In brief

Kraft tied for second at qualifier

By wire services
Published December 1, 2005

Greg Kraft of Clearwater shot a 6-under 66 Wednesday in the opening round of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in Winter Garden for a share of second place with three others.

Kraft eagled the 540-yard No. 1 hole by sinking a 108-yard wedge shot. Michael Allen , who finished 130th on the Tour this year, is alone in first with a 66.

Bob Heintz of Dunedin is tied for ninth in the field of 155 with 68. There are five rounds to play.

- DAVE THEALL, Times correspondent

LPGA QUALIFIER: Morgan Pressel of Boca Raton and Ai Miyazato of Japan shot 66 to share the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament at Daytona Beach. Meantime, Canadian Isabelle Beisiegel withdrew from the tournament after being diagnosed with Graves' disease, which is treatable but incurable. Beisiegel, 26, made just two cuts and $6,653 in 19 tour events this season.

DALY INJURED: John Daly withdrew from the Bard Capital Challenge in Las Vegas, saying he broke his right hand playing in an exhibition last weekend in Mesquite, Nev. It was not clear how Daly injured his hand or how long he would be out.

Conte goes to prison

BALCO founder Victor Conte is to begin serving a four-month prison sentence today for orchestrating an illegal steroids distribution scheme that reportedly involved Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi . He said he will report to a minimum security prison in Taft, about 120 miles from Los Angeles. He also will have four months' home confinement. Also reporting to prison today will be Greg Anderson , Bonds' personal trainer, who was sentenced to three months behind bars and an additional three months of home confinement after pleading guilty to money laundering and a steroid distribution charge.

SPAIN CRACKDOWN: Spanish athletes found guilty of taking performance-enhancing drugs may escape punishment if they give authorities information about who supplied them, the country's top sports official said. Spain is pushing through legislation to make supplying drugs to athletes a crime, making team doctors and officials accountable for the first time. The move comes as Spain reels from one of its biggest doping scandals. Roberto Heras tested positive for a stamina booster known as EPO on the eve of winning his record fourth Tour of Spain cycling title on Sept. 18, officials said last week.

Keller is U.S. team's best

Goalkeeper Kasey Keller won the Honda Player of the Year Award as the best player on the U.S. national team, adding it to the honor he earned in 1999. Landon Donovan , who had won the award the past three years, and DaMarcus Beasley were the other finalists. Keller, who turned 36 on Tuesday, played in a career-high 14 games for the American team this year, setting records with nine wins and eight shutouts.

BECKHAM BEGETS MORE: England's David Beckham , the sport's richest player, increased his income last year by about 33 percent to $29.8-million from off-field activities such as endorsing Gillette Co. razors, accounts of his Footwork Productions Ltd. showed.

RACISM AT ISSUE: European soccer's governing body, reacting to a proposal from the European Parliament, said clubs guilty of permitting sustained racism could be excluded from European competitions. Assessing a series of recent incidents, UEFA said referees had to be much more aware of taunts and not hesitate to interrupt or abandon matches.

BOBSLEDDING: Don Cole of Salt Lake City was suspended for two years after testing positive for the banned substance stanozolol during an out-of-competition test Aug. 8. ... German coach Raimund Bethge was hospitalized with head and leg injuries after being hit by a sled on the Olympics course at Cesana, Italy.

OLYMPICS: Medals for the Turin Winter Olympics will have a hole in the middle that represents the open space of a piazza. The medal, shaped like a doughnut, has the Turin logo on one side and images from various sports and disciplines on the other.

[Last modified December 1, 2005, 01:21:37]