Sluman Keeps His Lead, but Nicklaus Bows Out

Jack Nicklaus pressed both hands to his lips for a farewell kiss to the crowd as he walked off the 18th green Friday afternoon at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.

Two groups behind him, Tiger Woods moved quickly into contention.

An emotional day at Muirfield Village ended with Jeff Sluman, whom Nicklaus picked as an assistant captain at the last Presidents Cup, staying atop the leaderboard after a one-under-par 71, putting him at eight-under 136.

That gave him a one-shot lead over Woods and four others.

Woods was tied for the lead on the back nine until missing the 17th green and making his only bogey, dropping him to a 68.

He was joined by Jonathan Kaye, Harrison Frazar, Lucas Glover and Nick O’Hern.

Nicklaus played what might be his final PGA Tour event on American soil, and wasn’t too happy with how it ended.

The cheers that echoed around the course he helped design were usually for par, sometimes for bogey, always just to watch the 65-year-old Nicklaus approach the green.

He shot a five-over 77, missing the cut by six shots.

“It will probably close out my golf in the United States in regular tournament golf, more than likely,” Nicklaus said. “I may come back here, but I certainly wouldn’t plan on it.”

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Playing through a driving rain, Juli Inkster shot a six-under 65 to take the opening-round lead at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway Township. N.J.

Inkster, 44, who hasn’t won on tour in two years, chipped in twice and posted six birdies and an eagle to surge past Annika Sorenstam, who shot a 67. Mi Hyun Kim was in third with a 69.

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Mike Sullivan and Tom Jenkins played consistently through warm, windy conditions to shoot six-under-par 65s for a one-stroke lead in the first round of the Allianz Championship at Polk City, Iowa.

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Pepperdine’s Michael Putnam shot a one-over 71 to take a one-stroke lead in the individual portion of the NCAA Division I men’s champions at Owings Mills, Md. He has a three-round total of three-under 207.

Georgia, which shot a 17-over 297, has a nine-stroke lead in the team competition. The Bulldogs are at 15-over 855. Georgia Tech, 15 over in the third round, was 24 over, followed by USC at 35.

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Motor Racing

Rain prevented qualifying for the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch series at Dover International Speedway, meaning the grid for this weekend’s races was determined by car-owner points.

The downpour also caused postponement until today of the Craftsman Truck Series race. David Starr won the pole in qualifying Thursday with a fast lap 157.557 mph in a Chevrolet.

Jimmie Johnson was awarded the pole for the Nextel Cup race, and Greg Biffle will start on the outside of the front row Sunday in the MBNA 400.

Busch Series points leader Carl Edwards has the pole for today’s MBNA 200.

Busch Series driver Shane Hmiel has been suspended indefinitely for violating NASCAR’s substance-abuse policy for a second time. NASCAR did not say what substance it believes he was using.

Hmiel, 25, was previously suspended for almost four months at the end of the 2003 season.

NASCAR tested Hmiel after qualifying for last Saturday night’s Busch race in North Carolina. He was permitted to race but was suspended after NASCAR received a positive result from the test.

Jimmy Vasser and A.J. Allmendinger will share the front row for today’s Road Runner 225 at the Milwaukee Mile, the first time Americans have qualified 1-2 in the Champ Car World Series in eight years.

Danica Patrick’s try for a victory in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 -- she led three times before finishing fourth -- helped ABC record a 6.5 national rating with an 18 share, the highest rating for the race since a 7.1/23 in 1996.

National ratings weren’t released until Friday because of the Memorial Day holiday. Sunday’s rating peaked at an 8.6/23 near the end of the race.

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Pro Football

Receiver Isaac Bruce was held out of the St. Louis Rams’ mini-camp after registering an irregularity in a heart test. Bruce said he believed the test result was a mistake and underwent a second test later in the day but will sit out the rest of the three-day camp.... Kick returner Chad Morton was released by the Washington Redskins.

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Pro Basketball

Deanna Nolan scored 27 of her franchise-record 34 points after halftime to lead the Detroit Shock to a 68-66 overtime victory over the New York Liberty in a WNBA game at Auburn Hills, Mich. Nolan broke Sandy Brondello’s six-year-old record of 33 points.... The Washington Mystics defeated the Minnesota Lynx, 74-71, at Washington.

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Miscellany

The NHL and players’ association ended 34 hours of labor talks over three days by agreeing to resume negotiations next week. Sources familiar with the talks said the tone differed from earlier sessions in that they were negotiating, not merely introducing proposals only to have the other side reject them.

An NHLPA statement said that “a wide range of economic and systemic concepts” were discussed during the last three sessions. Bill Daly, the NHL’s chief legal officer, said in a statement that progress had been made but added, “We still have a lot of work to do.”

Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis withdrew an appeal of his doping disqualification from the 2004 Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said.

The Anaheim Storm of the National Lacrosse League suspended operations for the 2006 season. The club, which played two seasons at the Arrowhead Pond, cited financial reasons for the move.

Hank Steinbrecher, former Secretary General of U.S. Soccer, has been elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame as a builder.

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Mike Penner is on assignment.