Henry Leads After Career-Best 61

J.J. Henry birdied a tournament-record seven consecutive holes en route to a 10-under-par 61 Friday and a four-shot lead halfway through the FBR Open at Scottsdale, Ariz.

The 30-year-old from Fairfield, Conn., was one stroke off the tournament-record round of 60, and he bettered his previous career-best round by three strokes. His string of birdies on the ninth through 15th holes fell one shy of the PGA Tour record.

“I guess you could say I was in that zone,” Henry said.

Never a winner on the PGA Tour, Henry was at 14-under 128 through 36 holes in front of an announced crowd of 117,540, a record for the tournament’s second round.

“It was just one of those days,” Henry said. “The hole looked big for some reason.”

Tour-rookie J.B. Holmes, 22, shot a 64 and was four back at 10-under 132. First-round co-leader Steve Lowery (68) and Paul Stankowski (66) were at nine-under 133.

Tiger Woods was within two shots of the leaders at the Dubai Desert Classic in the United Arab Emirates, yet he remained happy with his six-under 66.

Woods found the water twice during the second round to trail Retief Goosen and Anders Hansen. Two bogeys and a double bogey -- plus two balls in the water -- left him in a tie for second.

Hansen shot a 63 and Goosen had a 67 to tie for the lead at 13-under 131. Woods was tied with Nick Dougherty (66) and Richard Green (69) at 11 under.

“Frustrating,” Woods said. “You know me, I hate dropping shots. Especially when you have a good round going like that.”

WINTER SPORTS

Raich Wins Cup Event; Miller Finishes Third

Benjamin Raich of Austria rallied from 17th place after the downhill leg to win a World Cup super-combi event at Chamonix, France. Bode Miller of Franconia, N.H., finished third after a nine-day break from racing.

Raich completed the morning’s shortened downhill and lengthy slalom to win in a combined time of 2 minutes 36.48 seconds and extend his lead atop the overall standings. Teammate Rainer Schoenfelder was second in 2:37.31.

Miller, returning from a golfing holiday in Dubai, placed third in 2:37.47 for his third podium result in the combined this season.

Maria Jose Rienda of Spain won a World Cup giant slalom at Ofterschwang, Germany. She had the fastest time in both runs, winning in 2 minutes 19.52 seconds and becoming the first to win the discipline twice this season.

Rienda finished 0.64 of a second ahead of Sweden’s Anja Paerson, and Kathrin Zettel of Austria finished third in 2:20.36.

Paerson was 0.84 of a second ahead of Zettel and appeared set to win her 32nd World Cup race. But Rienda skied last and turned on the speed in the middle of the course to win.

TENNIS

Hingis Beats Sharapova to Reach Tokyo Final

Former World No. 1 Martina Hingis upset top-seeded Maria Sharapova today to advance to the final of the Pan Pacific Open at Tokyo.

Hingis, who entered the tournament as a wild card, relied on solid groundstrokes on her way to a 6-3, 6-1 victory that took only 1 hour 6 minutes.

In the Friday’s quarterfinals, Sharapova defeated Samantha Stosur, 6-1, 6-4, and Hingis defeated Maria Kirilenko, 6-2, 6-1.

In other quarterfinal matches, second-seeded Elena Dementieva beat fifth-seeded Nicole Vaidisova, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, and Anastasia Myskina beat Elena Likhovtseva, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Top-seeded Andre Agassi, playing in his first tournament of the year, was upset, 6-4, 6-2, by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the quarterfinals of the International Tennis Championships at Delray Beach, Fla.

Garcia-Lopez will play third-seeded Xavier Malisse semifinals.

Malisse beat sixth-seeded Florian Meyer, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3.

Hingis was awarded a wild card into the main draw of the Pacific Life Open, to be played March 6-19 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

BASEBALL

Garciaparra Decides to Skip World Classic

Nomar Garciaparra has bowed out of the World Baseball Classic, three weeks after a newspaper in Mexico quoted Mexican League President Alejandro Hute as saying Garciaparra would play for that country.

Garciaparra, who has signed with the Dodgers and will play first base for the first time in his career, changed his mind after working out at Dodger Stadium earlier this week.

“Given all that I have been through with my health the past couple of years, and now with changing both teams and positions, I feel this is the time for me to focus on doing my best for the Dodgers,” Garciaparra said in a statement.

-- Steve Henson

The Angels have agreed to terms on one-year contracts with five players, including Jeff Mathis, who figures to be a contender for the starting catcher’s job.

The other players who reached agreement: catcher Mike Napoli, infielder Howie Kendrick, and outfielders Tommy Murphy and Reggie Willits.

Orel Hershiser is leaving his front-office job with the Texas Rangers less than three months after he resigned as the team’s pitching coach.

After 3 1/2 seasons as pitching coach, he became an executive assistant to Ranger President Jeff Cogen.

Houston third baseman Morgan Ensberg, Texas outfielder Kevin Mench and Baltimore outfielder Luis Matos agreed to one-year contracts and avoided salary arbitration. Ensberg settled at $3.8 million, Mench at $2.8 million and Matos at $1,625,000.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

UCLA Hires Howard as Defensive Line Coach

Todd Howard, an assistant defensive line coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars the last three years, has been hired by UCLA to replace Thurmond Moore.

Moore lasted only one season with the Bruins. He was brought in to shore up the defensive front, but the Bruins ranked next to last among 119 Division I-A schools in rushing defense last season, giving up an average of 232.8 yards a game.

He is the fifth assistant to leave UCLA after a 10-2 season that concluded with a victory over Northwestern in the Sun Bowl.

Howard has 11 years of experience as a college coach and five in the NFL.

“Todd has been a part of one of the top NFL defenses over the past few years,” UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell said. “He is a great teacher and I think our defensive linemen will really develop with Todd as their coach.”

-- Lonnie White

Memphis Coach Tommy West underwent triple-bypass heart surgery and was resting comfortably, the school said. West, 51, entered Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis for previously scheduled tests and later had the surgery.

TRACK AND FIELD

Lagat Beats Bekele in Millrose Games Mile

Bernard Lagat defeated Kenenisa Bekele in the Wanamaker Mile at Madison Square Garden, his fourth victory in the showcase event in the 99th Millrose Games.

Lagat, 35, finished in 3 minutes 56.95 seconds. Bekele, 23, the Olympic 10,000-meter champion, was competing at a mile for the first time in his pro career. He finished the 11-lap race in 4:01.57.

Olympic 100 hurdles champion Joanna Hayes won the 60 hurdles in 7.93, easily beating Gail Devers. Devers, 39, finished fourth in 8.13 in her first race since falling in her opening heat in the 2004 Olympics.