The Associated Press

Tom Lehman wants Americans who are winning on his Ryder Cup team, even if that means him.

Lehman was introduced Wednesday as the U.S. captain for the 2006 matches in Ireland, charged with ending European dominance that soared to a new level this year when the Americans were dealt their worst loss ever.

"The Ryder Cup to me is the ultimate golf experience," Lehman said. "Including my British Open victory, my greatest moment in golf was being part of the Ryder Cup team. To be part of this next team, this is a thrill beyond belief."

Lehman loves the Ryder Cup so much that he wouldn't rule himself out as a player.

Arnold Palmer was the last playing captain in the Ryder Cup, at East Lake in 1963.

PGA TOUR: Vijay Singh offered hope for everyone Wednesday, but only briefly.

He showed up on the range at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club and started hitting a few shots with an iron, then a 3-wood. The swing was as fluid as ever, but the shots were not quite as crisp. A few were weak fades, one of them a sharp hook.

Then again, the clubs came from the bag of left-hander Steve Flesch.

Having the 41-year-old Fijian swing from the opposite side might be the only way to make it a fair fight when the season-ending Tour Championship begins today.

Singh will try to win for the 10th time this year, the most since Sam Snead won 11 times in 1950.

Hockey

DUCKS FALL: Patrick Sharp and Mark Murphy each had a goal and an assist to lead the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 4-2 victory over the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Wednesday at the Wachovia Spectrum.

Jeff Smith and Ryan Ready also scored for the Phantoms, who extended their winning streak to five games.

Michael Holmqvist and Igor Pohanka scored for Cincinnati, which is winless in its last four games against Philadelphia.

The Ducks play the third game of a three-game road trip (1-1-0-0) Friday against Rochester at 7:05 p.m. at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

Cincinnati	1-0-1-2
Philadelphia	1-1-2-4

First period: 1. Cin, Holmqvist 1 (Popovic, Chistov), 2:07 (ppg). 2. Phi,

Sharp 4 (Murphy, Pitkanen), 3:38 (ppg).

Second period: 3. Phi, Smith 1 (Umberger, Pitkanen), 18:14 (ppg).

Third period: 4. Cin, Pohanka 1 (Popovic, Foster), 0:23 (ppg). 5. Phi,

Ready 1 (Murphy), 11:22. 6. Phi, Murphy 3 (Sharp), 18:47.

Shots on goal: Cincinnati 9-3-8-20; Philadelphia 3-16-5-24.

Power play opportunities: Cincinnati 1-for-6; Philadelphia 2-for-5.

Goaltenders: Cincinnati, Cassivi (24 shots, 20 saves; record 1-2-0); Philadelphia,

Niittymaki (20 shots, 18 saves; record 4-2-0). A: 4,527. Records: Cincinnati 5-2-0-0; Philadelphia 5-2-0-0.

Tennis

PARIS MASTERS: Andy Roddick surged into the third round with a 6-2, 6-2 rout of Armenia's Sargis Sargsian on Wednesday in his first match since late September.

The top-seeded Roddick won in 51 minutes and raised his record this year to a tour-leading 71-14. Top-ranked Roger Federer (69-6) is not playing at this indoor event.

"I couldn't ask for much more. I hit the ball pretty well," said Roddick.

ADVANTA: Jennifer Capriati survived a scare from Meghann Shaughnessy, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Advanta Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

The fourth-seeded Capriati took control halfway through the second set, breaking Shaughnessy to go up 4-3 and then winning the next two games.

High schools

BUCKEYE-BOUND: Top prospect B.J. Mullens has orally committed to play basketball at Ohio State, even though he can't take the court until 2008.

Mullens, a 6-foot-10, 220-pound freshman at Harvest Prep, is the first Ohio high school recruit to commit to Ohio State since Thad Matta took over the program.