Enquirer staff, wire reports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - J.L. Lewis shot a 10-under 62 for his best start ever on the PGA Tour and a two-shot lead Thursday in the Funai Classic at Disney.

Lewis putted for birdie on every hole and made 11 of them on the Magnolia course to match his career-low round.

Two-time Disney champion John Huston, Mark Hensby and Scott Hend were tied for second with 64s.

Vijay Singh got off to a solid start in his bid to win his fourth straight PGA Tour event. He had a bogey-free 66 to finish in a nine-way tie for fourth.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Tom Kite shot an 8-under 64, one stroke ahead of Dana Quigley for the first-round lead at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Sonoma.

Tennis

MADRID MASTERS: Andre Agassi breezed past fellow American Vince Spadea 6-1, 6-3 Thursday night to reach the quarterfinals in the Madrid Masters.

The second-seeded Agassi broke Spadea three times in the first set, then broke again for a 3-1 lead in the second and held serve the rest of the way.

In the quarterfinals, Agassi will meet Tommy Robredo, who overcame a sore shoulder to defeat Fernando Verdasco 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

SWISSCOM: Former champion Venus Williams was pushed to two tiebreakers over two hours by 16-year-old qualifier Ana Ivanovic of Serbia-Montenegro before reaching the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (11), 7-6 (6) victory Thursday. Williams will meet Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova today.

JUNIORS: The 2004 Junior National Boys and Girls Invitational returns to the Five Seasons Cincinnati and Five Seasons Northern Kentucky starting today.

Participants include four girls ranked in the top 10 nationally, and 15 of the top 100 boys. Both tournaments' fields comprise 64 players.

Boys will play in Kentucky; girls in Cincinnati. Admission is free. The tournament runs through Sunday.

NBA

PACERS: Coach Rick Carlisle said Jermaine O'Neal probably will miss the remaining five preseason games to rest a strained ligament in his left foot.

Indiana opens the season Nov. 3 at Cleveland.

NUGGETS: Carmelo Anthony was cited for marijuana possession while boarding the team plane last week, though the Denver star says the bag was left in his backpack by a friend.

Anthony was charged with possessing less than 1 ounce of marijuana, a petty offense with a maximum $100 fine and no jail time.

Anthony's friend, James Cunningham of St. Louis, has signed an affidavit taking responsibility for leaving the marijuana in the backpack.

The citation against Anthony, 20, could be dismissed today.

Figure skating

SKATE AMERICA: A broken skate kept Michael Weiss from completing a mandatory combination, and he scored only a 64.82 and fell into second place behind Brian Joubert of France, who finished with a 72.10 despite a stumble of his own.

The short program counts as one-third of the total score. The long program, scheduled tonight, accounts for the other two-thirds.

Colleges

CINCINNATI: John Howard, who won team most valuable player honors in the 1967-68 basketball season, and Albert Johnson, who excelled as an option quarterback on the football teams of the early 1970s, have been selected for induction into the University of Cincinnati Athletic Hall of Fame.

They will be enshrined at the Legion of Excellence Gala on Oct. 27 at the Kingsgate Marriott. Reservations may be made by calling (513) 556-4884.