Hjorth Leads by One as Sorenstam Falters

Annika Sorenstam got off to a good start in the opening round of the State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill. Another Swede had an even better finish.

Sorenstam was five strokes behind Maria Hjorth, who shot a seven-under 65 on Thursday for a one-shot lead over Dina Ammaccapane, Nina Reis and Brittany Lang.

Lorena Ochoa was at five under, and 2004 winner Cristie Kerr was another shot back.

Three weeks after a one-stroke victory on her home course at the TPC of Scandinavia, Sorenstam met Ochoa again. They were grouped with Kerr this time, and the gallery on the 18th hole at The Rail Golf Club was smaller -- several hundred, compared with 20,000. And they left the course record book as is, after setting marks for the lowest round at Bro-Balsta, where Sorenstam started playing when she was 12.

Sorenstam and Ochoa were three under at the turn Thursday. A birdie on 14 put Sorenstam at four-under, but things unraveled at the end.

Her six-iron on 16 settled near the edge of the water, and she chipped and two-putted. On 18, Sorenstam hit a bunker near the front of the green. She dug out, but missed a short putt for par.

It was a rough finish after a strong start.

Sorenstam birdied the first hole after her approach stopped about two feet from the cup. She pumped her fist after knocking in a 20-foot putt for an eagle on the par-five fourth to go three under, but her smile disappeared when she bogeyed the par-three fifth.

Like Sorenstam, Ochoa birdied the first hole, making a 15-foot putt. She was three under after converting a 20-foot putt for birdie on No. 4 and knocking in an eight-footer on the fifth.

Hjorth, seeking her third victory -- and first since 1999 -- started from the 10th tee and had seven birdies, five on her back nine. She birdied Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7, and walked away with another on No. 9.

The Wendy’s Championship for Children LPGA event is ending after an eight-year run because of a disagreement between the title sponsor and the tour over a date for next year.

The Wendy’s Championship for Children was played last week at Tartan Field Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, with Ochoa winning by three strokes.

SOFTBALL

U.S. Routs New Zealand

at World Championships

Monica Abbott pitched a complete game and Stacey Nuveman hit two home runs for the defending champion U.S. team, which crushed New Zealand, 15-0, at the world championships in Beijing.

The Americans scored seven runs in the third inning to seal the victory and stay unbeaten in the tournament, which serves as the first Olympic test event in Beijing.

The U.S. plays China today. China also has five wins and no losses after defeating South Africa, 12-0.

Softball, removed from the Olympic roster starting in 2012, is hoping a high-level task force will get the sport back in the Games by 2016.

The sport’s governing body announced it was setting up the task force, drawing its members from business, media, the International Olympic Committee and the international and national softball federations.

The aim is to generate support for softball’s reinstatement at an IOC meeting in 2009, the next time the issue is allowed to be put before the Olympic committee.

BASKETBALL

Jumaine Jones, Suns

Sign One-Year Deal

Jumaine Jones signed a one-year contract with the Phoenix Suns, who added an outside shooting threat to their roster.

The 6-foot-8 forward, a seven-year veteran, will be going to his sixth NBA team. He averaged a career-best 10.5 points for Charlotte last season, including a career-high 31 against the Lakers on Feb. 3. He played in 76 games, 42 as a starter.

He is the third free-agent signing for the Suns in the off-season, joining point guard Marcus Banks and guard-forward Eric Piatkowski.

He has played with Philadelphia, Cleveland, Boston, the Lakers and Charlotte since being drafted out of Georgia.

The Minnesota Timberwolves signed their second-round draft pick, forward Craig Smith, a 6-foot-7 standout at Boston College, who was selected with the 36th overall choice this summer.

SOCCER

Beasley on Loan to

Manchester City

American midfielder DaMarcus Beasley was loaned to Manchester City of England’s Premier League for the rest of the season from PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands.

The 24-year-old has 12 goals in 57 international appearances, playing for the United States at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. He joined PSV in 2004 after 4 1/2 seasons with Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire.

Claudio Reyna, the former U.S. captain, also plays for Manchester City.

The United States lost to China, 5-4, on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie in the semifinals of the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Championship in Moscow.

China will play North Korea in Sunday’s final. The North Koreans defeated Brazil, 1-0, in the first semifinal.

The United States, which outshot China, 23-5, also was knocked out in the semifinals two years ago when the tournament was the Under-19 Women’s World Championship.

The Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer were sold to a six-person investment group led by Cerner Corp. executives Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig.

The deal was announced three days after the Overland Park, Kan., City Council voted to put a $75-million soccer complex on the November ballot.

JURISPRUDENCE

Bonds’ Jailed Trainer Begins Appeal Process

The federal appeal process for Barry Bonds’ imprisoned personal trainer has begun.

No hearing has yet been scheduled at the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for trainer Greg Anderson, who was sent to prison for contempt of court Monday by U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco.

Alsup ruled Anderson committed contempt for failing to answer questions before the grand jury that is weighing if Bonds, the San Francisco Giants slugger, committed perjury when he testified he never knowingly used steroids. Anderson, who served three months in prison for pleading guilty to steroid distribution and money laundering, could be jailed for the entire grand jury term, which has about 16 months remaining.

Briefs in the Ninth Circuit appeal will be filed through Sept. 25, according to court records.

-- Lance Pugmire

Starting guard Lorenzo Miles was among four Niagara (N.Y.) basketball players charged with disorderly conduct after a fight in a parking lot.

Also charged with refusing to leave the scene of a fight were Stanley Hodge, Kamau Gordon and incoming freshman Javonte Clanton. The four are to appear in court Sept. 8. They remain on the team pending a school investigation, Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin said.

PASSING

Red Sox Mainstay Wagner Was 93

Charlie Wagner, who pitched for the Boston Red Sox during the 1930s and ‘40s and worked for the organization for 70 years, died of an apparent heart attack. He was 93.

Wagner was stricken after attending a minor league game in his hometown of Reading, Pa.

Reading Police Capt. Francis Drexler said Wagner was found in the passenger seat of his car in the parking lot at FirstEnergy Stadium.

He was pronounced dead of natural causes.