Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — GOLF Three share lead

Rory McIlroy moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 5-under-par 67 Friday in the second round of the Dubai (United Arab Emirates) World Championship. The top-ranked golfer, who missed several makeable putts on the front nine and then saw an eagle putt roll past the hole on 14, tied Luke Donald (68) and Marc Warren (67) at 11-under 133. “I continued driving the ball well today and gave myself plenty of opportunities,” said McIlroy, who has already won the European and PGA tour money titles. “Missed a couple of short ones on the front nine for birdies. But apart from that, it was a very solid round of golf and obviously in good position going into the weekend.” Sergio Garcia, playing for the first time since having laser eye surgery, matched the course record with an 8-under 64. Garcia started with four birdies on his first five holes and then had a string of birdies at the turn before holing a long putt for eagle on 14. But he shot into the water on 16 for a triple bogey before recovering to finish with a birdie and eagle.

BASEBALL Former NY Giant dies

The last player to hit a home run for the New York Giants before they moved has died. A funeral home says former Major League Baseball player Gail Harris died at his Gainesville, Va., home Nov. 14. He was 81. The final home run before the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1957 came against Pittsburgh. Harris played for the Giants and the Detroit Tigers between 1955 and 1960. Following his career as a first baseman he worked in insurance sales. Harris was originally from Abingdon, Va.

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese is OK after crashing his sport utility vehicle while trying to avoid a deer. The accident happened Thursday afternoon in the St. Louis suburb of Wildwood. The 29-year-old MVP of the 2011 World Series crashed his black 2011 Range Rover into a tree but missed the deer. Freese refused medical attention and his SUV was towed from the scene. Investigators say alcohol was not a factor in the accident.

HORSE RACING Shackleford wins

Shackleford, the 2011 Preakness winner, ended his career with a victory Friday in the 138th running of the Grade I Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Ridden by Jesus Castanon, Shackleford broke sharply and led throughout to beat Take Charge Indy by a length, running 11/8 miles in 1:49.12. Sent off as the second choice in the field of nine, Shackleford paid $7.80, $4.80 and $3.40. Take Charge Indy, with Calvin Borel aboard, returned $6.80 and $4.40, and Bourbon Courage paid $4 to show. The $266,054 winner’s share pushed Shackleford’s career earnings to $3,090,101. It was the third Grade I victory in 20 career starts for the Dale Romans trainee. A troubled seventh in his last start, the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita, Shackleford will now stand stud at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington.

The procedures for administering an anti-bleeding medication to thoroughbreds on race day are changing after at least four errors since new rules were implemented about five weeks ago. The Courier-Journal in Lexington, Ky., reports the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is requiring veterinarians to verify a horse hasn’t been given medication before injecting them and that a team of vets be dedicated solely to giving shots while others check the overall condition of horses. Since Gov. Steve Beshear ordered that only state vets be allowed to administer the drug furosemide, more commonly known as Lasix, one horse that wasn’t supposed to get the shotdid, one that should have gotten the shot didn’t, and two horses got two injections, resulting in them being scratched from their races. Racing commission Executive Director John Ward said each mistake has led to changes in procedures and two commission members are reviewing processes to see if any other different methods are warranted.

Nefertini dug in to hold off Willet by a neck in the $196,000 Go For Wand Handicap for fillies and mares Friday at Aqueduct in New York. The 4-year-old, trained by Alan Goldberg and ridden by Alan Garcia, raced to her fifth win in 10 career starts. Nefertini closely tracked Fantasy of Flight, the pace setting 3-5 favorite, before taking charge at the top of the lane. Willet ranged up to challenge in midstretch, but could not overtake the game winner. The time was 1:35.80 for the mile on the fast track. Nefertini paid $20, $5.30 and $6.90. Willet returned $3.40 and $4.50, and Hard Life paid $7.90 to show. One race earlier, jockeyIrad Ortiz Jr. sustained a bruised lower back but no fractures in a spill. He was hospitalized overnight for observation and will be off his mounts over the weekend. Ortiz has won 122 races this year, including the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Handsome Mike. Ortiz was unseated by Irish Lion, who ran on with the field and was apparently uninjured.

FOOTBALL

NFL to examine replay rule

The rule that negated using video replay to overturn a Houston Texans touchdown “may be too harsh” and will be re-examined immediately, NFL director of football operations Ray Anderson said Friday. Anderson, also co-chairman of the competition committee that suggests rules changes to the owners, said a change could come this year. The NFL traditionally resists changing rules during a season. Anderson added the NFL is not bound by past events when a rule is proved to have loopholes, and that a 15-yard penalty for throwing the challenge flag on a play that is automatically reviewed might be enough. For now, throwing the challenge flag also eliminates the use of replay. All scoring plays otherwise are reviewed.

HOCKEY NHL cancels more games, All-Star Weekend

More than a third of the NHL regular season and two of its marquee events have now been called off.

The league announced its latest round of cancellations Friday - Day 69 of its labor lockout. All games through Dec. 14 were wiped out, and this time All-Star Weekend, scheduled for Jan. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio, was lost, too. The New Year’s Day outdoor Winter Classic already was scratched.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said losing the All-Star festivities is “extremely disappointing.”

“We feel badly for NHL fans and particularly those in Columbus, and we intend to work closely with the Blue Jackets organization to return the NHL All-Star events to Columbus and their fans as quickly as possible,” Daly said in a statement Friday.

The Blue Jackets said fans holding tickets to the game, the skills competition and other events during that weekend could receive refunds.

“We knew the All-Star Game, the longer it went, was probably going to be one of the first special events they canceled,” said Brian Jack, 35, a season-ticket holder for all of the Blue Jackets’ 12 seasons.

A lockout in the 1994-95 season shortened that campaign to 48 games. A similar scenario could play out this time if the sides can find some common ground. Or the whole season could be lost, as it was in 2004-05.

The latest cancellations come as little surprise. Owners and players had a negotiating session Wednesday that produced no movement to break an impasse over splitting more than $3 billion in revenue and player contracts.

“All players felt that this week would lead to something,” Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “However, as of today unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s very disappointing.”

Daly said he spoke to union officials Friday, advising them about the cancellations, but at this point no face-to-face talks are scheduled. The possibility exists that Daly will speak to union special counsel Steve Fehr by telephone this weekend, but even that isn’t certain.