Woods takes lead at Tour Championship
ATLANTA, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods, closing in on his second FedEx Cup title in three years, seized a one-shot lead Friday midway through the Tour Championship.
A victory this week at the East Lake Golf Club would wrap up the FedEx Cup crown for the world's No. 1 player and the $10 million that goes with it.
Woods finished two rounds at 5-under-par 135 while Padraig Harrington and first-round leader Sean O'Hair shared second at 136. If Woods slips over the weekend, at least six other players would have a chance to capture the cup by winning this tournament.
That group includes Harrington and O'Hair, along with Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Heath Slocum and Steve Stricker.
Woods had a chance to open a larger lead Friday, but he missed putts inside 5 feet on both the 15th and 16th holes and then bogeyed the par-3 18th.
"The day as a whole was a good day. I shot under par," Woods said. "Today's round probably could have been one or two better for sure. But overall I'm very pleased with my scoring the first two days."
Ernie Els moved into fourth place by himself at 137 and Kenny Perry and Jerry Kelly were tied for fifth at 138.
Stewart Cink made a quadruple bogey at the par-4 10th hole and wound up tied for seventh at 139 with Angel Cabrera, Jason Dufner, Nick Watney and Lucas Glover.
Johnson secures Dover pole position
DOVER, Del., Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Jimmie Johnson won the pole position Friday during qualifying for Sunday's Sprint Cup AAA 400 auto race at Dover, Del. International Speedway.
With a best-lap speed of 157.356 miles per hour, Johnson won a pole for the second time this season and 21st in his Sprint Cup career.
"Qualifying was really good, our car has been super fast off the truck," the three-time points champion told reporters. "It was an exciting lap for sure. I think the track changed a little bit more than we anticipated, and I really had to hang on to it the entire way around the lap."
Johnson starts the race 35 points behind leader Mark Martin.
Juan Pablo Montoya secured the second spot with a speed of 156.699 mph, with Ryan Newman (156.393), Greg Biffle (156.284) and David Reutimann (155.979) completing the Top 5 qualifiers.
Ankle sprain keeps Tomlinson out
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson will miss his second straight game Sunday because of a right ankle sprain.
The nine-year veteran missed last week's 31-26 loss to Baltimore after suffering the injury in San Diego's season-opening 24-20 win over Oakland.
It marks only the third time in his career that Tomlinson missed a game due to injury.
He wore a wear a protective boot before the Baltimore loss.
"I can get healthy," the 2006 NFL MVP told the San Diego Union-Tribune earlier this week.
He missed San Diego's AFC playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in January with a groin injury.
The bulk of the running attack likely will be shared by Michael Bennett and the diminutive Darren Sproles when the Chargers are home to the Miami Dolphins Sunday.
Tomlinson led the NFL in rushing in both 2006 (1,815 yards) and 2007 (1,474), but was only the 10th leading rusher last year (1,110) despite starting all 16 regular-season games.
Federer to skip two tournaments to rest
BOTTMINGEN, Switzerland, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Roger Federer, the world's top-rated tennis player, has withdrawn from upcoming ATP tournaments in Tokyo and Shanghai.
Federer cited a need to "rest, rehabilitate and fully recover from a physically challenging year" as reasons for skipping the Japan Open, a $1.2 million tournament that begins Oct. 5, and the $5.25 million Shanghai Masters event Oct. 12-18.
"I am disappointed that I have to withdraw from Tokyo and Shanghai, as they are two of my favorite cities in the world and the fans have been great to me over the years," Federer said on his Web site. "After consultation with my team and doctors, I decided to take the difficult decision to withdraw from both tournaments."
The Federer Web site indicated his next tournament would be the $1.8 million event in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland, beginning Nov. 2.
Federer played for Switzerland in a recent Davis Cup match against Italy and he showed signs of fatigue. Those matches were shortly after Federer completed a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open.
He won the French Open and Wimbledon, results that gave him a record total of 15
Grand Slam championships and returned him to the world No. 1 ranking.
Federer also married Mirka Vavrinec and they became parents of twin girls in July.
