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Palmer, 76, pulls out of Senior PGA

By TIMES WIRES
Published May 17, 2006

OKLAHOMA CITY - Arnold Palmer withdrew from the Senior PGA Championship on Tuesday because of concerns he wouldn't be competitive.

The 76-year-old Palmer had planned to make the tournament next week at Oak Tree his first Champions Tour start of the year. He hasn't played competitively since February, when he teamed with Peter Jacobsen in the Champions Skins Game in Hawaii.

The only other time Palmer has missed the Senior PGA Championship was in 1986. He started in 2004, but pulled out of the rain-delayed event, citing his poor play and a hip injury. Palmer missed the cut last year, shooting 82-86 at Laurel Valley.

COLONIAL TOURNAMENT: Former U.S. Amateur golf champion Ryan Moore plans to return to the PGA Tour at this week's Colonial Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, seven weeks after hand surgery.

Moore has been limited to five events this season because of the injury, a fracture of a bone in the heel of his left hand, keeping him out of the Masters Tournament last month.

Lindsay Davenport withdrew from the French Open because she is still recovering from a back injury.

Davenport, who reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last year, said in a statement that she has not recovered sufficiently "to allow me to defend my chances normally."

Davenport, ranked No. 7 in the world, has not played since aggravating her back in mid March at the Pacific Life Open.

ITALIAN OPEN: Martina Hingis and Venus Williams beat a pair of rising Czech teenagers to reach the third round in Rome.

Hingis beat Nicole Vaidisova 7-5, 6-3, and Williams eliminated Lucie Safarova, 6-1, 6-4 in the clay-court tuneup for the French Open.

FED CUP: Kim Clijsters will play in the semifinal against the United States despite complaints about the heavy summer schedule.

The July 15-16 series in Ostend, Belgium, comes a week after Wimbledon and before Clijster's preparations for the defense of her U.S. Open title.

HAMBURG MASTERS: Andy Murray breezed past fellow teenager Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-1 in the opening round in Germany.

Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany also advanced. Sebastien Grosjean upset Robby Ginepri of the United States 7-5, 7-5, and Greg Rusedski of Britain lost 6-1, 6-1 to French qualifier Gilles Simon.

Murray next meets American James Blake.

GRAND PRIX SAR: Marion Bartoli retired due to heat illness in Morocco, the second time in two weeks she's lost her opening match as the top seed.

Bartoli, of France, was leading Germany's Sandra Kloesel 6-3, 2-0 when she had to quit.

Third-seeded Emilie Loit of France, No. 6 Ashley Harkleroad of the United States and No. 9 Yan Zi of China won their first round matches in straight sets.

BOXING: Scott Harrison withdrew from his WBO featherweight title defense following his second arrest in a month. Harrison was arrested early Sunday morning after an incident at a pub in Balloch, Scotland. No charges were filed, and police declined to give details. Harrison (25-2-2) was scheduled to fight Gairy St. Clair on Saturday in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

SAILING: BMW Oracle Racing won Act 10 of the Louis Vuitton Cup in Spain, the U.S. yacht's first victory in the America's Cup warmup regattas since the opening competition in 2004. BMW Oracle won both its Tuesday races to finish in a four-way tie for the points lead with Alinghi of Switzerland, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge of Italy, all having split their two races.

CYCLING: Franco Pellizotti of Italy won the 10th stage of the Giro d'Italia in Italy. Ivan Basso of Italy kept the overall leader's pink jersey. Pellizotti completed the 118-mile route from Termoli to Peschici in 4 hours, 39 minutes, 47 seconds. He moved up to fourth overall, 2:05 behind. Basso leads second-place Jose Gutierrez Cataluna of Spain by 1:34 and third-place Damiano Cunego of Italy by 1:48.

[Last modified May 17, 2006, 01:29:12]