Monday, May 12, 2008

By BEE NEWS SERVICES

last updated: May 02, 2008 04:18:25 AM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- David Toms took the first-round lead in the Wachovia Championship, breaking out of a missed-cut, sore-back funk with a 5-under 67.

Playing in the morning when the greens were still soft from the drenching rain earlier in the week, Toms made eight birdies, including a near ace at the 13th hole when he hit a 5-iron to about 3 inches, to take a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson and Jason Bohn.

Mickelson, in his first tourney since the Masters, showed off his new, longer putter in shooting a 68. He hit 12 of 14 fairways and had only 26 putts with his 35-inch model. Mickelson switched from a 33½-inch putter because he said he's grown up to an inch after starting his fitness program that includes extensive stretching. ...

Lorena Ochoa felt helpless as too many shots ballooned into relentless gusts that reached 36 mph, sending her to only her second round over par this year. In pursuit of a record-tying fifth consecutive victory on the LPGA Tour, she shot a 2-over 73 at the SemGroup Championship at Broken Arrow, Okla. Hee Young Park held it together in Oklahoma's notorious wind with a 2-under 69, and Beth Bader also was 2 under as she finished up a tough day for everyone at Cedar Ridge. ... Matt Bettencourt of Modesto shot a 73 in the Nationwide Tour's South Georgia Classic in Valdosta, Ga. Playing the back nine first, he went out in 40 but rallied for a 33 coming home. Matt Hansen of Atwater, coming off a tie for fourth in last week's Nationwide event, shot a 74. Garth Mulroy leads by one at 68.

Football

A man charged with shooting three people outside a Las Vegas strip club denies involvement and accused suspended NFL cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones of ordering the shooting and framing him to avoid identifying the real shooter. Arvin Kenti Edwards of Renton, Wash., is being held in a Washington state jail on $1 million bail pending extradition to Nevada.

Basketball

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has been arrested for allegedly hitting a woman at a Century City hotel. ... Washington State coach Tony Bennett received a $200,000 pay raise that will guarantee him $1 million a year. His amended contract was extended through 2015. ... Ohio State paid former men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien $2.74 million for improperly firing him for violating NCAA rules, O'Brien's attorney confirmed. ... Sacramento Monarchs forward DeMya Walker will miss the WNBA season after breaking her right kneecap while playing in Russia.

Horse Racing

Barbaro will be memorialized at Louisville's Churchill Downs in the way owner Gretchen Jackson always pictures the colt: sprinting, all four legs off the ground. Gretchen and her husband, Roy, unveiled the design of a bronze statue of the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner. The 1,500-pound work designed by sculptor Alexa King is expected to be on display outside a gate at Churchill Downs in time for next year's Derby.

Barbaro was the runaway winner of the Derby but broke down in the Preakness. He died months later after a fight with laminitis.

Swimming

Nearly 60 percent of black children can't swim, almost twice the figure for white children, according to a first-of-its-kind survey which USA Swimming hopes will strengthen its efforts to lower minority drowning rates and draw more blacks into the sport. Less than 2 percent of USA Swimming's nearly 252,000 members who swim competitively year-round are black.

Soccer

Marco Velez scored his first MLS goal to help host Toronto FC to a 1-1 draw with New York. But Toronto's franchise-high three-game win streak came to an end.