Cink leads Buick Invitational
LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Stewart Cink shot his career low score to take the lead Friday and oft-troubled John Daly vaulted into contention at the Buick Invitational.
Tiger Woods, meanwhile, shot a 3-under 69 to move into a tie for 21st place, Phil Mickelson barely made the cut and Vijay Singh missed the cutoff mark.
Singh's streak of 12 straight top-10 finishes ended two short of the record held by Jack Nicklaus.
Cink shot a 63 at the Torrey Pines North Course for a 36-hole total of 11-under 133.
Daly, whose career has been saddled with off-the-course problems, shot a 66 at the more difficult South Course and was two shots back.
Daly was tied for second with Steve Flesch, who shot a 68. Bo Van Pelt was alone in fourth at 136 while those at 137 included Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton. Woods, playing for the first time in a month, was at 139.
Bryant: 'It's been a rough year'
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Kobe Bryant admitted Friday he was struggling to get through the basketball season but that if given a chance, he would like to stay with his current team.
Bryant faced about 100 media members at an All-Star Game news conference.
"It's been a rough year," Bryant said. "I get rewarded and I get to come here and have you guys fire all these questions at me."
Bryant has said he will become a free agent, but he denied he has made a final decision to leave the Los Angeles Lakers.
He also touched on the felony rape charge that hangs over his life.
"It makes you stronger," he said. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Everybody goes through their own individual trials."
Bryant teammate Shaquille O'Neal said everyone associated with the team knows Bryant is suffering.
"You see him now, he smiles, but you can see he's changed," O'Neal said.
Sale of Dodgers becomes final
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers from the Fox Entertainment Group to Boston real estate developer Frank McCourt was finally made official Friday.
The closing of the sale came a little more than four months after McCourt agreed to buy the storied National League team along with Dodger Stadium and training facilities in Vero Beach and the Dominican Republic for roughly $450 million.
"My family and I are extremely excited to have learned that the closing is official and to have this process behind us so that we now move forward with our plans," McCourt said.
The sale, announced Oct. 10, was approved by Major League Baseball's ownership group on Jan. 29.
It is the second sale of the Dodgers in recent years. In 1998, Fox purchased the team for $315 million from Peter O'Malley, whose family owned the Dodgers since the 1950s and orchestrated the move from Brooklyn to the West Coast in 1958.
Sabres go on scoring spree
BUFFALO, N.Y., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Maxim Afinogenov scored twice in an overwhelming assault Friday night, helping Buffalo thrash Los Angeles, 8-3.
Roman Cechmanek allowed three goals and committed a penalty in the final 4:01 of the second period and left the game after giving up another tally 34 seconds into the third.
Daniel Briere and Ales Kotalik each had one goal and two assists for the Sabres, who scored seven unanswered goals en route to their sixth win in seven games.
Los Angeles, which had recorded a point in each of its prior 10 road games, held a 3-1 lead before Buffalo defenseman Henrik Tallinder scored his first goal of the season at 15:59 of the second.
Late in the period, referee Ian Walsh left the game after being hit in the head by Taylor Pyatt's clearing pass.
