TheDailyJournal

 Tiger Woods holds 1-shot lead at Dubai

||| Tiger Woods birdied the 18th hole to keep a 1-shot lead after a windy second round of the Dubai Desert Classic. ||| Woods, who won Sunday's Buick Invitational by eight strokes, made four birdies – including two in the last three holes – for a 1-under 71 and a halfway total of 8-under 136.

The blustery day caused problems for Woods from the start. The world's No. 1 player, who had taken a 2-shot lead with a 7-under 65 after the first round, bogeyed the first hole after driving the ball into the rough. Two more bogeys followed on the 12th and 15th.
Irishman Damien McGrane shot a 3-under 69 to pull within one shot.
Defending champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden shot a 2-under 70 with four birdies and was two strokes behind Woods. He was tied for third with Thomas Levet of France, who had a 71.
Despite losing ground on the leaderboard, Woods said he was "pleased with anything in the red today."
"It was not a pretty day out there," he said.

Woods’win at Torrey Pines last weekend was his fourth straight and 62nd career title, tying Arnold Palmer for fourth place on the PGA Tour list. If he triumphs in Dubai, it will be his seventh win in eight starts – and his second Dubai Desert Classic title. He won here in 2006.
Wind gusts up to about 30 mph shook up the bunkers and surrounding desert terrain – sending sand flying in faces and creating a haze that masked many of the glitzy skyscrapers that tower over Emirates Golf Club.
Woods said even though he wore his sunglasses, he was still "chewing sand all day."
"Good thing is, don't need any fiber tonight," he joked.
McGrane, who had four birdies and two bogeys, said the chilly winds felt more like home than he would have expected in the desert.
"Finishing on the last few holes, it was very cold, and you don't expect that in the desert," he said. "But you know, it was nearly my type of weather today, so I made the most of it."

SPORTS

  Ex-doping czar nominated
for presidency

Former World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound has been nominated for president of the highest court in sports. Pound is one of two candidates put forward by the International Olympic Committee to lead the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. The other candidate is Geneva-based lawyer Robert Briner.

Swedish Davis Cup player Joachim Johansson retired from tennis because of a shoulder injury, ending a career in which he reached a No. 5 ranking and the U.S. Open semifinals in 2004. The 25-year-old Johansson has had three operations since 2005.

Bode Miller fastest in training

Bode Miller posted the fastest time Friday in a training run for the men's World Cup downhill this weekend. The 30-year-old American clocked 1 minute, 34.51 seconds on the third day of training to beat David Poisson of France by 0.61 seconds. Christophe Gruber of Austria was third, 0.74 seconds behind Miller.

LIVING

Spears’ parents go to LA court

Britney Spears’parents made a surprise appearance in a Los Angeles courtroom Friday, a day after she was whisked to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. The purpose of Friday's appearance was not immediately revealed. Lynne and James Spears entered the Superior Court without commenting to reporters.

Another beauty battle is moving to Las Vegas, at least for the time being. This year's Miss USA pageant will be held at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, pageant executives said Thursday.

Eva Mendes in treatment for 'issues'

Eva Mendes has "issues." "Eva has been working hard for the past year and made a positive decision to take some much-needed time off to proactively attend to some personal issues that, while not critical, she felt deserved some outside professional support," the 31-year-old actress’publicist, Brad Cafarelli, said Friday in a statement.