Thursday's sports briefs

A storm packing 50-mile-per-hour winds toppled two TV towers, uprooted 17 young palm trees and sent the scoreboard at the 18th hole crashing to the ground Thursday in Doral, Fla. When the Cadillac Championship resumed, Hunter Mahan and most of the world's best players tore up the golf course.

Mahan birdied his opening four holes and was 7 under par after 11 holes when the opening round was suspended by darkness.

"I guess with that storm, it brought some tranquility to the golf course," Mahan said. "Because there was just no wind. There was nothing out there."

He was two shots clear of Charley Hoffman, who had a 5-under 67 and was among nine players in the 66-man field who were able to finish the round. Among those at 5 under with more golf to play in the first round were 19-year-old Ryo Ishikawa of Japan and 48-year-old Vijay Singh.

Tiger Woods didn't join in the low scoring. He was 1 under through 15 holes.

James Driscoll leads Puerto Rico Open

James Driscoll shot a 9-under 63 in the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open in Rio Grande, missing a chance to break 60 when he played the final four holes in 2 over. He had a two-stroke lead over Will MacKenzie.

Big races ahead for Vonn, Riesch Lindsey Vonn and Maria Riesch are taking their friendly rivalry down to the wire in the race for the overall World Cup title.

Riesch holds a 96-point lead in the overall standings ahead of Vonn, the three-time defending champion. With six races left in the season, they'll compete in the giant slalom on Friday, followed by the slalom on Saturday, both in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.

Vonn clinched the super-G, super-combined and downhill discipline titles last week, but the technical events that make up most of the rest of the races aren't her strength.

"I have to really give it everything I have and ... try to make ground on her," Vonn said of Riesch. "I'm in a good place right now. I have a good feeling mentally. I have nothing to lose."

Plan set for U Target Field games The ticket plan for the Gophers' 12-game schedule at Target Field was revealed Thursday.

Tickets for all of the games will be general admission and will cost $10 for adults and $5 for kids 14 and under. University of Minnesota students with a student ID will get in for free. Tickets will be sold at the Target Field ticket windows on Target Plaza on the days of games and may be purchased only with cash. The ticket window will open at 9 a.m., and the main entrance will be Gate 29.

The first of the games will be April 1, vs. Purdue.

Zenyatta is pregnant by Bernardini Zenyatta is racing toward motherhood. The Horse of the Year is pregnant, according to Zenyatta.com, which is run by Zenyatta's racing manager, Dottie Ingordo Shirreffs, wife of trainer John Shirreffs.

The news comes just over two weeks after Zenyatta was mated with 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini. The gestational period for horses is around a year.

The 7-year-old Zenyatta was retired in November after a career in which she won 19 times in 20 starts. Her only defeat was to Blame in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Sled dog racing: Mitch Seavey, the 2004 Iditarod champion, withdrew from this year's race because of a hand injury. Seavey was injured while cutting open a bale of straw. Trent Herbst of Ketchum, Idaho, led the race Thursday afternoon, but he had not completed a mandatory 24-hour rest.

Long-track speedskating: Havard Bokko of Norway upset defending champion Shani Davis of the United States to win the 1,500-meter title at the single-distance speedskating world championships in Inzell, Germany. Bokko beat Davis by 0.05 seconds after covering the distance in 1 minute, 45.04 seconds.

Cycling: American sprinter Tyler Farrar won the second stage of the weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico race in Italy and also took the overall lead. Farrar holds a two-second lead over Dutch rider Tom Leezer in the overall standings.

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