Lehman’s 62 Is Good for Lead, Tie for Record

Tom Lehman shot a career-low 62 Thursday, tying a PGA Tour record for 36 holes, and put himself at the top of a trio of revitalized veterans in the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas.

Lehman’s 10-under-par 62 followed an opening 63 and gave him a three-shot lead over Fred Couples. Chris DiMarco was four strokes behind and John Daly was another shot back with three rounds left in the 90-hole tournament.

Lehman tied the record 125 total for an opening two rounds set last year by Tiger Woods in the NEC Invitational and matched earlier this year by Mark Calcavecchia in the Phoenix Open.

Daly shot a career-low 62 of his own on the par-71 TPC at The Canyons course that has played tougher than the two other courses used in the five-day tournament.

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Ian Woosnam of Wales beat U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, 4 and 3, and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington trounced Nick Faldo, 9 and 8, in the first round of the World Match Play Championship at Virginia Water, England.

Woosnam, the 1987 and 1990 champion, will face Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie in the second round.

The four top-seeded players--defending champion Lee Westwood of England, Vijay Singh of Fiji, Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland and Montgomerie--all had first-round byes.

Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Scotland’s Sam Torrance also won. . Bjorn beat Australia’s Adam Scott, 4 and 3, and Torrance defeated Spain’s Seve Ballesteros, 3 and 2.

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Candie Kung shot a one-under 71 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament at Daytona Beach, Fla.

Kung, the U.S. Women’s Public Links winner in June, had a five-under 139 total on LPGA International’s Legends Course. She left USC last spring after finishing third in the NCAA tournament.

Tonya Gill (72) and England’s Suzanne Strudwick (71) were a stroke back in the 72-hole tournament.

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Laura Shanahan won the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, beating Mina Hardin, 4 and 3, in steady drizzle at the Fox Run Golf Club in Eureka, Mo.

Five people, among them ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen, were charged in a corruption probe involving a failed golf course in Naples, Fla.

A former Collier County manager, two developers and an attorney also were charged with racketeering conspiracy.

Tennis

Third-seeded Lindsay Davenport overcame a shaky start and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany, by defeating Anne Kremer, 7-5, 6-1.

In other matches, Anke Huber of Germany upset fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters of Belgium, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals. Sandrine Testud of France advanced by defeating Magui Serna of Spain, 6-4, 6-4 and next plays second-seeded Jennifer Capriati. Huber’s quarterfinal opponent is sixth-seeded Justine Henin of Belgium, who outlasted Chanda Rubin, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Tatiana Panova of Russia beat No. 7-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, 7-6 (5), 6-2, and will play No. 1 Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals.

Marat Safin of Russia reached the quarterfinals of the Lyon Grand Prix at France with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Israel’s Noam Okun.

Safin will play Max Mirnyi of Belarus, a 7-6 (4), 6-2 winner against Hicham Arazi of Morocco.

Sixth-seeded Tommy Haas, a finalist last year, beat Jiri Novak, 7-6 (3), 6-3, reaching the quarterfinals of the CA Trophy tournament at Vienna.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter pulled out of next week’s ATP Masters Series tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, because of a right shoulder injury. Former Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek withdrew because of a knee injury, and Todd Martin pulled out because of security concerns.

Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras will play and will be assigned bodyguards at their request, organizers said.

The Women’s Tennis Assn. has canceled its tournament scheduled Oct. 29-Nov. 4 in Surabaya, Indonesia, because of escalating political unrest since military actions began in Afghanistan.

Miscellany

Mike Tyson is the heaviest he has ever been for a fight, weighing in at 239 pounds for Saturday’s 10-round bout against Denmark’s Brian Nielsen at Copenhagen.

Tyson, 35, is 17 pounds heavier than he was for his last fight, a year ago against Andrew Golota, and 22 pounds heavier than his average weight in his prime. Tyson’s previous high weight was 2233/4 pounds, for his second-round victory over Julius Francis on Jan. 29, 2000, in Manchester, England.

The U.S. men’s soccer team will play an exhibition game against 2002 World Cup co-host South Korea at Seogwipo on the resort island of Jeju on Dec. 9.

The match will help open the final newly constructed South Korean venue for the World Cup. The game will be held eight days after the World Cup draw in South Korea.

The World Cup qualifier between Austria and Israel, postponed last week for security reasons, will be played Oct. 27, FIFA officials said. Soccer’s governing body did not announce the game’s site, but a FIFA official indicated it probably will be Tel Aviv, the original location.

Clemson forward Dwon Clifton will be sidelined at least a month of the basketball season and might have to end his career because of a heart condition. Coach Larry Shyatt said Clifton fainted near the end of an individual practice last week. After numerous tests, he was diagnosed with a heart abnormality.

Passings

George Sloan, one of the principal figures in steeplechase horse racing, died in a shooting accident in Franklin, Tenn. He was 62. Sloan was crossing a fence Tuesday when the shotgun he was carrying fired.