Area Sports

Signings featured starting Thursday

High school coaches who have athletes who are signing letters of intent in the early signing period that begins today are encouraged to notify The Augusta Chronicle .

Please provide the athlete's name, sport and college choice, and e-mail the information and a photo to matt.middleton@augustachronicle.com.

The Chronicle will provide coverage of the signings beginning Thursday.

- Joe Ehrmann , named one of the most influential sports educators in America by the Institute for International Sport, will talk about his experiences as an athlete, coach and father at Westminster School on Nov. 18.

The former Syracuse football All-American and NFL veteran of 13 years will speak at 7 p.m. in the school's gym.

Q-School's second stage starts today

Six players with area ties begin the second stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament today at various sites. All tournaments are 72 holes.

Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner are at Callaway Gardens' Mountview Course in Pine Mountain, Ga.; Dane Burkhart and Major Manning are at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Fla; Richard Johnson is at Deerwood Golf Club in Kingwood, Texas; and Alex Hamilton is at Hombre Golf Club in Panama City, Fla.

- The final adaptive golf clinic of 2008 will be held at First Tee of Augusta from 10 a.m.-noon on Thursday.

A rules and etiquette course will also be presented.

For more information or to register, call Vicki Greene at (706) 823-8584.

NASCAR chairman unhappy with bump

Jimmie Johnson 's dominance might have taken some of the sizzle out of the Sprint Cup Chase for the championship, but that doesn't mean NASCAR chairman Brian France thinks Johnson's last major steps toward a third consecutive points title had to be relegated to cable TV.

France said Tuesday he wasn't pleased with ABC's decision to bump the final laps of last weekend's race in Phoenix to ABC-owned ESPN2 so the network could air an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos .

"We didn't like it, that was not what we had anticipated but we have talked to them repeatedly in the last couple days," France said. "There were lots of circumstances that we have to consider. They have their own issues they had to manage around. Unfortunately we got the short end of that."

Nadal replacement in Davis Cup named

Marcel Granollers will replace the injured Rafael Nadal (sore knee) when Spain plays Argentina in the Davis Cup final, scheduled for Nov. 21-23.

- In Shanghai, China, Novak Djokovic rallied past Nikolay Davydenko, 7-6 (3), 0-6, 7-5, to reach the semifinals of the season- ending Masters Cup.

In the day's other round-robin match, Juan Martin del Potro defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).

Danish pro claims World Series event

In Las Vegas, a 22-year-old Danish poker professional won the World Series of Poker, turning a wheel straight on the last hand to become the youngest champion in the history of the no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event.

Peter Eastgate hit an ace-to-five straight on the turn and instantly called an all-in bet from Ivan Demidov on the river to win the title and $9,152,416. Demidov held two pair, twos and fours.

Donovan earns fifth player of year honor

Landon Donovan was voted U.S. player of the year for a record fifth time.

He also won the Honda Award in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2007.