The Day In Sports : Woods wins by two in Australia

Tiger Woods shot a four-under-par 68 today for a two-shot victory over Greg Chalmers in the Australian Masters at Melbourne.

In his first trip Down Under in 11 years, Woods put on quite a show for his $3-million appearance fee.

He pulled away from a three-way tie for the lead with three birdies on his opening six holes, then seized control with a tee shot that covered the flag and stopped six feet away for birdie on the 15th. He finished at 14-under 274.

Michelle Wie moved into position for her first LPGA Tour victory, shooting a two-under-par 70 in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara for a share of the third-round lead with Cristie Kerr. Kerr had a 67 to match Wie at 10 under on the Guadalajara Country Club course. Second-round leader Jiyai Shin (74) was a stroke back along with Paula Creamer (71) and first-round leader Song-Hee Kim (70).

The top-ranked Ochoa (72) was six strokes behind at four under.

George McNeill closed with a double bogey and will share the lead with three others entering the final round of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. McNeill shot a three-under 69 that left him tied at 203 with Justin Leonard (71), Justin Rose (69) and Mathias Gronberg (66) after three rounds.

--

TENNIS

Djokovic to face Monfils in Paris final

Novak Djokovic reached the final of the Paris Masters for the first time by overpowering Rafael Nadal, 6-2, 6-3. The 22-year-old Serb will face Gael Monfils today. Monfils advanced to the final with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Radek Stepanek.

--

BOXING

Gorres in induced coma after collapse

Bantamweight boxer Z Gorres, who is part of Manny Pacquiao’s stable at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, was in an induced coma at a Las Vegas hospital Saturday after collapsing shortly after winning a fight Friday at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

The 27-year-old Filipino was knocked down in the 10th and final round but climbed back to his feet to win a unanimous decision over Colombian Luis Melendez. After the fight, Gorres circled the ring waving a Philippine flag. But as he was preparing to leave the ring, said spectators who were at the fight, Gorres complained that his legs felt weak, then collapsed in his corner.

-- Kevin Baxter

--

WINTER SPORTS

Riesch wins opening World Cup slalom

Maria Riesch of Germany won the opening women’s World Cup slalom, edging Lindsey Vonn of the United States by 0.08 of a second in Levi, Finland. Riesch, the defending world slalom champion, finished with a two-run time of 1 minute 48.71 seconds on the Black Course at the World Cup circuit’s northernmost venue above the Arctic Circle. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was 1.16 behind in third place and kept the overall World Cup lead.

Canada’s Lyndon Rush drove to the gold medal in the opening four-man World Cup bobsled race of the season in Park City, Utah, while America’s two best hopes saw their chances doomed at the start of their final runs.

Lee Jung-Su of South Korea beat U.S. speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno in the men’s 1,500-meter short track World Cup race in Marquette, Mich. Lee finished in 2 minutes 13.595 seconds and Ohno crossed in 2:13.731.

Katherine Reutter set an American record of 43.648 seconds in a quarterfinal heat of the women’s 500 and then placed fourth in a final won by Wang Meng of China in 42.961.

--

ETC.

Phelps finishes fifth in 200 butterfly

Michael Phelps finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly at a short-course World Cup meet in Berlin that featured six world records. Nikolay Skvortsov of Russia, who had the fastest qualifying time, won the final in 1:50.58.

The Angels have realigned titles and responsibilities in their front office, promoting president Dennis Kuhl to chairman and giving Kuhl’s old title to John Carpino, formerly the team’s senior vice president for sales and marketing.