Down Under, Woods stands out

Last update: November 14, 2009 - 12:34 AM

Tiger Woods opened with two birdies on his way to a 4-under 68 that gave him a three-shot lead Friday after two rounds of the Australian Masters in Melbourne.

It was the fourth consecutive tournament in which Woods led going into the weekend.

Woods, with a total of 134, led Jason Dufner (67 Friday) and a pair of Australians, James Nitties (71) and Greg Chalmers (69).

Leonard leads PGA Tour event

Justin Leonard shot an 8-under 64 in the second round of the Children's Miracle Network Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., surging to a two-stroke lead in the final PGA Tour event of the season

Shin first in Ochoa event

Jiyai Shin shot a 6-under 66 for the second-round lead at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico. She was three strokes ahead of Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer.

AUTO RACING

Truex on pole; Johnson third

Martin Truex Jr. won the pole for Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway, and points leader Jimmie Johnson qualified third.

Truex turned a lap at 135.120 mph Friday in his No. 1 Chevrolet. Kurt Busch qualified second at 134.579 mph in the No. 2 Dodge.

Mark Martin, who trails Johnson by 71 points in the standings with two races remaining, qualified 10th.

Hornaday wins Trucks title

Ron Hornaday won a NASCAR-record fourth Trucks Series championship with a fourth-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway. The race was won by Kevin Harvick, owner of Hornaday's truck team.

TRACK AND FIELD

Semenya talks about travails

South African runner Caster Semenya says she isn't comfortable with her fame since her world championship was obscured by doubts about her gender.

Semenya won the women's 800 meters at the world championships in Berlin on Aug. 19.

"People want to stare at me now. They want to touch me," Semenya, 18, said in an interview published Friday in the Guardian, a British newspaper. "I'm supposed to be famous, but I don't think I like it so much."

AROUND THE HORN

Baseball: Angel Villalona, a top prospect for the San Francisco Giants, has been stripped of his U.S. visa after he was charged with killing a man in his Caribbean homeland. Villalona hit .267 with nine homers and 42 RBI in 74 games for Class A San Jose this season.

Tennis: Second-seeded Rafael Nadal gained a semifinal matchup against Novak Djokovic at the Paris Masters with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Djokovic beat Robin Soderling 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

Figure skating: World champion Evan Lysacek of the United States dominated the men's short program at Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y., scoring 79.17 points and leading France's Florent Amodio by 6 1/2 points. Earlier, China's Zhao Hongbo and Shen Xue won the pairs short program, and Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto took the dance compulsories.

Ski jumping: A British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed a bid by women ski jumpers to force Vancouver Olympic organizers to let them compete. The women were appealing a lower court ruling that allowed organizers to hold a men's ski jumping competition but not a women's event.

Bobsledding: Todd Hays teamed with Steven Langton to win a silver medal in Park City, Utah, in the opening two-man World Cup bobsled race of the season, just behind the Swiss team of Beat Hefti and Alex Baumann. It was Hays' first top-three finish in a World Cup race since driving to four-man gold at St. Moritz in January 2006.

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