In Brief

PRO FOOTBALL

Unions for baseball, basketball
and hockey back NFL players

The unions for hockey, baseball and basketball are siding with the players in the NFL lockout court battle, saying the league's lockout should be lifted.

The players associations for Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NHL filed a brief Friday with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Minneapolis, saying the case presents "vitally important issues" for the unions and their members. The players' associations say professional athletes' careers are short, and the loss of even part of a season causes personal and professional injures that can't be compensated.

That reiterates the NFL players' argument that the lockout is causing them irreparable harm -- the players can't work out or sign contracts with any of the 32 clubs while the lockout is in place. A federal judge in Minnesota agreed and lifted the lockout April 25, but the league appealed.

The appeals court reversed U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson's decision just four days later. And on Monday, the appellate court ruled the lockout can stay in place until a full appeal is heard on whether it is legal. Attorneys for the players were expected to file briefs later Friday, in advance of an appeals court hearing June 3 in St. Louis.

GOLF

Toms fires second straight 62
at Colonial, ties PGA Tour mark

David Toms shot his second straight 8-under-par 62 in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, matching the PGA Tour record for the first 36 holes, to open a seven-stroke lead.

Coming off a playoff loss Sunday to K.J. Choi in The Players Championship, the 44-year-old Toms tied the mark of 124 set by Pat Perez in the 2009 Bob Hope Classic. Perez had rounds of 61 and 63.

Unaffected by a 2½-hour weather delay that interrupted his round, Toms had four birdies on the eight holes he completed after play resumed. For the second day in a row, Toms carded 31s on both nines.

Steven Bowditch (64) and Charlie Wi (67), who finished their second rounds before the delay, were tied for second with Mark Wilson (66) and John Senden (66). Wilson played alongside Toms.

Also: Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie won second-round matches to lead six Americans into the third round of the Sybase Match Play Championship in Gladstone, N.J.

Angela Stanford, Stacy Lewis and Brittany Lang were the other Americans to advance in a field where favorites continued to lead the way.

Top-seeded Na Yeon Choi of South Korea, world No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan, No. 3 Suzann Pettersen of Norway and No. 6 seed Ai Miyazato of Japan also won as seven of the top 10 seeds in the $1.5 million event moved to today's round of 16.

Seven months after joining forces to help Europe reclaim the Ryder Cup, the Northern Ireland duo of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell will meet in today's final 16 of the World Match Play Championship in Casares, Spain.

McDowell won Group D with two straight victories, while McIlroy finished runner-up in Group E following a 3-and-2 defeat to Denmark's Nicolas Colsaerts.

In another last-16 match between European Ryder Cup colleagues, top-ranked Lee Westwood will take on fellow Englishman Ian Poulter after cruising to a second convincing win in successive days.

Ireland's Simon Thornton shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over France's Francois Delamontagne after the second round of the Madeira Islands Open in Porto Santo.

Thornton had an eagle, five birdies and a bogey to reach 7-under 137 at Porto Santo Golf, the Seve Ballesteros-designed course that features 500-foot seaside cliffs. Delamontagne shot a 70.

UCLA's Tiffany Lua had an ace and topped the individual leaderboard with four holes left, and the Bruins had a six-stroke lead when third-round play in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship in Bryan, Texas, was suspended because of darkness.

Defending champion Purdue was second, also with four holes left.

UNLV ATHLETICS

Rebels men's golf team falters,
slips to 12th at NCAA regional

The UNLV men's golf team shot a 9-over-par 297 and dropped to 12th place after two rounds of the NCAA San Diego Regional at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

Southern California shot 2-over 290 in the second round, but maintained its lead by four shots with a 36-hole total of 8-under 568. UCLA (572) was second, followed by Ohio State (573), Southern Methodist (577) and UC San Diego and Texas tied for fifth (578).

UNLV's two-round total was 16-over 592, eight shots out of fifth. The low five teams and low individual not on those teams after today's final 18 holes will advance to the NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Okla., from May 31 through June 5.

The Rebels' Derek Ernst was in a seven-way tie for fifth for the regional's individual lead, six shots back at 2-under 142 after shooting 73. UCLA's Patrick Cantlay shot 67 and led by three shots at 8-under 136.

UNLV pitching was manhandled by the No. 2 through No. 5 batters in the San Diego State lineup as the Aztecs rolled to an 11-4 Mountain West Conference victory at Wilson Stadium.

Tim Zier, Brandon Meredith, Jomel Torres and Dillon Bryant went a collective 10-for-19 for the Aztecs (20-34, 10-3 MWC), who finished with 14 hits.

Trevor Kirk had four hits and drove in three runs to lead UNLV (33-22, 10-12). Scott Dysinger had two singles for the Rebels.

TENNIS

Top-ranked Wozniacki to face
Peng in Brussels Open final

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki outlasted French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the final of the Brussels Open.

She will play for the title today against Peng Shuai, who upset No. 3-ranked Vera Zvonareva, 6-3, 6-3.

Also: Top-seeded Marion Bartoli beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-2 to reach today's final of the Strasbourg International in Strasbourg, France.

Bartoli will meet second-seeded Andrea Petkovic, who downed Daniela Hantuchova, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Nicolas Almagro beat Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4 and will meet Victor Hanescu in today's final of the Open de Nice in Nice, France.

Hanescu beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-3 to reach his first final of the year.

MISCELLANEOUS

Boogaard's death caused by
mix of alcohol, oxycodone

The death of New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard was an accident, due to a toxic mix of alcohol and the powerful painkiller oxycodone.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner in Minneapolis announced Boogaard's cause of death, saying it was unclear exactly when the 28-year-old died. Boogaard was found dead in his Minneapolis apartment May 13, five months after he sustained a season-ending concussion with the Rangers.

The medical examiner said no private data on Boogaard would be released, but a statement his family issued through the NHL Players' Association indicated the 6-foot-7-inch Boogaard had been struggling with pain and addiction.

Also: Randy "Macho Man" Savage, the professional wrestler known for his raspy voice, the sunglasses and bandanas he wore in the ring and the young woman named Miss Elizabeth who often accompanied him, died in a car crash in Florida. He was 58.

A Florida Highway Patrol crash report said Savage -- whose legal name was Randy Mario Poffo -- was driving a Jeep Wrangler when he lost control in Pinellas County around 9:25 a.m. EDT. The Jeep veered over the raised concrete median divider, crossed over the eastbound lanes and collided head-on with a tree.

Police said Savage may have suffered a "medical event" before the accident, but the report did not elaborate, and it said officials would need to perform an autopsy to know for sure.

The report said a woman in the vehicle, identified as Barbara L. Poffo, 56, suffered minor injuries. She was later identified as Savage's wife.

Royal Delta rallied to beat Buster's Ready by 2½ lengths in the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico in Baltimore.

The Black-Eyed Susan for 3-year-old fillies is the companion event to today's Preakness.

Jose Lezcano was aboard for trainer Bill Mott as Royal Delta got her third win in four starts. The time was 1:49.60 for the 1-1/8 miles on the fast track.

The Maine Red Claws of the NBA Developmental League have expressed interest in hiring former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl for its vacant position.

Pearl was fired from Tennessee at the end of last season after lying to NCAA investigators during an inquiry.