Lowery Takes Lead, Singh Struggles Again

Steve Lowery and Bo Van Pelt played some of their best golf Friday at the Chrysler Championship on a tough day that sent Vijay Singh home early for the second consecutive week.

Lowery birdied three holes in a row to start his back nine and finished with a five-under-par 66 for a two-shot lead over Van Pelt, who played even better. Van Pelt never came close to a bogey in shooting 65, more than 7 1/2 shots better than the field average on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor, Fla.

Davis Love III and Bernhard Langer each shot 69 and were another shot behind with Tom Pernice Jr. (66).

The last two weeks have been tough for Singh, who started the year at No. 1 in the world ranking. He missed the cut last week in the Funai Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., along with Tiger Woods, by taking a triple bogey on his 15th hole of the second round. Singh, the defending champion at Innisbrook, went 74-71 to miss the cut by one shot.

Gil Morgan shot a steady three-under 69, and Loren Roberts had a wild ride to the same score as they matched Lonnie Nielsen atop the board at Sonoma Golf Club after the second round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the Champions Tour’s season-ending event, in Sonoma, Calif.

Morgan, Roberts and Nielsen are at six-under 138. Twenty players are within four strokes of the lead.

PGA champion Phil Mickelson has decided not to play in the Tour Championship next month, the second time in the last five years he has skipped the season-ending event for the top 30 on the PGA Tour money list. He did not elaborate on the reason in a statement released by Gaylord Sports.

Jee Young Lee shot a seven-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Jeong Jang and Carin Koch after the first round of the LPGA Tour’s CJ Nine Bridges Classic in Jeju, South Korea.

Annika Sorenstam shot a 75, bogeying four of her first 14 holes, two of them par fives, before making her lone birdie on No. 15.

BASEBALL

Schmidt Interviews

for Devil Ray Job

Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt joined the growing list of candidates for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ manager’s job, emerging from an interview optimistic about the prospect of getting the position.

The former Philadelphia Phillie slugger described himself as probably a longshot before his meeting with club officials Matt Silverman and Andrew Friedman, who are heading the search for Lou Piniella’s replacement.

Schmidt hit 548 homers and won 10 Gold Gloves in 18 seasons with the Phillies. He retired in 1989 and spent 11 years out of the game before being lured back to work by former Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa.

Although he initially had no aspirations to become a manager, working with the Phillies as a spring training instructor in 2000 changed his mind. He managed Class A Clearwater in 2004, compiling a 55-81 record.

The three-time NL MVP joins Angel bench coach Joe Maddon, former Detroit manager Alan Trammell, Atlanta hitting coach Terry Pendleton and four members of the Devil Rays organization -- coaches John McLaren, Tom Foley and Billy Hatcher and minor league manager Bill Evers -- in interviewing for the job.

Boston Red Sox assistant general manager Josh Byrnes was hired as general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Byrnes, 35, replaces Joe Garagiola Jr., who resigned to become senior vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner’s office.

Byrnes, known for his elaborate statistical analysis of the game and its players, had been assistant GM of the Red Sox since Theo Epstein was hired as general manager in 2002. The two worked together to develop the Boston team that won the World Series championship in 2004.

Rafael Palmeiro became a free agent after a tumultuous season in which he became the highest-profile player suspended for steroids.

Texas pitcher Kenny Rogers also filed, not wanted back by the Rangers after throwing a tantrum and shoving two television cameramen in Arlington, Texas, before a game against the Angels.

Also among the 54 players filing Friday were Boston center fielder Johnny Damon, New York Yankee outfielder Bernie Williams, New York Met catcher Mike Piazza, Cleveland pitcher Kevin Millwood, Chicago Cub shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Colorado State

Defeats New Mexico

Justin Holland’s 15-yard touchdown pass to David Anderson in the fourth quarter capped off Colorado State’s second-half rally in a 35-25 victory over New Mexico at Albuquerque.

The Rams, who trailed, 25-12, at halftime, shut down the Lobos, 5-4 overall and 3-3 Mountain West Conference, in the second half and converted three New Mexico turnovers into 17 points. Jason Smith kicked three of his four field goals in the comeback.

CSU (5-3, 4-1) also ruined New Mexico halfback DonTrell Moore’s big game. Moore ran for two touchdowns and 117 yards in 19 carries to become the sixth player in NCAA Division I history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons. He joined Tony Dorsett, Amos Lawrence, Ron Dayne, Denvis Manns and Cedric Benson in accomplishing the feat.

MOTOR SPORTS

Newman Making Habit

of Winning Atlanta Poles

Ryan Newman won the pole for Sunday’s Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., with a lap of 193.928 mph in a Dodge.

It was his sixth consecutive pole victory at the track, the 34th pole of his career and seventh of the season.

Runner-up Carl Edwards, a winner at Atlanta in March, was considerably slower than Newman at 193.420.

With four races remaining in the 10-race NASCAR Chase for the championship, Newman is third, trailing leader Tony Stewart by 63 points and runner-up Jimmie Johnson by 48.

Greg Biffle is fourth, 20 points behind Newman, and Edwards fifth, another 66 back.

TENNIS

Roddick Advances

to Semifinals in France

Top-seeded Andy Roddick and three Frenchmen advanced to the semifinals of the Lyon Grand Prix in France.

Roddick, who will be the top-seeded player at the Paris Masters, beat Mario Ancic, 6-4, 6-4, and will face Fabrice Santoro, who beat Vincent Spadea, 6-2, 6-2.

Sebastien Grosjean beat Olivier Rochus, 6-3, 7-6 (4), and will play Gael Monfils, who defeated Marc Gicquel, 6-4, 6-1.

Monfils had nine aces and needed only 67 minutes to beat Gicquel, who played in his first ATP quarterfinal.

Grosjean had 16 aces in his quarterfinal victory, advancing to his first match against the 19-year-old Monfils.

Roddick’s seeding in the Paris Masters, an indoor tournament that begins Monday and ends Nov. 6, comes as top-ranked Roger Federer and defending champion Marat Safin are out because of injuries.

Federer has a torn ligament in his right ankle. Two-time Grand Slam champion Safin has tendinitis in his left knee.

Lleyton Hewitt pulled out with a groin and foot injuries, tournament organizers said.

Also missing will be Andre Agassi, former French Open champion Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal, who won this year at Roland Garros.

Nadia Petrova rallied from a break down in the third set to beat Sybille Bammer, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, and advance to the semifinals of the Generali Ladies Open in Linz, Austria.

In the other semifinal, fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder will play eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic.

FIGURE SKATING

American Czisny Wins

at Skate Canada

American Alissa Czisny won the women’s short program at Skate Canada in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won the pairs title.

Czisny, 18, had 58.54 points. Japan’s Fumie Suguri was second with 52.12, and Canadian champion Joannie Rochette was third with 50.68.

Czisny, seventh at the U.S. nationals last winter, got into Skate America last weekend and won silver.