PGA Tour to drop the International

The International, known for its unique scoring system on the Castle Pines golf course outside Denver, will no longer be on the PGA Tour schedule effective immediately, a tour official said Wednesday.

The absence of a corporate sponsor was mostly responsible for canceling the 21-year-old tournament, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not formally been announced.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and tournament founder Jack Vickers are expected to make it official this morning.

It leaves a hole in the PGA Tour schedule July 5-8, but tour officials are expected to announce a replacement by April. The leading candidate is Washington, the largest U.S. market without a PGA Tour event.

The International began in 1986 and used a modified Stableford scoring system, rewarding points for eagles and birdies and deducting points for bogeys or worse.

PRO FOOTBALL

Cowboys’ decision expected soon

Jim Caldwell, assistant head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, became the 10th and probably last candidate to interview with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in the coaching search to replace the retired Bill Parcells.

Caldwell said he expected Jones’ decision to come “in short order. It won’t be long.”

San Francisco assistant Norv Turner, a former Cowboys assistant, and San Diego assistant Wade Phillips are considered the front-runners from the 10 interviewed.

More than 500,000 tickets have been requested during a process that ends Feb. 18 for the Oct. 28 game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants at Wembley Stadium in London, the NFL’s first regular-season game outside North America. Tickets go on sale in March. Wembley is expecting to seat between 85,000 and 90,000.

Chargers safety Terrence Kiel, 26, pleaded guilty in San Diego to felony and misdemeanor drug charges for shipping codeine-based cough syrup to Texas, part of a plea bargain that could allow him to avoid jail time.

BOXING

Tyson checks into rehab, attorney says

Mike Tyson has checked himself into an undisclosed treatment program for “various addictions” while the former heavyweight champion awaits trial on drug charges, his lawyer said in Phoenix.

Tyson, 40, pleaded not guilty Jan. 22 to felony drug possession and paraphernalia possession counts and two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of drugs after his Dec. 29 arrest.

CYCLING

France to rule on Landis today

Floyd Landis could be banned from racing in France for the next two years if the country’s anti-doping agency issues a maximum penalty today for his positive doping test while winning last year’s Tour de France.

Tyler Hamilton, 34, returned to his first stage race after a two-year doping ban, finishing 66th in the first stage of the Etoile de Bessages race in southern France.

MISCELLANY

Holdsclaw re-signs with the Sparks

The Sparks re-signed forward Chamique Holdsclaw, who was their No. 2 scorer and rebounder last season but probably will be asked to increase her output this season in the absence of All-Star center Lisa Leslie, who is pregnant and will sit out the season.

The Sparks also signed Ayana Walker, a forward they acquired last month in the dispersal draft of former Charlotte Sting players.

-- Jerry Crowe

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Justine Henin won in her first match of the year, beating Emilie Loit, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals of the Gaz de France tournament in Paris. Henin withdrew from the Australian Open citing personal reasons, then announced she was divorcing her husband.

An appeals panel of the California Interscholastic Federation agreed with the City Section’s ruling that former Harbor City Narbonne girls’ basketball player Morghan Medlock was ineligible during her fourth year at the school and the Gauchos would remain banned from this season’s playoffs.

The City had earlier ruled that Medlock, now a freshman at USC, did not establish a legal residence during her four years at Narbonne and stripped the school of three City championships won with her in the lineup. That ruling was partially overturned last week when a section appeals panel ruled Medlock was a legal resident her first three years, but not her fourth, and restored two titles.

Phillip Boutte, whose daughter, Nikki, is a senior on the team, said an attorney is expected to file an injunction in hopes that a judge will allow Narbonne to participate in this season’s playoffs, which begin next week.

-- Martin Henderson