Woods’ path improves as Mickelson, Furyk lose

Tiger Woods had an easy time advancing Thursday in the Accenture Match Play Championship at Marana, Ariz.

With Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and the other top seeds no longer around, his road to an eighth straight PGA Tour victory looks easier.

Woods was 5-up through six holes and never serious challenged by Tim Clark. The result was a 5-and-4 victory, the shortest match of the second round.

Mickelson’s up-and-down West Coast Swing came to an end with a 3-and-1 loss to Justin Rose.

Chad Campbell pulled off a valiant rally against Furyk, making an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to go overtime, then two-putting from 50 feet for birdie to win in 19 holes.

•Fred Funk birdied five of his first seven holes and finished with an 8-under-par 62, giving him the lead after the first round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, the first PGA Tour event in Mexico.

Cameron Beckman had the day’s best stretch with six birdies in seven holes, and is two shots behind with George McNeill, John Merrick and Boo Weekley.

•Rookie Angela Park shot a 6-under 66 in windy conditions to tie for the early lead in the first round of the Fields Open at Kapolei, Hawaii.

Stacy Prammanasudh also shot 66. Third-place Se Ri Pak fired a 67, and Meaghan Francella survived a triple bogey to tie Kyeong Bae at 68.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., and Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum both opened with 74s.

•Pro golfer Fuzzy Zoeller is suing to track down the author who posted what he considers a defamatory paragraph about him on the Internet reference site Wikipedia.

Tennis

Wimbledon falls in line

Genteel and old-fashioned Wimbledon discarded one of its longest traditions – unequal pay.

The All England Club yielded to 21st century realities, agreeing to pay women the same as men and falling in line with the other Grand Slam tournaments.

Six-time singles champion Billie Jean King, a pioneer for women’s sports, said the decision was “a long time coming.”

The U.S. and Australian opens have paid equal prize money for years. The French Open paid the men’s and women’s champions the same for the first time last year.

Basketball

McKay will get ax

New Mexico men’s basketball coach Ritchie McKay will be fired at the end of the season, the school said.

New Mexico is 15-13 this season and 4-9 in the conference. McKay is 165-154 in an 11-year coaching career that included earlier stops at Portland State, Colorado State and Oregon State.

•The Detroit Shock traded Ruth Riley, the 2003 WNBA Finals MVP, to the San Antonio Silver Stars for 6-foot-8 Katie Feenstra.

Miscellany

Petersen earns boost

The state Board of Education approved Boise State football coach Chris Petersen’s new contract that would escalate his salary to more than $1 million if he guides his team to another perfect campaign like last year, when Boise State went 13-0.

Petersen’s new five-year, $4.25 million deal lags behind coaches at other major colleges, but athletic director Gene Bleymaier called it “a reward for a phenomenal season.”

•Paolo Bettini, the Italian world road champion racing for the first time in the United States, won the fourth stage of the Tour of California at San Luis Obispo, Calif., while Levi Leipheimer maintained the overall lead.

•At Chester, W.Va., former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison (47-3-1) stopped John Castle (4-3-0) in the second round in the 38-year-old’s return to the ring 11 years after a disputed positive test for the virus that causes AIDS.

•U.S. ski star Lindsey Kildow will miss the rest of the World Cup season because of an injury to her right knee.