McDowell’s Eagle Gives Him One-Shot Lead

Graeme McDowell already was thrilled with how he played Thursday in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. One last shot made him feel even better.

McDowell finished a flawless round in easy conditions at English Turn by one-hopping a wedge from 116 yards into the cup for eagle on the ninth hole, giving him an eight-under-par 64 for a one-shot lead over Stuart Appleby.

“That’s a real bonus,” McDowell said. “It doesn’t matter how good you hit. To get the ball in the cup takes a bit of luck.”

Coming off a wire-to-wire victory last week in the Houston Open, Appleby again made it look easy by never coming seriously close to bogey and hitting a wedge into four feet for birdie on the 18th hole for a 65.

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Dakoda Dowd had two sets of three-putts, made three bogeys and finished nine shots off the lead, and the 13-year-old doesn’t expect to make the cut.

And in her mother’s eyes, the day was perfect.

“Fantabulous,” Kelly Jo Dowd said. “I have to make up my own vocabulary to describe it.”

With one swing of the driver, and the 73 shots that followed over the next five hours, Dakoda made Kelly Jo’s dream came true.

The teen made her LPGA debut at the Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open in Reunion, Fla., which extended the terminally ill mother a chance to see her daughter compete against the game’s best.

Dakoda finished with a two-over 74, nine shots behind leader Cristie Kerr.

Andia Winslow, the 23-year-old daughter of Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow, had much less fanfare in her tour debut. She was 10-over through 14 holes when play was halted because of darkness.

TENNIS

Costa’s Career Ends With Loss to Ferrero

Former French Open champion Albert Costa’s career ended with a 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round of the Open Seat Godo at Barcelona, Spain.

The 30-year-old Costa said last week that he would retire after this tournament. He won 12 ATP titles, including the 2002 French Open.

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, defeated Ivan Navarro Pastor, 6-4, 6-2. He advanced to play seventh-seeded Jarkko Nieminen, who beat Albert Portas, 6-3, 6-2.

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Second-seeded Luis Horna withstood a comeback by qualifier Marc Gicquel to win, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3, in the second round of the Grand Prix Hassan II at Casablanca, Morocco.

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USC’s Kaes Van’t Hof defeated UCLA’s Chris Surapol, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), in the first round of the Pacific 10 Conference tournament at Ojai.

Top-seeded Conor Niland of California defeated Dejan Cvetkovic of USC, 6-1, 6-1; Pierre Metenier of Washington beat UCLA’s Philipp Gruendler, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; and UCLA’s Aaron Yovan beat TJ Bellama of Arizona State, 6-2, 7-5.

In the women’s draw, top-seeded Alice Barnes of Stanford defeated Alice McGoodwin of UCLA, 6-1, 6-1; UCLA’s Laura Gordon beat USC’s Luana Magnani, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3; and Amanda Fink of USC defeated UCLA’s Tracy Lin, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.

PRO BASKETBALL

Three Sparks Nominated for WNBA Honor Team

The Sparks’ Chamique Holdsclaw, Lisa Leslie and Mwadi Mabika are among the 30 players nominated for the WNBA All-Decade team. Former Sparks Tamecka Dixon (now with Houston) and DeLisha Milton-Jones (now with Washington) also were nominated.

The 10-member team, to be selected by a vote of fans, media, WNBA players and coaches, will be announced in June, and honored at the league’s All-Star game on July 12 in New York.

-- Mike Terry

MISCELLANY

NCAA Approves Four More Bowls

The NCAA approved four new bowls, including a fifth bowl championship series game in Glendale, Ariz., which will play host to the national championship Jan. 8.

The BCS added the fifth game more than a year ago, and the NCAA’s approval was a formality.

The other new games are the International Bowl, which will be played in Toronto, the Birmingham Bowl, and the New Mexico Bowl. There are now 31 bowl games scheduled.

The NCAA board of directors, meeting in Indianapolis, also approved a proposal allowing teams with .500 records to qualify for bowls if the conference has a contract with a bowl game.

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The 59th Newport-to-Ensenada sailboat race begins today just outside the entrance to Newport Bay with about 460 boats and 3,000 sailors. Twenty-three classes of boats will start the 125-nautical-mile event at 10-minute intervals beginning at noon.

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The annual USC-UCLA men’s and women’s track and field dual meet starts today at UCLA’s Drake Stadium. The UCLA men have won four consecutive dual meets against USC, and the women are aiming for their 14th consecutive victory.

The meet begins today at 3 p.m., with two events, the men’s and women’s hammer throw. Field events Saturday start at 11 a.m., and the first of the running events, the women’s 5,000 meters, is at 11:55 a.m.

USC’s men lead the all-time series, 39-33, and UCLA’s women hold a 19-3 series lead. Last year, UCLA’s men won, 83-80, and the UCLA women won, 85-78.

-- Lisa Dillman

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Sprinters Maurice Greene and Lisa Barber will compete in the Adidas Track Classic at Home Depot Center in Carson on May 21.

Greene is a three-time world record-holder in the 100 meters. Barber won two gold medals as part of the U.S. 400-meter relay team at the 2003 and 2005 world championships.

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Michael Boehle of Los Angeles Loyola High has been selected the 2006 California Coaches Assn. volleyball coach of the year. He will be honored June 17 in Sacramento.