In Sports from United Press International

Woods goes after another major

CHASKA, Minn., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- With dreams of the Grand Slam having been blown away at Muirfield, Tiger Woods will try to become the first player in history to win three majors in a season twice at the PGA Championship, which begins Thursday at the Hazletine Golf Club.

Woods became the first player since Jack Nicklaus 30 years ago to claim the first two majors of the season before he traveled to Scotland for the British Open last month.

With a career-worst 81 in the third round at Muirfield, Woods' run at becoming the first player ever to win all four majors in the same year came to an end. But he has a new goal this week.

Only Woods and Ben Hogan have won three majors in one calendar year and Woods is trying to become the first to do it twice, having claimed the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000.

"Any time you can win one major championship in a year, it's going to be a successful year," he said. "I think winning two in one year so far, it's been even better. I'd like to make it three."

Woods also can be the first golfer to earn all three major titles held in the United States during the same season, which will not be easy since the best field in the history of golf has been assembled.

Ready to tee off at Hazeltine are 98 of the top 100 players in the World Golf Rankings, the highest percentage at any event since the system began in 1986.

Woods has won seven of the last 12 major championships. He will begin his quest at 9:35 a.m. EDT in the company of newly crowned British Open champion Ernie Els and defending PGA champion David Toms.

Glavine outduels Hernandez

ATLANTA, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Tom Glavine scattered five hits over seven innings and Gary Sheffield drove in the game's only run with one of his three singles Wednesday night as the Atlanta Braves blanked the San Francisco Giants, 1-0.

While notching his fifth victory in his last six decisions, Glavine (16-6) walked one and struck out four to tie Clark Griffith and Frank Tanana for 48th place on the all-time wins list with 240. The veteran lefthander has allowed two runs or less in 19 of his 27 starts this season.

Sheffield, who is hitting .377 since the All-Star break, slapped a 2-0 offering from Livan Hernandez into left-center with one out in the first inning to drive in Rafael Furcal and give Glavine all the support he needed. Furcal led off the frame with a double and moved to third on a groundout.

Hernandez (7-13) allowed seven hits in seven innings while walking three and striking out three. The righthander has lost 13 of his last 16 decisions.

John Smoltz tossed a perfect ninth to record his 42nd save, despite allowing flyouts to the warning track by Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds.

Other National League results: Houston 4, Chicago 3; Los Angeles 5, Montreal 2; Florida 1, Colorado 0; Philadelphia 4, Milwaukee 1; St. Louis 7, Pittsburgh 3; Arizona 7, Cincinnati 2; San Diego 6, New York 2.

Chavez carries A's past Jays

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Eric Chavez hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Tim Hudson made it stand up Wednesday as the Oakland Athletics downed the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2.

Chavez, who had the winning hit in Tuesday's 5-4 win over the Blue Jays, staked Hudson to a 3-0 lead with his 26th homer off Pete Walker (5-3).

Hudson (9-9) surrendered two runs -- one earned -- and seven hits over 7 1/3 innings with a walk and two strikeouts. He improved to 2-0 with a 1.27 ERA in three August starts, allowing only three earned runs in 21 1/3 innings.

Ricardo Rincon got the final two outs in the eighth before Billy Koch tossed a scoreless ninth for his 30th save.

The Athletics scratched for their final run in the third as Scott Hatteberg led off with a walk and eventually scored on Jermaine Dye's sacrifice fly.

Other American League results: Cleveland 6, Tampa Bay 4; Texas 11, Chicago 6.

Kings sign Keon Clark

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The Sacramento Kings added bulk up front Wednesday, signing free agent forward-center Keon Clark.

Terms were not disclosed.

Clark became an unrestricted free agent last month after the Toronto Raptors rescinded their qualifying offer.

Clark was one of the better free agents available this summer, but some suitors might have been hesitant for salary cap concerns. In addition, Clark was cited on a marijuana possessions charge last month.

The 6-11, 221-pound Clark averaged a career-high 11.3 points and 7.4 rebounds last season. He was even better in the playoffs, averaging 13.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in five first-round games.

Fire storms into the lead

NAPERVILLE, Ill., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Hristo Stoitchkov, making his first start in almost a year, had a goal and an assist Wednesday night as the Chicago Fire defeated the Kansas City Wizards, 5-1.

Stoitchkov, who last started on Aug. 18, 2001, helped continue the Fire's dominance of the Wizards at home. Chicago is 7

The Fire (9-9-4) climbed over the MetroStars into the Eastern Conference lead, keeping pace with the Columbus Crew, who defeated Los Angeles Wednesday night, 3-2.

USA soccer moves into top 10

ZURICH, Switzerland, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The United States made its first appearance ever in world soccer's top 10 Wednesday, moving into a share of ninth place in the latest FIFA World Rankings.

Coming off a quarterfinal berth in this summer's World Cup, the American national team earned a ninth-place tie with traditional titan Italy. In the previous rankings released last month, the United States had held down the No. 11 spot.

"We're honored to have climbed into the top 10 of the FIFA Rankings for the first time in our history," said U.S. Coach Bruce Arena. "There's no question that this recognition is representative of the outstanding effort of our team in 2002."

World Cup champion Brazil, which defeated Germany in the title match, was ranked No. 1, followed by Argentina.

The rest of the top 10 was made up of Spain, France, Germany, Mexico, England, Portugal, Italy and the United States. Turkey, which was a surprise semifinalist in the World Cup, was 11th.

Newton sentenced to 30 months

DALLAS, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Nate Newton, considered one of the best offensive linemen in the National Football League during his career with the Dallas Cowboys, was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine after he admitted he planned to carry a load of marijuana to Houston

U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn, who told Newton during sentencing that she had to put aside the fact that she was a fan of the Cowboys, also sentenced him to three years' probation and 250 hours of public service. She told Newton she did not think he was a, "bad person." But she said because young people looked up to Newton, they had to understand he was not a role model.

Newton, who has already spent eight months behind bars, must report to federal authorities on Oct. 8.

Police found 175 pounds of marijuana in his car when it was stopped in an adjacent county last year.

Report: Nuggets to hire Bzdelik

DENVER, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The Denver Nuggets, who have not been to the playoffs since 1995, are expected to offer their vacant coaching position to Jeff Bzdelik according to a report in Wednesday's Denver Post.

Bzdelik has served as a scout and assistant coach in the NBA since 1988 and most recently led the Nuggets summer league team to a 6-0 record in the Rocky Mountain Revue last month.

This past season, Denver endured its seventh straight losing campaign, going 27-55 under Dan Issel and interim coach Mike Evans. Issel accepted a buyout from the Nuggets and resigned as team president and coach in December after serving a team-imposed four-game suspension for directing an ethnic slur at a fan following a loss to Charlotte on Dec. 11. The Nuggets went 18-38 under Evans.

Nets sign Rodney Rogers

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The New Jersey Nets, who addressed their need for an inside presence by acquiring center Dikembe Mutombo last week, added some frontcourt scoring Wednesday as they signed free agent forward Rodney Rogers.

Terms were not released.

Rogers split last season between the Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics. He averaged 10.7 points in 27 games with the Celtics, shooting 41 percent from three-point range. Rogers averaged 10.7 points and 4.5 rebounds in the Eastern Conference finals, where the Celtics lost in six games to the Nets.