Tom Pernice shares Sony Open lead after eagle

On the kind of day where Tom Pernice Jr. kept his head down to battle the wind and rain, he looked up just in time to see his final shot disappear into the hole for an eagle Friday that gave him a seven-under-par 63 and a share of the lead in the Sony Open at Honolulu.

Tadd Fujikawa, the 18-year-old who turned pro after his sophomore year in high school, secured his first PGA Tour check by ripping two shots onto the green at the par-five ninth for a birdie and a 69.

But nothing was more stunning than Pernice making eagle into the strength of the wind, tying for the lead with Nathan Green (66).

“The finish was spectacular,” Pernice said. “You’re not thinking about holing it from the fairway.”

Pernice and Green, who played in the morning, were at eight-under 132 going into a weekend that could be wide open.

Shigeki Maruyama had a 68 and was one shot behind, and the dozen players within four shots of the lead included former Masters champion Zach Johnson, Mercedes-Benz Championship winner Geoff Ogilvy, Boo Weekley and David Toms.

TENNIS

Dementieva wins title in Sydney

Elena Dementieva continued her winning streak leading into the Australian Open, beating Dinara Safina, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, in the title match at the Sydney International.

Dementieva won the Auckland title last week and enters the season’s first major seeded No. 4 and on a 10-match winning streak.

In the men’s semifinals, Novak Djokovic lost, 6-4, 7-6 (3), to Jarkko Nieminen, missing another chance to move to a career-high No. 2 ranking.

Nieminen next faces Argentina’s David Nalbandian, who reached his 20th ATP Tour final with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Richard Gasquet. . . . Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina beat Sam Querrey, 6-4, 6-4, to win the Heineken Open at Auckland, New Zealand. . . . Roger Federer crushed Olympic gold medal-winning doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-1, 6-3, to win an exhibition tournament in Melbourne, Australia. . . . Filippo Volandri of Italy will miss the Australian Open after being banned for three months by the International Tennis Federation for abusing an asthma drug. The 109th-ranked Volandri failed a drug test last March at Indian Wells.

WINTER SPORTS

American Demong gets narrow victory

American Bill Demong narrowly beat Finland’s Anssi Koivurante to win a Nordic combined World Cup individual start event at the 2010 Olympic venue at Whistler, Canada.

Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y., is currently ranked third in the World Cup standings with 515 points. Koivurante leads the standings with 643 points, followed by Magnus Moan of Norway with 556.

Carlo Janka of Switzerland won his second World Cup event of the season, finishing in a combined 2 minutes 34.16 seconds at a super-combined event at Wengen, Switzerland. Bode Miller finished 32nd.

JURISPRUDENCE

McNamee meets with prosecutors

Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens’ former personal trainer, was questioned for five hours by federal prosecutors and investigators building a perjury case against the seven-time Cy Young Award winner.

McNamee has told federal agents, baseball investigator George Mitchell and a House of Representatives committee that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001.

This, however, was McNamee’s first meeting with Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Butler, who is presenting evidence to the federal grand jury determining whether Clemens should be indicted on charges of lying to Congress.

ETC.

Kljestan to train with Glasgow Celtic

Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan left the U.S. national team training camp to train for a week with Scottish Premier League champion Glasgow Celtic. The 23-year-old, a member of last year’s Olympic team, is to return for a Jan. 24 exhibition game against Sweden. . . . As expected, Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon announced his resignation because of a vote-rigging scandal.

The New York Islanders agreed to play an NHL exhibition game against the Kings next September in Kansas City, raising questions about the Islanders’ future.

Islanders owner Charles Wang has been unhappy that he has not been able to get a new arena, and Kansas City recently built an NHL-ready arena.

Giniel de Villiers of South Africa leads Volkswagen teammate Mark Miller of the United States by just over two minutes heading into the last stage of the Dakar Rally in Argentina.

De Villiers led Miller by 2 minutes 20 seconds overall. NASCAR star Robby Gordon of the United States remained third in his Hummer, almost 90 minutes behind.