Sorenstam can't hang on at Match Play

Annika Sorenstam tumbled out of the Women's World Match Play Championship yesterday, blowing a two-hole lead with four to play in her quarterfinal match against Candie Kung at Gladstone, N.J.

After conceding a 2-foot par putt to Kung on the par-4 18th, Sorenstam slid her 8-foot par attempt well right of the hole, ending the match.

Kung made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th to pull within a hole and squared the match on the par-4 16th after Sorenstam drove into the left rough, failed to reach the green in two, and two-putted for a bogey.

The eighth-seeded Kung will face 60th-seeded Marisa Baena in the semifinals today. Baena beat six-time major champion Karrie Webb, 2 and 1.

In the other semifinal, 14th-seeded Wendy Ward will play No. 47 Meena Lee. Ward beat 59th-seeded Sophie Gustafson, 2 and 1, and Lee held off No. 39 Pat Hurst, 1 up.

In their third-round matches yesterday morning, Kung beat 56th-seeded A.J. Eathorne 4 and 3, and Sorenstam held off Rachel Hetherington, 2 and 1.PGA -- Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion, rolled in a 3-footer on 18 for a birdie and a share of the lead with Jim Furyk at the Western Open at Lemont, Ill. Curtis (66) and Furyk (67) are at 12-under 201 after 54 holes.

But the world's two best players, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, are lurking. Woods shot a 4-under 67 and is tied for fourth with Shaun Micheel at 206, five strokes back. Singh flirted with the course record of 63 before settling for a 6-under 65, six strokes off the lead.European -- Thomas Bjorn shot a 3-under 69 to open a four-stroke lead after three rounds of the European Open at Straffan, Ireland.

US Open champion Michael Campbell recorded a 1-under 71 and is nine strokes back.Champions -- Ron Streck, looking for his first Champions Tour title, followed his first-round 62 with a 3-under 68, staying two strokes in front with a 12-under 130 total after 36 holes in the Commerce Bank Championship at East Meadow, N.Y.