In Brief

GOLF

Actor Wagner fires four birdies, increases lead at Lake Tahoe

Actor Jack Wagner extended his lead with four birdies, and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had one of the day's best rounds to move into second place Saturday in the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Stateline.

Wagner could become the first winner to lead wire to wire since the event switched to a modified Stableford scoring format in 2003. He followed an opening 68 on Friday with a 71 that translated into a two-day total of 52 points at Lake Tahoe.

Romo also had four birdies during a round of 70, good for 46 points at a tournament with a $600,000 purse, $125,000 for the winner. Former quarterback Chris Chandler was third with 42 points, followed by actor Oliver Hudson with 41.

Also: PGA Tour rookie Chris Kirk shot an 8-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Viking Classic in Madison, Miss. He is at 18-under 198, with Sunghoon Kang, D.J. Trahan, George McNeill and Peter Lonard tied for second.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Oregon retains renowned law firm amid NCAA investigation

Oregon has hired a high-profile law firm and stayed mum as questions mount about the Ducks' $25,000 payment to a Texas-based recruiting service.

The NCAA is investigating what appears to be an inflated payment for services provided by so-called street agent Willie Lyles of Complete Scouting Services in Houston. At issue is whether Lyles helped steer highly recruited running back Lache Seastrunk to Oregon.

The school's last official word came July 1, when it released a statement by athletic director Rob Mullens.

Oregon recently confirmed that it retained the legal services of Bond, Schoeneck & King. Former NCAA enforcement staffer Michael Glazier leads the firm's Collegiate Sports Practice Group, which has become known for representing schools facing NCAA infractions.

Also: Jim Donnan, a former head football coach at Georgia, has been accused in court documents of making millions of dollars from a Ponzi scheme.

The federal documents filed last week in bankruptcy court in Ohio contend that Donnan and his wife, Mary, attracted investments for GLC Ltd., which filed for bankruptcy in February. The documents claim Donnan invested more than $5.4 million in the company and that his family ultimately made more than $14.5 million.

MISCELLANEOUS

North Korea soccer blames deer glands for positive tests

North Korea officials blamed traditional musk deer gland medicine used after a lightning strike for positive tests for steroids at the Women's World Cup, the biggest soccer doping scandal at a major tournament in 17 years.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said after two players were caught during the tournament this month in Germany that the world soccer governing body took the unprecedented step of testing the rest of the North Korean squad and found three more positive results.

A North Korean delegation told Blatter and the head of FIFA's medical committee the steroids were accidentally taken with traditional Chinese medicines based on the deer glands.

"The North Korean officials said they didn't use it to improve performance. They said they had a serious lightning accident with several players injured, and they gave it as therapy," said Michel D'Hooghe, chief of FIFA's medical panel.

Also: Blind Luck beat rival Havre de Grace by a nose to win the 74th running of the Grade II $750,000 Delaware Handicap in Wilmington. The victory gave her a spot in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic.

Blind Luck, ridden by Garret Gomez, paid $4.20 as the second choice and covered the 1¼ miles in 2:01.28 in winning for the 12th time in her career. The $450,000 winner's share brought her career earnings to $3,075,520.

Trainer John Shirreffs' Nereid and Jeff Bonde's Cambina finished in a dead-heat tie for victory in the Grade 1, $250,000 American Oaks at Hollywood Park.

Ridden by Joe Talamo and making her stakes debut, Nereid went straight to the lead in the turf marathon for 3-year-old fillies and held on into the stretch, but Cambina and jockey Martin Garcia caught her at the wire and forced the draw in a wild ending with less than a length separating the first five finishers.

Ricky Burns of Scotland stopped former champion Nicky Cook of England at 1:33 of the first round to retain his WBO super featherweight title in Liverpool, England. Burns (32-2, nine knockouts) was making the third defense of his title.

Cook (30-3, 16 KOs) was taken out of the ring on a stretcher and to a hospital for a possible spinal injury.