Sports briefs 6/15/05

Football

• The Chicago Bears on Tuesday waived quarterback Craig Krenzel, who was the team's first quarterback in nearly 40 years to start his career with three straight victories.

Krenzel, 23, who was a fifth-round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, appeared in six games last year, starting five, and compiled a 3-2 record. On Oct. 31, he led the Bears to a 23-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers, and followed that effort by helping to guide the Bears to consecutive victories over the New York Giants and the Tennessee Titans.

He injured his ankle against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day and his season ended when he was placed on the injured reserve Dec. 7. Overall last year, Krenzel completed 59 of 127 passes for 718 yards. He threw three touchdowns and six interceptions.

He was a two-year starter at Ohio State, leading the Buckeyes to a 14-0 record and the national championship in 2002.

Golf

* Michelle Wie became the first female player to qualify for an adult male U.S. Golf Association championship Tuesday, tying for first place in a 36-hole U.S. Amateur Public Links sectional qualifying tournament.

The 15-year-old star from Hawaii, second Sunday in the LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock in Maryland, matched Artie Fink Jr. of Altoona at 3-over 145 on the Cedarbrook Golf Course. Wie, trying to earn a spot in the 2006 Masters, opened with an even-par 71 and shot a 74 in the rain-delayed second round.

Wie and Fink earned the only two spots available in the 85-player qualifier for the July 11-16 tournament at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio. The Public Links winner has traditionally received a spot in the Masters.

Wie was the only female player in the field.

Tennis

* Former Wimbledon champion Andre Agassi withdrew from Wimbledon on Tuesday because of an unspecified injury.

The 1992 singles champion said in a fax that he would not play in this year's tournament at the All England Club, organizers said.

Although Agassi didn't say why he was pulling out of Wimbledon, it was an inflamed sciatic nerve that rendered him helpless in the middle of his 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-0 first-round loss to qualifier Jarkko Nieminen at the French Open last month.

The sixth-ranked American pulled out of last year's Wimbledon because of an ailing hip. Agassi has won eight Grand Slam titles, including one of each of the four majors. His last Grand Slam title came at the Australian Open in 2003.