three players agreed to start the playoff on the 445-yard, par-four 10th.

Meichtry was the only one to hit the fairway off the tee and nailed his approach shot. Steele and Haberstroh hit their approach shots into the front greenside bunker.

Steele and Haberstroh struggled to get the ball close and all that was left was for Meichtry to lag his putt to the hole. His birdie putt lipped out, but he made the ensuing tap-in for par.

John Harris shot a tournament record-tying nine-under 62 to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the SBC Championship at San Antonio. He equaled the low 18-hole score shot by Gil Morgan last year. Morgan was two shots back in the Champions Tour event.

TENNIS

Davenport Advances to Zurich Semifinals

Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport defeated Francesca Schiavone, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the Zurich Open in Switzerland.

Davenport, set to become the WTA tour’s top-ranked player Monday, will next play seventh-seeded Anastasia Myskina, who beat fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-4.

Sixth-seeded Patty Schnyder advanced to the semifinals with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Flavia Pennetta. She will play Ana Ivanovic, who beat Katarina Srebotnik, 6-3, 6-1.

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal defeated Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (9), 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the Madrid Masters. He will play 16th-seeded Robby Ginepri, who beat 11th-seeded David Ferrer, 6-1, 6-4.

Eighth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic had 19 aces in beating Fernando Gonzalez, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4. He will play fifth-seeded David Nalbandian, who defeated Ivo Karlovic, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

MOTOR RACING

Stewart Wins Pole for Nextel Cup Race

Tony Stewart was the fastest among 11 drivers who broke the track qualifying record at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, turning a lap at 98.083 mph in a Chevrolet to win the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Subway 500.

Stewart’s lap easily topped the mark of 97.043 mph set by Ryan Newman last year, and moved Ricky Rudd to the outside of the first row. Rudd, driving a Ford, circled the .526-mile track in 97.992 mph.

FIGURE SKATING

Takahashi Easily Wins Skate America Title

Daisuke Takahashi of Japan won the Skate America men’s title at Atlantic City, N.J., with a powerful long program skated to Rachmaninov’s piano concerto No. 2. It was the first Grand Prix victory for the 19-year-old from Okayama, who finished 15th at this year’s world championships.

Takahashi earned 149.44 points for his routine for a final total of 218.54 and easily defeated Evan Lysacek of the U.S., who had 193.71 points. Brian Joubert of France was third with 190.28 points.

-- Helene Elliott

PRO SOCCER

D.C. United, Chicago Play to 0-0 Draw

D.C. United, playing without suspended forward Freddy Adu, played to a 0-0 draw against the Chicago Fire in the opening match of the MLS playoffs.

Chicago looked as if it would earn the victory in the 90th minute when Chad Barrett headed in a cross from Chris Armas, but the referee called it back for an offensive foul.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Southern Miss. Beats Alabama Birmingham

Dustin Almond threw three touchdown passes and Southern Mississippi held off a second-half rally by Alabama Birmingham for a 37-28 victory at Birmingham, Ala.

The Golden Eagles (4-2, 3-1 Conference USA) took a 17-0 lead, but the Blazers (3-4, 1-3) got to within 34-28 with 5:51 to play on an 11-yard pass from Darrell Hackney to Chico Cleveland.

Tulane’s Lester Ricard passed for 360 yards and three touchdowns, but four of his passes were intercepted and Central Florida (4-3, 3-1) beat the Green Wave, 34-24, in a Conference USA game at Orlando, Fla.

MISCELLANY

Davis, Witty Win Speedskating Races

Shani Davis broke his own course record and Olympic champion Chris Witty also won her race during the U.S. Speedskating long-track event at West Allis, Wis.

Davis set the record at 1,000 meters with a time of 1 minute 9.14 seconds to break the mark of 1:10.10 he set Dec. 20, 2004.

Witty, the 1,000-meter gold medalist at the Salt Lake City Olympics, won the women’s event in 1.17.71.

As expected, Atlanta Brave pitching coach Leo Mazzone agreed to terms on a three-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles, the team managed by his best friend, Sam Perlozzo.

Boston Celtic guard Tony Allen has been charged with aggravated battery stemming from a fight that escalated into a shooting outside a west Loop diner two months ago in Chicago. He was released on a $150,000 bond.