Seven strokes up, Curtis almost there

Ben Curtis was two holes from his first victory since the 2003 British Open when play was halted again yesterday at the Booz Allen Classic in Potomac, Md., because of a thunderstorm. Curtis, leading by seven strokes, had a 28-foot putt for par at the 17th hole when the horn sounded, the latest exasperating delay in a tournament that has struggled to complete its final round. Curtis led by eight shots after 11 holes when thunderstorms stopped play Sunday. Yesterday's start was twice delayed because of overnight downpours that waterlogged the course and left many of the sand traps resembling miniature ponds. Billy Andrade of Bristol, R.I., Padraig Harrington, Steve Stricker, and Nick O'Hern were tied for second at 15 under par. During the first six-minute spurt of play, Andrade made a 27-foot putt at No. 18 to finish a round of 64. Six players will return this morning to complete the final three holes, including Brett Quigley, who is at 13 under at the 16th . . . The Western Open, one of the oldest stops on the PGA Tour, is getting a name change and will rotate among Chicago suburbs and other Midwest cities. The tournament will be called the BMW Championship beginning in 2007 . . . Marco Ruiz and Louis Oosthuizen topped European qualifying for the British Open with 8-under 132 totals in Sunningdale, England.

Lance Armstrong denied that he threatened three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, calling the allegation ``ridiculous." LeMond, the first American to win the Tour de France with victories in 1986, 1989, and 1990, told the French weekly edition of L'Equipe Dimanche that he had testified in a recent legal dispute involving Armstrong. ``He threatened my wife, my business, my life," LeMond told the newspaper. ``Greg is just not in check with reality," Armstrong said. ``It's ridiculous. Greg is obsessed with foiling my career. I'm apoplectic when I read stuff like that." . . . The Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that Marblehead cyclist Tyler Hamilton, an Olympic gold medalist serving a two-year suspension for blood doping, was billed by a doctor for treatment that allegedly included blood transfusions and banned performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids, human growth hormone and the synthetic blood booster EPO. Hamilton, in a statement issued by his attorney, Howard Jacobs of Los Angeles, said, ``I have not done what the article alleges."

Isiah Thomas has one year to turn around the Knicks -- something Larry Brown couldn't do. And if Thomas doesn't, he'll be gone, too. ``I'm saying this right with Isiah here. This is his team," Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan said. ``He made this bed. There's nobody better than him to make this thing go forward. But he has to do that and he has one year, one season to do that. At this time next year Isiah will be with us if we can all sit here and say that this team has made significant progress towards its goal of eventually becoming an NBA championship team. If we can't say that, then Isiah will not be here." Dolan acknowledged that the team ``made a mistake" hiring Brown . . . Byron Scott is close to signing a contract extension with the New Orleans Hornets that could keep him with the team for three more seasons.

Bill Rowe scored the go-ahead run on second baseman Bryan Steed's throwing error in the bottom of the eighth, and Oregon State held on to beat North Carolina, 3-2, for its first College World Series title. The Beavers (50-16) became the first team in CWS history to lose twice in Omaha and win the national championship. North Carolina starter Daniel Bard, a first-round pick of the Red Sox, committed two errors on one play in the fourth that led to two unearned runs and was charged with all three Oregon State runs . . . American League All-Star manager Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox selected Indians manager Eric Wedge and Blue Jays manager John Gibbons as coaches for next month's game . . . The Nationals agreed to terms with outfielder Chris Marrero, their top draft pick (15th overall) . . . Notre Dame coach Paul Mainieri will interview for the coaching vacancy at LSU tomorrow. Mainieri, who played one season at LSU, has compiled a 533-213-3 record in 12 years with the Irish . . . Brandon Marsters's two-out 12th-inning single gave the Ottawa Lynx a 9-8 victory over the Red Sox in a game that lasted 4 hours and 25 minutes in Pawtucket.

Nearly two years after embarrassing the host nation on the eve of the Athens Olympics, Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou admitted they broke doping rules and accepted their bans from competition. The runners dropped their appeals before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The International Association of Athletics Federations said they will be eligible to return Dec. 22 after completing their two-year bans, provided they pass the mandatory drug tests . . . Dwain Chambers's European 100-meter title was erased along with his other results the past 1 1/2 years because of the British sprinter's doping record. Chambers was banned for two years after testing positive for the steroid THG in November 2003. All his personal and team results from January 2002 to August 2003 were annulled by track and field's governing body . . . Goalie Cristobal Huet re-signed with the Canadiens, agreeing to a two-year contract after posting a league-best .929 save percentage . . . University of Portland soccer standout Christine Sinclair beat out LSU basketball star Seimone Augustus and Texas pitcher Cat Osterman to win the Honda-Broderick Cup as the top collegiate female athlete of the year.