GOLF

WOODS RUNS AMES OUT OF MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP Even by his own extraordinary standards,Tiger Woods produced a special performance in yesterday’s opening round of the Accenture Match Play Championship.Motivated by pre-tournament comments from his opponent that he thought were disrespectful, Woods birdied the first six holes on his way to a 9 and 8 thrashing of hapless Stephen Ames at La Costa. It was the largest margin of victory in the World Golf Championships event, bettering the previous record of 7 and 6. Most of the other top seeds advanced, including Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson. No. 4 Ernie Els was the biggest casualty, beaten by Bernhard Langer, 1 up.

Woods next will face Robert Allenby, a 3 and 2 winner over K.J. Choi. Next up for Mickelson is John Daly, who beat Bart Bryant, 4 and 2. In an early match,Tom Lehman played steady golf to beat Stuart Appleby. Lehman did not drop a shot as he outlasted Appleby, 3 and 2. U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell, the 13th seed, was eliminated on the first extra hole by Geoff Ogilvy.

FOOTBALL

COLTS SIGN WAYNE TO SIX-YEAR EXTENSION Indianapolis Colts’ wide receiver Reggie Wayne agreed to a $39 million, six-year contract yesterday, a move that makes him one of the NFL’s highest-paid receivers and allows the Colts to use their franchise tag on another player if they choose.Wayne caught a team-high 83 passes for 1,055 yards last season and has caught 304 passes for 4,164 yards and 28 touchdowns in five seasons. He topped the 1,000-yard mark in 2004 and 2005, when he established himself as one of Peyton Manning’s top targets.

SOCCER

BARCELONA DOWNS CHELSEA IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Samuel Eto’o scored in the 80th minute and Barcelona rallied for a 2-1 win at Chelsea last night in the second round of the European Champions League. Chelsea went ahead in the 59th minute when Barcelona’s Thiago Motta kneed Frank Lampard’s free kick past his own goalkeeper. But Barcelona tied the score in the 71st minute when Ronaldinho’s free kick flicked off the head of Chelsea captain John Terry and into the goal.Eto’o scored the winner when he outjumped Ricardo Carvahlo for Rafael Marquez’s cross on a counterattack. The second leg of the total-goal series is March 7 at Barcelona.

In other games, Werder Bremen beat visiting Juventus 3-2, Inter-Milan gained a 2-2 tie at Ajax Amsterdam, and Villarreal tied 2-2 at Glasgow Rangers.

On Tuesday, Arsenal won 1-0 at Real Madrid, Lyon won 1-0 at PSV Eindhoven, Benfica beat visiting Liverpool 1-0 and AC Milan tied 1-1 at Bayern Munich.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

REDDICK STRUGGLES, BUT DUKE HOLDS ON TO TOP GEORGIA TECH Shelden Williams had 26 points and 11 rebounds and J.J. Redick overcome a horrid start to score 22 points as no. 1 Duke beat Georgia Tech 73-66 last night. Entering the game with a chance to become the career leading scorer in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Redick missed 15 of his first 17 shots, but he did hit the go-ahead jumper with 8:51 remaining.

In other top 25 action yesterday, no. 6 George Washington beat La Salle 77-65, no. 7 Texas edged Kansas St. 65-64, no. 13 Ohio St. downed Big 10 rival and no. 18 Michigan 79-68, no. 23 Georgetown cruised past Rutgers 66-50, and no. 24 LSU topped Vanderbilt 77-66.

– Associated Press