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Goosen in first at the Scottish Open

GLASGOW, Scotland, July 10 (UPI) -- Retief Goosen shot 8-under-par 63 Friday and grabbed a two-stroke lead through 36 holes at the European Tour's Scottish Open.

His second round included a bogey the par-3 fifth hole, an eagle at the par-5 third and six birdies, the last coming at the par-4 18th hole.

"I do like it here," the South African told reporters after coming within one stroke of the course record at Glasgow's historic Loch Lomond Golf Club. "The golf course is fairly generous off the tee and I'm not one of the straightest hitters."

Australia's Adam Scott (67) is second at 9-under 133.

Germany's Martin Kaymer (65), last week's winner at the Open de France, is 8-under 134 with Australia's Marcus Fraser (66), tied for third.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, the defending champion, shot 1-over 72 and joined 11 others in 65th place.

Among those missing the 1-over 143 cut were Simon Dyson (143), Martin Campbell (144) and Rory Sabbatini (144).

Israel one win from Davis Cup semis

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 10 (UPI) -- Harel Levy and Dudi Sela each won in four sets Friday, putting home-standing Israel ahead 2-0 in its Davis Cup quarterfinals against Russia.

Levy, ranked No. 210 in the world, opened the best-of-five series with a 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over No. 24-ranked Igor Andreev and Sela took a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 victory over Mikhail Youzhny.

A win in Saturday's doubles of in either of the Sunday reverse singles matches would put Israel in the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time. Russia hasn't come back from a two-match deficit since the 1995 semifinals against Germany.

Israel will send Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram against the Russian doubles team of Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn on Saturday.

Sunday's schedule calls for Sela to go against Andreev before Levy meets Youzhny. Russia, however, may substitute Safin in one of the singles matches.

The winner of the Israel-Russia series advanced to the Davis Cup semifinals Sept. 18-20 against either Germany or Spain. Those teams split their two singles matches Friday in Spain.

Vickers wins latest Sprint pole position

JOLIET, Ill., July 10 (UPI) -- Brian Vickers has won the pole position for Saturday's LifeLock 400.com Sprint Cup race after a qualifying speed of 184.162 miles per hour.

Vickers is the eighth different pole winner in nine races at Chicagoland, where qualifying was rained out last year.

His tour around the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., marked the fifth time this season he earned the right to be the lead driver at a Sprint Series race and third straight.

He also won it before the Save Mart 350 in Sonoma, Calif., and the LifeLock 400 in Brooklyn, Mich.

"That car was just unbelievable," he said Thursday about his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota. "It was good when we unloaded it, and (the team) made it better."

Teammate, rookie Scott Speed (182.958 mph), the last driver in the 46-car field to qualify, finished second, giving Red Bull the two starting rows.

Speed failed to qualify at Sonoma.

Jimmie Johnson qualified third, followed by Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer.

Angels shut down Guerrero, Hunter

ANAHEIM, Calif., July 10 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Angels have shelved veterans Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero due to injuries.

The stars were placed on the 15-day disabled list with the Angels trailing the Texas Rangers by 1/2-game in the American League West.

Guerrero suffered a strained muscle behind his left knee and a lower hamstring strain in Tuesday's 8-5 loss to the Rangers.

He was playing right field for just the second time this season, after missing 38 games with a torn right pectoral muscle.

Guerrero's primary function has been designated hitter.

Hunter has a strained right side and will miss next Tuesday's All-Star Game in St. Louis.

Guerrero is batting .290 with four home runs and 21 RBI in 176 at-bats, while Hunter is batting .305 with 17 homers with 65 RBI in 285 at-bats.

"Maybe it's for the best," Hunter said on the team's Web site. "I should be ready to go on July 22. The All-Star break helps, since those days count."