Wrist troubles force Wie to skip PGA event

Unable to break par against the women, Michelle Wie is taking a break from competing against the men.

Wie decided Tuesday to withdraw from the John Deere Classic as she tries to return from wrist injuries that have sent the 17-year-old from Hawaii into a deep slump of high scores and shrinking confidence.

“While my rehabilitation is on schedule, I do not have all of my strength back yet,” Wie said in a statement.

“The TPC Deere Run course is obviously very long, and I just don’t have the length to play there right now.”

Wie said she still plans to play next week in the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles, and she said she would keep playing the rest of the summer as she tries to regain strength in her wrists.

Wie, who graduated high school this month, has gone 20 consecutive rounds without breaking par, eight of those against the men.

The John Deere Classic begins in Silvis, Ill., on July 12, two weeks after the U.S. Women’s Open.

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U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera was welcomed by hundreds of Argentine compatriots during a motorcade from the airport to his home in Villa Allende.

The first Argentine winner of a golf major in 40 years stopped briefly in a local plaza to thank a crowd of more than 200 people.

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John Daly chipped in for an eagle on the 13th hole that helped him win the Telus World Skins at Thornbury, Canada, for the second consecutive year.

Daly’s eagle won him 10 skins worth $190,000.

In all, Daly took 12 skins for $220,000.

FOOTBALL

Eagles’ Bartrum retires after 13-year career

Philadelphia Eagles tight end and long snapper Mike Bartrum retired, ending a 13-year career that included appearances in the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl.

The 36-year-old Bartrum spent the last seven years of his career with the Eagles. He played in 107 games for them and made the Pro Bowl in 2005.

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Jim Svoboda, fired as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UCLA in January, has joined Montana State’s staff as quarterbacks coach, new Bobcats Coach Rob Ash announced.

Svoboda had been on the Bruins’ staff since 2004.

MISCELLANY

Florida to test prep athletes for steroids

Some Florida high school athletes will be subject to random steroid testing under a one-year pilot program Gov. Charlie Crist signed.

The Florida High School Athletics Assn. will supervise the testing.

The tests will be randomly administered to 1% of athletes who compete in football, baseball and weightlifting during the 2007-2008 school year.

Any athlete who refuses to provide a urine sample would be ineligible to remain on the team. Those who test positive would be suspended from the team, but could be reinstated if they pass a follow-up test later.

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Pat Tryson was named crew chief for NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, and will be calling the shots this weekend.

Tryson, let go as Greg Biffle’s crew chief last month, takes over for Troy Raker and becomes Busch’s third crew chief this season.

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Carrie Webber has been hired as softball coach by Azusa Pacific. She coached Santa Rosa College the last five seasons.

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Joe Kelly, a freshman right-hander from UC Riverside, is vying for one of the remaining two roster spots on the USA Baseball national team. The last two picks will be alternates for the team that will compete in this summer’s Pan Am Games in Brazil.

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Lionel Larry of USC was men’s track athlete of the year and Trojans teammate Noah Bryant was the field athlete of the year in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Larry, a junior from Compton, was second in the 400 meters at the NCAA championships, where Bryant, a senior from Santa Barbara, won the shotput.

The newcomers of the year also came from USC. Ahmad Rashad, a freshman from Flint, Mich., who won the 100- and 200-meter races at the conference championships, was the men’s winner; sprinter Shalina Clarke, a freshman from Evanston, Ill., and heptathlete Shana Woods, a freshman from Long Beach, shared the women’s award.

PASSINGS

Indiana football coach Hoeppner dies

Terry Hoeppner, hired to revive Indiana’s foundering football program, died of complications from a brain tumor, only two seasons into a rebuilding program that energized fans. He was 59. Section B.