Briefs

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Woods' 50th title

TIGER WOODS withstood a back nine challenge from Jim Furyk to claim his 50th career title at the Buick Open on Sunday.

Fresh from his triumph at the British Open, Woods made it back-to-back victories after carding his fourth consecutive round of six-under 66.

He finished three shots clear of Furyk with a total of 24-under 264 at the Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club.

With his fourth win of the season and second Buick title, Woods, 30, became the youngest golfer to own 50 career PGA Tour victories. He eclipsed Jack Nicklaus, who did not clinch 50 victories until he was 33 and six months.

"It's pretty cool to get to 50," Woods told reporters after achieving the mark in his 196th event. "I've been blessed and had a lot of things go my way."

Having captured 36 of 39 events when leading after three rounds, Wood's milestone win was not without drama.

Furyk mounted a back nine challenge with birdies on five of six holes from the 10th on way to a bogey free eight-under 64.

Woods began the day with two shot cushion and maintained his advantage with a flawless front nine that included four birdies to open up a three-shot lead.

But three holes later the world number one's advantage had evaporated under Furyk's charge and his only bogey of the day at the par four 12th left both men on 21-under.

Woods, however, quickly recovered with a birdie at the 13th after a pinpoint approach left him a one foot tap in.

The 11 time major win followed up with another birdie on 15th to restore his two shot lead then survived a scare on the par three 17th when a spectator rolled an apple across the green as he attempted a long birdie putt.

With fans chanting "throw him out, throw him out", Woods would not be distracted stepping up to the ball and draining a nervy four-footer for par.

Woods then carried his focus onto the 18th, capping off his milestone win with a 10-foot birdie putt.

Host Israel refused

LIVERPOOL will play the Champions League tie with Maccaba Haifa on 22 or 23 August outside Israel grounds after UEFA switched the match from Israel because of the country's conflict with Lebanon.

European football's governing body has already said Israel could not host UEFA Cup second qualifying round games.

Liverpool's match will be played at Dynamo Kiev's stadium in Ukraine after the club's president said he had given his permission for that to happen. Igor Surkis said last week: "I was approached by people from the Israeli club and also Israel's ambassador in Ukraine, who asked if it was possible to play the game in Ukraine.

"I gave my provisional consent and said that security during the match would be guaranteed. The Ukrainian Football Federation have already been informed about our initial agreement as any final decision over the staging of the game must be taken by them and UEFA."

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has said it was "totally unacceptable" to go to Israel, given the current security situation.

UEFA's decision to move UEFA Cup games affected Hapoel Tel Aviv's home tie against NK Domzale of Slovenia on 8 August played in Holland. And Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv's home match with Bulgaria's Lokomotiv Sofia today will be held in Slovakia.

The Israeli FA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but that was rejected.

As well as Liverpool's match with Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem's UEFA Cup second qualifying round clash on 24 August with Dinamo Bucharest may be affected.

International football returned to Israel in April 2004 after a 25-month ban because of the worsening security situation in the country. Matches can only be played in the Tel Aviv area.

Between March 2002 and April 2004 Israeli clubs and teams were forced to play host to their opponents at a number of European venues, including Cyprus, Turkey, Italy and Bulgaria.

The real winner

RUNNER-UP Oscar Pereiro "considers himself the winner" of the Tour de France, he told a press conference in his Spanish hometown.

The Tour itself renounced Floyd Landis as its champion Saturday after the second of two urine samples tested positive for higher-than-allowable levels of testosterone.

Pierre Bordry, who leads the French anti-doping council, said the samples contained synthetic testosterone, indicating that it came from an outside source.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Landis was no longer considered champion.

Runner-up Pereiro would be the likely new winner, but Prudhomme said the decision to strip Landis of the title rests with the International Cycling Union.

Pereiro said he felt badly for Landis, whom he thought must be living the worst days of his life. "I consider him my friend. It surprised me and hurt me to hear what had happened to him," he said.

