Sports: Ho-hum, Woods shoots 65

Ho-hum, Woods shoots 65

By COMPILED FROM TIMES WIRES

A month off put no rust on Tiger Woods' phenomenal year.

Woods, finishing off one of the most dominating golf seasons of the 20th century, shot 5-under-par 65 Wednesday to share the first-round lead with David Duval in the $3.5-million Williams World Challenge in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"I hit a lot of good shots, even tough I haven't played in about a month," Woods said. "Overall, I'm pretty pleased. My whole package was pretty solid today."

Solid enough for six birdies -- including three in a row from Nos. 10-12 -- and just one bogey on the 7,036-yard par-70 Grayhawk Golf Club course.

As he has all year, Woods showed again why he's the best player in the world. He won eight times this season, the most on the PGA in 25 years, and finished the season with four straight victories.

And while the Williams World Challenge is mostly an off-season tuneup for 12 of the top-ranked players, Woods had no problem getting his competitive juices flowing once he birdied the 460-yard par-4 third hole with a 20-foot putt.

Woods was too tough for everyone but Duval in the chase for the $1-million first-place payoff. By the time Woods and playing partner Sergio Garcia reached the back nine, Woods was raining iron shots on the pins. His birdie putts on 11 and 12 were 4-footers, and he nearly holed his second shot on the 468-yard, par-4 12th.

"We had a great time," Woods said. "We were jibber-jabbering all the way around."

Duval finished with bogeys on Nos. 16 and 18.

Want to see more Woods? Turn on your TV. Woods is the focus of a 24-hour special on the Golf Channel, beginning at 6 this morning.

MORE GOLF: Australian teenager Aaron Baddeley was invited to play in next year's Masters Tournament. Baddeley, 18, became the first amateur in 39 years and the youngest ever to win the Australian Open, fending off Colin Montgomerie and Greg Norman in the tournament's final round. Baddeley, who declined the Australian Open's $115,000 first-place prize to retain his amateur status, is the sixth amateur invited to play in the April 6-9 Masters, golf's first major of the year. Augusta National also decided that Gabriel Hjertstedt will be counted among those in the top 40 on the 1999 PGA Tour money list, which makes him eligible for the Masters. Hjertstedt finished No. 41, but moved up to qualify because the late Payne Stewart was seventh on the list.

HOCKEY: Team USA, featuring 10 NHL draftees, was upset 3-1 by Finland in the World Junior Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. Power-play goals by Tomek Valtonen in the first period and Arto Tukio in the second put Finland in front. Then Ville Hamalainen made it 3-0 midway through the third period. Just one minute after Hamalainen scored, Adam Hall of Michigan State scored for the United States with two Finns in the penalty box. Barrett Heisten of Maine and Jordan Leopold of Minnesota assisted on Hall's goal.

TENNIS: Monica Seles withdrew from the United States team for the Hopman Cup. Seles, No. 6 in the world, was the highest-ranked singles player for the tournament, which starts this weekend in Perth, Australia. ... Don Budge, the 84-year-old legend injured in a car accident in the Pocono Mountains, remains on a ventilator in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but is improving daily. His condition has been upgraded from critical to serious.

BASEBALL: Little League Baseball received a $500,000 gift to help expand its World Series from eight to 16 teams in 2001, the first such expansion since the tournament began in 1947. The Masons of Pennsylvania made the donation.

AUTO RACING: Paul Newman, who turns 75 in January, has entered the Feb. 5-6 Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.

SKIING: Sabine Egger, 22, won the women's slalom in her hometown of Lienz, Austria, moving up from 11th place after the first heat. The slalom specialist clocked an aggregate 1 minute, 31.84 seconds. Slovenia's Natasa Bokal finished second in 1:31.96, edging Austria's Karin Koellerer by 0.10 seconds. American Kristina Koznick was 21st. ... Morten Broers won the men's race and Bente Martinsen the women's as Norwegians swept the podium in both sprints of a World Cup cross-country event in Kitzbuehel, Austria. ... World Cup leader Martin Schmitt of Germany soared 121 meters to capture the opening event of the ski jumping Four-Hill Tour in Oberstdorf, Germany. Austrians Andreas Goldberger and Andreas Widhoelzl finished second and third.