IN BRIEF

basketball

Hawks will promote assistant
Drew to replace fired Woodson

Larry Drew, a former NBA player and current Atlanta Hawks assistant coach, will become the team's head coach, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Friday.

Drew, 52, was picked after a search that included interviews with former Minnesota coach Dwane Casey, who was thought to have the inside track because of his ties to Hawks general manager Rick Sund. Instead, the Hawks went with the lead assistant under former coach Mike Woodson, who was fired last month after six seasons despite a 53-29 record this season.

Drew is a former point guard who played in the NBA for 10 seasons. He was an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit, Washington and New Jersey before he joined Woodson in Atlanta.

Also: Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was still weighing an offer to become the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Izzo sent a text message to the AP, saying he had not made a decision. He later told the Spartans the same thing and didn't give them a timetable for the decision.

Izzo has reportedly been offered a five-year, $30 million contract by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, a Michigan State alum who wants to convince soon-to-be free agent LeBron James to re-sign with Cleveland.

golf

Westwood rides birdie binge
to share of lead in Memphis

Englishman Lee Westwood birdied his final three holes and grabbed a share of a one-stroke lead with Garrett Willis after the second round of the PGA Tour's St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn.

Westwood had a one-stroke lead after the first round, but he had to scramble a bit after two bogeys dropped him two shots off the lead. He rolled in a 26-footer for birdie on No. 17, then hit a 9-iron within 4 feet for a 68 that tied him with Willis at 9-under 131.

Willis, who spent last year on the Nationwide Tour, had five birdies in a bogey-free round. Former UNLV player Charley Hoffman had the clubhouse lead early with a 65 and was at 132.

Also: M.J. Hur had two chip-in birdies in a second straight 66 that gave her a one-shot lead over Amy Yang after the second round of the LPGA Tour's State Farm Classic at Springfield, Ill. Hur was at 12-under 132.

Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and Carlos Del Moral of Spain each shot 7-under 65 to share a two-shot lead at 12-under 132 after the second round of the European Tour's Estoril Open in Portugal.

The Great Britain-Ireland team took a 3.5-2.5 lead over the United States after the first day of the 36th Curtis Cup at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. The U.S., which has won the biennial event six straight times, needs 10 points to retain the cup; the GB&I team needs 10.5 to win.

miscellaneous

TCU one win from CWS berth after 3-1 victory over Texas

Matt Purke gave up three hits, walked one and struck out 11 in 7 2/3 innings to lead Texas Christian to a 3-1 victory over Texas in the first game of their best-of-3 super regional series in Austin.

Purke improved to 14-0 for the Horned Frogs (50-11), who can advance to the College World Series with a victory today over the Longhorns (49-12).

Also: French Open champion Rafael Nadal lost to Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Queen's Club tournament in London, ending Nadal's grass-court winning streak at 14 matches. Andy Murray was also upset, losing to American Mardy Fish 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (2), ensuring that the top six seeds will be missing from the semifinals.

Roger Federer extended his winning streak at the Gerry Weber Open to 28 matches by defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 6-3 to reach the semifinals in Halle, Germany.

Maria Sharapova defeated qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva 6-2, 6-4 to reach the Aegon Classic semifinals in Birmingham, England.

Guerdwich Montimer, a 22-year-old man accused of posing as a teenager to become a high school basketball star in Odessa, Texas, pleaded not guilty to six felony charges. Prosecutors say Montimer posed as "Jerry Joseph."

Churchill Downs was picked as the host for the 2011 Breeders' Cup, giving the track in Louisville, Ky., the event for a second straight year. This year's event is scheduled for Nov. 5 and 6, and the 2011 dates are Nov. 4 and 5.