BRIEFLY : WOODS CAPTURES FIRST-ROUND MATCH.

One down and five to go. Tiger Woods overpowered the Witch Hollow course at Pumpkin Ridge on Wednesday and dismissed J.D. Manning 3 and 2 to win his first-round match in the U.S. Amateur Championship at Cornelius, Ore.

A deadly driver that consistently split fairways 320 yards out made up for a shaky putter early in the match as Woods came back from 1 down after six holes to win the next three holes.

The match ended on the 16th green when Manning missed an 8-foot birdie putt that could have kept it going.

Woods, trying to become the first player to win three consecutive Amateur titles, plays Jerry Courville, 37, a longtime amateur with the kind of experience that could prove troublesome, in today's second round.

Manning, a senior at Colorado State, didn't have that kind of experience, but he did stick with the 20-year-old Stanford student longer than expected.

The key shot was a 40-foot chip-in from the back fringe on No. 8 that put Woods 1 up and rattled Manning enough to lead to a bogey on the next hole.

``That was really the turning point of the match,'' Woods said about the intentionally bladed wedge down the slope from the back fringe.

Instead it hit the stick and dropped in for a birdie.

FOOTBALL

7 Deion Sanders of the Dallas Cowboys was acquitted in Cincinnati of injuring a security guard while leaving Riverfront Stadium on a motor scooter two years ago. The jury in the $1 million personal injury lawsuit said Sanders, then playing with the Cincinnati Reds, did not injure the guard.

Pete Stoyanovich, one of the Miami Dolphins' most popular players and the fourth most accurate kicker in NFL history, was traded to Kansas City for a draft choice.

The Cincinnati Bengals went to the waiver wire and claimed Garrison Hearst from Arizona to back up Ki-Jana Carter, last year's No. 1 pick who has not played in a regular-season game.

Vance Joseph, a starter in six games for the New York Jets last season, was released.

Michael Irvin apparently reneged on a deal to return a $50,000 sport utility vehicle to car dealers who are suing the Dallas Cowboys receiver, the dealers' lawyer said. A 5:30 p.m. deadline for the return of a Toyota Land Cruiser, loaned to Irvin as part of an endorsement contract, passed without word from the football star, according to Larry Friedman, the lawyer who represents the dealers. The North Texas Toyota Dealers Association sued Irvin on Tuesday for damages, contending Irvin violated deceptive-trade laws when he signed an endorsement contract misrepresenting himself as a moral person.

New Mexico State safety James McIntyre has been accused of raping two women and burglary, and has been indefinitely suspended from the Aggies team, officials say.

TENNIS

Six seeds, led by No. 1 Thomas Muster and No. 2 Goran Ivanisevic, tumbled out of the $2 million du Maurier Open in Toronto. Daniel Nestor of Canada rewarded his home fans with the night's big jolt, a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Muster in the second round. Earlier, Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden offset 32 aces by Ivanisevic to eliminate the Croatian 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-4.

Fourth-seeded Kamiko Date beat Japanese compatriot Yone Kamio 6-2, 7-5 in the second round of the $450,000 Toshiba Tennis Classic in Carlsbad.

Pete Sampras as No. 1 at the U.S. Open? No shock there. Michael Chang as No. 2? Big surprise - and the latest slap at Thomas Muster, the ATP Tour rankings, and tradition. After following the men's rankings virtually number for number since they began in 1973, the U.S. Open pulled a switch and bumped up No. 3 Chang ahead of No. 2 Muster for the year's final Grand Slam event starting Monday.

Unseeded Michael Joyce beat No. 3 Richey Reneberg 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Hamlet Cup tournament in Commack, N.Y.

BASKETBALL

Donminic Ellison, who plans to transfer from Washington State to New Mexico State, is facing charges of marijuana possession and obstruction of justice in the state of Washington. The three-year starter at Washington State also is charged with driving with a suspended license, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

The Phoenix Suns, with a glut of guards following the Charles Barkley trade, will send Elliot Perry to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

CAPTION(S):

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PHOTO TIGER WOODS

He rallied from 1 down after six holes to win the next three holes in the U.S. Amateur Championship.