GOLF

MICHELLE WIE TO RETURN TO PGA TOUR EVENT

Michelle Wie accepted a spon sor’s exemption yesterday to play in the John Deere Classic for the third straight year, continuing her effort to make the cut in a men’s event. Wie, who is to graduate from high school next week, has not made the cut in six starts on the PGA Tour. A year ago at the John Deere Classic she opened with a 77 and withdrew in the middle of the second round with heat exhaustion. The John Deere Classic will be played July 12-15 at TPC Deere Run. “She is a wonderful talent who attracts a tremendous amount of interest among traditional and nontraditional golf fans, which helps broaden the game’s appeal especially among young people,” tournament director Clair Peter son said.

BASEBALL

CLEMENS SET TO MAKE SECOND MINOR LEAGUE START

Roger Clemens could be one pro ductive outing from his return to the Yankees. Clemens is set to make the sec ond minor league start of his latest comeback tonight, and his next game after that might be for the Yankees in Toronto early next week. The Rocket is scheduled to pitch Wednesday for Double-A Trenton against Portland, a Boston Red Sox affiliate in the Eastern League. If all goes well, he could jump right to the majors from there and slot into New York’s rotation Monday or Tuesday against the Blue Jays — one of his former teams.

Or, the 44-year-old Clemens might choose to make another minor league start, perhaps for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, before returning to the big leagues June 2 or 3 at Boston, his original club.

PAVANO AWAITING YANKEES’ PERMISSION FOR SURGERY

All that remains between Carl Pavano and reconstructive elbow surgery is permission from the Yankees.

The pitcher is awaiting word from the team on whether he can go ahead with an operation that would sideline him for most if not all of what remains on his $39.95 million, four-year contract.

Pavano believes surgery is the only way to repair his elbow, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has been awaiting written diagnoses from the three specialists who looked at the 31-year-old right-hander’s arm.

“We’ve received all the written reports from all the doctors that examined Carl over the several weeks,” Pavano’s agent, Gregg Clifton, said yesterday. “I’ll be reaching out to Brian tomorrow in an effort to get all of us moving in the same direction with regard to Carl and the proper steps for his recovery.”