The Honda Classic has four at the top
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., March 9 (UPI) -- David Toms and three other players shot 5-under-par 67 Thursday to share the lead in the first round of The Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
The round was suspended because of darkness at the end of the day.
"I started off kind of slow, but came back and ended up making a lot of birdies," Toms said. "I putted well and capitalized every time I hit a good shot."
Also at 67 are Match Play champion Geoff Ogilvy, Ryuji Imada and Mathias Gronberg. Billy Mayfair, Brian Gay, Jeff Gove and Jason Schultz are one stroke further back at 4-under 68.
14 players are within three strokes of the lead, including John Cook (69), Davis Love III (70), and Stephen Ames (70).
Bowden gets new contract from Nationals
WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- Washington Nationals vice president and general manager Jim Bowden Thursday signed a contract extension through the 2006 season.
Also signing a new deal was assistant general manager Tony Siegle.
Bowden, 44, and Manager Frank Robinson put together a team that compiled a record of 81-81 in the Nationals first season in the nation's capital from Montreal. Their 14-game improvement matched the Brewers for the third largest in baseball.
Bowden's status was always in limbo because the Washington franchise is run by Major League Baseball and a new owner has been sought for over a year. The team said on its Web site that a new deal has been in the works for several weeks. Bowden was working on a six-month contract, which was set to expire on April 30.
NFL owners agree to union offer
GRAPEVINE, Texas, March 9 (UPI) -- NFL team owners have approved the NFL Players Association's latest offer, extending the league's collective bargaining agreement for six years.
The free agency period that was pushed back because of the protracted negotiations will begin at 12:01 a.m. EST Friday.
Thirty of the 32 NFL clubs voted in favor of the union's proposal, with Buffalo and Cincinnati casting the dissenting votes.
One of the major points of contention involved revenue sharing, with small-market teams calling for each club to pay a set percentage of revenue to be put into the pool. Teams contributed an equal amount of revenue under the existing bargaining agreement, giving the larger market franchises a decided advantage.
The agreement raises the salary cap to $102 million, from $94.5 million, in 2006, and to $109 million in 2007. The higher cap will let many teams avoid cutting high-priced veterans, and some will also have more money to offer free agents when the free-agent signing period begins, The New York Times said.
Selig to review Bonds' drug allegations
PHOENIX, March 9 (UPI) -- Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will review allegations of steroid abuse by San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds based on a new book.
Selig read excerpts in Sports Illustrated from the book, "Game of Shadows," that allege Bonds used a variety of performance-enhancing drugs for at least five years starting in 1998.
Selig was worried enough about Bond to arrange a meeting with him near the Giants' training camp in the spring of 2004. Bonds told Selig then and repeated again to a grand jury he had never "knowingly" taken steroids, the Chicago Tribune said.
The book, written by San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, says otherwise, and cites sealed and public court documents and interviews with more than 200 people, USA Today reported.
Bonds is within six home runs of Babe Ruth's career total of 714 and 47 of Hank Aaron's all-time major league record.
