Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — GOLF

Woods: No tension

Tiger Woods will have Steve Williams carrying his golf bag at this week’s AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa., near Philadelphia, two weeks after making critical comments about his caddie at the U.S. Open. After finishing fourth with a final-round 4-over-par 75 at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links, Woods blamed the loss on three mental mistakes he said were influenced by Williams, his caddie for 11 years. The admission of mental mistakes and singling out Williams was a rarity for Woods, the winner of 14 major titles, and led to questions about whether they would remain together. “There’s no tension there, not at all,” Woods said during a news conference Tuesday at Aronimink Golf Club. “You guys are reading way too much into it.” Moments after the final round, Woods said “we made three mental mistakes” and “the only thing it cost us was a chance to win the U.S. Open.” Tuesday, Woods took sole responsibility, saying, “I was asked what happened out there, and I made three mental mistakes out there, three mistakes I don’t normally make. Do Stevie and I make mistakes on the golf course? Of course we do. We’re not perfect. We made mistakes at the wrong time. It happens. We’re great competitors and we both want to win. I just made a couple mistakes, and hopefully that won’t happen this week and we can win an event.”

Defending champion Mike Small shot a course-record 7-under-par 65 Tuesday to take a four stroke lead entering the final round of the PGA Professional National Championships in French Lick, Ind. Small, the Illinois men’s coach, was at 9-under 205. He broke the record of 69 set Monday by Bruce Smith, the PGA director of instruction at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas. Danny Balin, the PGA assistant pro at Burning Tree Country Club in Greenwich, Conn., was second at 5-under 209 after shooting a 68. Small, who won the PGA National in 2005, birdied six of his first 10 holes, needing 10 putts. His only bogey came at No. 17. He came back to birdie No.18. Small is trying to become the second three-time winner. Larry Gilbert of Lexington, Ky., won in 1981, 1982 and 1991. At stake is the $75,000 first-place prize out of the $550,000 purse. The final top 20 will earn spots in the PGA Championship on Aug. 12-15 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

Rickey Barnes and J.B. Holmes made seven consecutive birdies combined on the back nine Tuesday and won the Charity Classic at Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, R.I., with a final 36-hole score of 21-under 121. Barnes and Holmes finished one stroke ahead of Angela Stanford and Brett Quigley in the best-ball format. Holmes birdied holes 11 through 16, which enabled his team to shoot a 13-under 58. Barnes, who has six top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season, was a late entrant when the LPGA Tour’s Paula Creamer withdrew last week because of a thumb injury. Holmes and Barnes split the winner’s share of $300,000 of the total purse of $1,500,000. The 10-team tournament involves PGA, LPGA and Champions tour players.

SOFTBALL

U.S. wins in world play

The United States finished 7-0 in Group B after defeating the Czech Republic 9-0 on Tuesday at the world softball championships in Caracas, Venezuela. Jennie Finch hit an inside-the-park home run, Alissa Haber had a three-run double and Eileen Canney was the winning pitcher with eight strikeouts.

BASKETBALL

Yao coming back

Yao Ming is returning to the Houston Rockets. The 7-6 All-Star center said that he has picked up his player option for next season, the last year of his five-year contract. Yao sat out last season after reconstructive foot surgery and said he wanted to see how the injury healed before making his decision. Yao said he’s resumed basketball activities and should be 100 percent when training camp begins. If he had turned down the player option, Yao would’ve become an unrestricted free agent Thursday. He is due to make $17.7million next season, but wouldn’t reveal how close he came to joining the class of free agents who will hit the market this week. The Rockets selected Yao with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft, and signed him to a five-year extension in September 2005.

HOCKEY

Stars drop Modano

If Mike Modano plays a 21st season in the NHL, it won’t be with the Dallas Stars. He will not be offered a contract by the Stars when free agency opens Thursday. Now the NHL’s highest-scoring U.S.-born player must decide whether to put on something other than a Stars sweater for the first time. “I’m leaning toward playing,” Modano said. “It certainly depends where and what teams are interested.” The 40-year-old Michigan native, the first pick in the 1988 draft when the franchise was still in Minnesota, said the Stars indicated as far back as last season that they didn’t plan on bringing him back. “I’m disappointed andupset about it,” Modano said. “I always wanted to believe there was a chance of something happening here.” Modano has 557 goals and 1,359 points in 1,459 games over 20 full seasons.

TENNIS

Sampras-Agassi set

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are renewing their rivalry at Madison Square Garden in New York on Feb. 28. John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl, too. The four - owners of a combined 37 Grand Slam titles - will participate in the 2011 BNP Paribas Showdown exhibition matches. Sampras-Agassi will be best-of-3 sets. McEnroe-Lendl will be one set of first to eight games. Sampras and Agassi met in three U.S. Open finals in New York, with Sampras winning each time, including his first major title in 1990 and his 14th in 2002 - the last match of his career. McEnroe won the U.S. Open four times, and Lendl three. They met for the title in 1984, with McEnroe winning, and the next year, when Lendl won.

The San Diego Sports Arena has been chosen by the U.S. Tennis Association to host the Fed Cup final between the United States and Italy on Nov. 6-7. Italy beat the United States in the 2009 Fed Cup final in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

ODDS & ENDS

WAC expansion on hold

The Western Athletic Conference does not plan to replace departing Boise State for the 2011-2012 season. Commissioner Karl Benson said that the conference will operate with eight members and won’t add any new schools until July 1, 2012, at the earliest. Boise State has accepted an invitation to join the Mountain West Conference after this season. Benson, who had said he expected to announce the addition of another member or two some time this summer, said the league will take several months to look into various membership options before making any decisions for the 2012-2013 season. The WAC’s remaining members are Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Utah State.