But Pereiro said he regretted not having been able to celebrate a win properly, in Paris, wearing the winner's yellow jersey, having his photograph taken on the podium. "I would have liked to have lived that day, it would have been the best day of my life, as a sportsman," Pereiro said.

He said riders at the Tour had undergone 400 doping tests. Landis has said he was tested nine times, and Pereiro said Saturday he went through four doping checks.

"The bad thing is that the winner should have failed," Pereiro said. "I trust Floyd, but the analysis shows he may have broken a rule. He failed an anti- doping test. If you fail the norms set, then you have to be withdrawn."

First Formula One

BRITAIN's Jenson Button mastered the tricky conditions to clinch his first Formula One victory in his 113th race at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Button drove superbly to slash Fernando Alonso's lead, and took control when the Spaniard retired on lap 52 of 70.

Michael Schumacher finished ninth but was elevated to eighth when Robert Kubica was disqualified, handing him a vital point in the title race.

McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa finished in second, with Heidfield in third place.

A delighted Button jumped out of the car to hug the rest of the Honda crew before climbing onto the podium as he became the first British winner of a Grand Prix since David Coulthard three years ago.

"What a day-- it's been amazing," said the 26-year-old. "Coming through from 14th to win the race was brilliant. I couldn't have done it a better way.

"But I have to thank everyone in the team -- the strategy was spot on."

The victory was also Honda's first win as a constructor since 1967.

The drivers had to contend with tricky weather conditions at the Hungaroring, with heavy rain followed by bright sunshine and a drying track, making the timing and selection of tire changes crucial.

Honda got their changes right, as Button beat De la Rosa to the chequered flag by 30.8 seconds.

"We have thought hard and we have won the race not just through speed but through strategy," added Button.

Button gradually made his way through the pack with some intelligent overtaking decisions, keeping himself out of trouble in the wet weather.

Alonso looked to have the race in his control, but Kimi Raikkonen, who started on pole, crashed out with a spectacular shunt into the back of Vitantonio Liuzzi, and brought the safety car onto the track.

That allowed the chasing pack to close in, with Button in second ahead of De la Rosa.

When the racing resumed, Alonso had three backmarkers separating him from Button allowing him to pull clear again.

But with the track drying, Button began to cut into Alonso's advantage and the Briton was on hand to profit when a problem with a drive shaft on the right rear wheel of Alonso's Renault forced him out.

Own record broken

LAURE MANAUDOU of France set the seal on the European swimming championships in Budapest with a stunning world record in the women's 400 meters freestyle.

Manaudou claimed her fourth gold of the week with a four minutes 2.13 second clocking, slicing nearly a second off her own record.

Manaudou set the previous best of four minutes 3.03 seconds in Tours in May, breaking an 18-year-old mark held by the legendary American swimmer Janet Evans.

She led the race from start to finish, completing the first length of the pool 0.21 seconds ahead of record pace.

At 350 metres, she was 1.02 ahead of the record, but slowed slightly in the last length and ended up bettering her own mark by 0.90 seconds.

"I didn't have the world record in my mind. I'm surprised and it's a bonus," Manaudou said after completing her rare quartet of individual gold medals in a single European championships, a feat previously achieved by Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband in 1999.

Manaudou's other three golds came in individual races --100 backstroke, 200 individual medley and 800 freestyle.

She also won bronze in the 200 freestyle and was part of the French quartet which placed third in the 800 freestyle relay.

Britain's Joanne Jackson won the silver medal from compatriot Caitlin McClatchey as they staged a race of their own for the minor medals in the 400m.

A short while later Manaudou helped France to bronze in the 4x100 meter medley relay, which Britain won in a time of four minute 2.24 seconds.

Melanie Marshall, Kirsty Balfour, Terri Dunning and Francesca Halsall beat Germany into second place in an exciting final.

Germany's Britta Steffen, who came close to snatching gold for her country in the medley relay with a stunning last leg, had earlier snatched the women's 50 meters freestyle in a time of 24.72 seconds.

It was also her fourth gold medal of the competition on top of a world record in the 100 meters free.