Jerry Rice disqualified from Nationwide Tour event

Maybe Jerry Rice should have stuck to football.

The Hall of Fame receiver was disqualified from the Nationwide Tour event yesterday in Mill Spring, N.C., because his caddie used a range-finding scope to check yardages. The disqualification came a day after Rice shot a 92, the highest round ever since the BMW Charity Pro-Am began in 1992.

"A rookie mistake that I made," Rice said with a smile. "So I got DQed."

Rice announced after a second-round 82 that he's done competing on golf's Triple A circuit.

"Because I can't commit to golf the way I want to, this is probably my last Nationwide Tour" event, Rice said. "These guys, they're working their butts off and they deserve to be out here."

The error by his caddie means that Rice won't take part in today's third round, the last before the celebrity event cuts the field for tomorrow's finale.

Rice was in violation of Rule 14.3, which prevents competitors from using a yardage-measuring device. His caddie checked the yardage scope several times during the round at The Carolina Country Club.

Rice was told in the scorer's tent after improving to an 82 at Bright's Creek Golf Club. The BMW Charity Pro-Am is played over three courses in North and South Carolina.

"It's OK," he said. "I had a great time meeting friends and seeing fans."

In other tournaments:

* Rain washed out the second round of the Texas Open, and PGA officials said more bad weather this weekend could push the tournament into Monday. More than 3 inches of rain soaked the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio, where leader Matt Jones and the rest of the field never got on the course. They'll try again today, when Jones will start with a one-stroke lead over Paul Stankowski.

* Joey Sindelar shot a 7-under 65 in the Champions Tour's Regions Charity Classic in Hoover, Ala., and was tied for first after the recordsetting opening round. Bobby Clampett, Russ Cochran and Peter Senior joined Sindelar atop a crowded leaderboard. A total of 34 players were within three shots of the lead and 60 players broke par at the Ross Bridge course. The 77-player field combined for an average score of 69.519, breaking the tournament record of 70.397 set in 2002.