Sports in Brief: Tiger takes lead in Australia

Tiger Woods walked off the golf course to see his name atop the leaderboard Friday in the Australian Open. Even more pleasing to him was the way he got there.

With control of his shots and comfortable over the putter, Woods put together his best back-to-back rounds of the year with a 5-under 67 that gave him a 1-shot lead going into the weekend at Sydney's The Lakes CC.

He was at 9-under 135, 1 shot clear of Peter O'Malley, the No. 64 seed who in 2002 beat Woods in the opening round of the Match Play Championship at La Costa.

Hall of Famer Juli Inkster shot a 3-under 69 for a share of the second-round lead with Anna Nordqvist in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico. The 51-year-old Inkster is trying to become the oldest winner in LPGA Tour history. Beth Daniel was 46 when she won the 2003 Canadian Women's Open. Nordqvist had a 65 - the best score in the first two rounds in the 36-player event - to match Inkster at 8-under 136.

England's James Morrison shot a 3-under 68 to take a 1-stroke lead during the suspended second round of the Singapore Open. Morrison had a 12-under 130 total.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: In action between two of the lesser teams in the Big East, South Florida manhandled Syracuse, 37-17, in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.

B.J. Daniels ran for 117 yards and a touchdown, and Demetris Murray scored on two short runs as the Bulls gained their first Big East win of the season and snapped a four-game losing streak. The Bulls improved to 5-4, 1-4 Big East, the Orange fell to 5-5, 1-4.

SWIMMING: Michael Phelps won the 200-meter freestyle and 100 butterfly at the Minneapolis Grand Prix on Friday night at the University of Minnesota. Phelps pulled away from an impressive field for the 200, finishing in 1 minute, 46.88 seconds. He completed the 100 butterfly in 52.26.

COLLEGES: Drexel's Amanda Fleischut, a Central Bucks West graduate, was named to the Colonial Athletic Association first team for field hockey, while Christina Conrad and Meghan Plank (West Chester Rustin) made the CAA rookie team. Sofia Sanguinetti was selected for the NFHCA Senior All-Star Game and will play next Saturday at Louisville.

Swarthmore's Emma Sindelar and Alexa Ross were first-team selections in Centennial Conference women's soccer. Micah Rose of Swarthmore was named to the Centennial Conference men's soccer first team.

Penn's Sarah Banks, Erin Beck, and Adrienne Lerner were Ivy League first-team selections in women's soccer.

Eastern's James Le and Jon Crowder earned spots on the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom first team for men's soccer.

SOCCER: France beat the United States, 1-0, in a friendly in Paris, as Loic Remy came off the bench to score the winner, outmuscling defender Clarence Goodson and beating goalkeeper Tim Howard in the 72d minute. The loss dropped the Americans to 1-4-1 since Jurgen Klinsmann replaced Bob Bradley as coach in July.

Los Angeles Galaxy striker Robbie Keane scored twice as Ireland beat Estonia, 4-0, in Tallinn in a European Championship qualification playoff game.

St. John's got goals from Walter Hines and Ido Ligety to beat Villanova in the Big East championship semifinals at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.

Renee Washington scored for La Salle, but the Explorers fell to Maryland, 5-1, in the first round of the NCAA women's Division I tournament, in College Park.

TRACK & FIELD: The International Association of Athletics Federations selected London to stage the 2017 world track and field championships. The IAAF also awarded the Polish city of Sopot the 2014 world indoor track championships, and Eugene, Ore., to host the 2014 world junior championships.

- Staff and wire reports