BRIEFLY PRICE CASHES IN TO LEAD IN SPAIN.

Byline: From Staff and Wire Service Reports

Nick Price fired fearlessly at every flag and counted up 11 birdies at the end of the day. Those were two good signs he was living out some happy memories Thursday in the American Express Championship in Sotogrande, Spain. Two other signs: He had no idea Tiger Woods was eight strokes behind after the first round, nor did he care.

``When I played my best golf, that's what I did very well,'' Price said after his round of 9-under 63 at surprisingly serene Valderrama Golf Club. ``I didn't worry about what anyone else was doing. I just tried to do my very best on each hole, on each shot.''

With only five pars on his card, Price built a three-stroke lead over Padraig Harrington of Ireland in the $5 million World Golf Championships, the final event of the year.

Trying to become the first player in 50 years to win 10 times in one PGA Tour season, Woods made birdie on three of his first four holes and appeared to be rolling along until the par-3 sixth not only halted momentum but offered an omen for the rest of the round. He three-putted from about 6 feet for bogey.

Woods also had a short birdie putt on No. 12 that looped around the hole and came 4 feet back, leading to another three-putt bogey. It's easy to understand what was going through his mind as he stood over a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

Ernie Els, who tied for third in the Tour Championship, aggravated an old back injury lifting luggage Sunday night and couldn't get through nine holes before he had to withdraw.

TENNIS: Sixth-seeded Anna Kournikova, still seeking the first singles title of her career, beat Australian Nicole Prat 6-0, 6-2 in the Advanta Championships in Villanova, Pa.

Kournikova later teamed with Martina Hingis to win their doubles match, defeating Conchita Martinez and Patricia Turbine 6-1, 6-1 in 42 minutes. Kournikova will meet Hingis in today's quarterfinals.

In a late match, Julie Halard-Decugis of France had a surprisingly easy time with Jennifer Capriati, winning 6-4, 6-1.

--Andre Agassi made quick work of Olympic silver medalist Tommy Haas, beating the German 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Lyon Grand Prix.

-- Home favorites Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov advanced to the quarterfinals of the $800,000 St. Petersburg Open by winning in straight sets.

Safin, the No. 1 seed and U.S. Open Champion, made quick work of American Chris Woodruff, winning 6-3, 6-1 in a match that lasted just 53 minutes.

After breezing through the first set easily, Kafelnikov was forced to win a second-set tiebreaker, 7-3, to dispose of Norwegian Christian Ruud 6-1, 7-6.

BASKETBALL: The new Los Angeles Stars of the American Basketball Association will have an open tryout Nov. 18 at the men's gym at UCLA. The tryout will begin at 9 a.m. and will be supervised by coach Paul Westhead and team director of basketball operations Jamaal Wilkes.

--Point guard Charles Brown and forward Andy Osborn have signed national letters of intent to attend Loyola Marymount University.

Brown is a 6-foot-1, 180-pounder who started as a junior on the state Division I championship team at De La Salle High School of Concord. He averaged 11 points and five assists.

Osborn is a 6-9, 215-pounder from Longmont, Colo., High School, where he averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds as a junior last season.

Brown and Osborn are the first signings for new LMU coach Steve Aggers.

SOCCER: Lausanne of Switzerland continued the series of upsets in the European Champions Cup, knocking out Ajax of Amsterdam after a 2-2 tie.

--Rudi Voeller will remain coach of the German national soccer team through the 2002 World Cup. Voeller will give up his job coaching Bayer Leverkusen. Former German national team coach Berti Vogts was hired Thursday as his replacement.