Two days after his Presidents Cup snub, Rory Sabbatini made captain Greg Norman's decision to leave him off the International team look even more peculiar.

Sabbatini ran off seven birdies on renovated Cog Hill for a 5-under-par 66 yesterday, giving him a share of the lead with Steve Marino at the BMW International in Lemont, Ill., and hopes of making it to the FedEx Cup finale.

They had a one-shot lead over Bo Van Pelt and Marc Leishman.

Tiger Woods, a four-time winner at Cog Hill, was among those at 68.

Sabbatini won the Byron Nelson Championship in May and appeared to be in good shape to make the Presidents Cup team until Y.E. Yang's comeback win over Woods at the PGA Championship to bump Sabbatini out of the top 10.

Norman then used his two captain's picks on 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa of Japan, who has won four times in the last calendar year; and Adam Scott, who is in the worst slump of his career and has fallen out of the top 50 in the world ranking.

Right after his low round, Sabbatini took the high road.

"If I'd been playing well over the past couple weeks and didn't get picked, I might have something to complain about," said Sabbatini, who has missed four cuts in his last eight starts and has not finished in the top 30 since winning in Dallas. "But you know what? The situation is such ... I'm here this week. I'm going to focus on this."

BASKETBALL

NBA REFEREES FACE LOCKOUT AS TALKS STALL

NBA referees are prepared to be locked out for the start of the season after negotiations with the league on a new contract broke down this week when David Stern ended the latest bargaining session.

No further talks are scheduled — and when they do resume, it'll be without the commissioner.

Referees spokesman Lamell McMorris accused Stern of acting childish and not negotiating in good faith, so Stern removed himself from the process.

Stern said yesterday he told McMorris that, "In fact if it was going to get personal — which apparently he's decided to make it by calling news media and leveling a series of inaccurate allegations — that I would absent myself from the negotiations, which I have."

"Hopefully we'll make a deal with the referees, or we won't, but it won't be on the basis of personality, it'll be on the basis of economics," Stern added.

The league's contract with its referees expired Sept. 1, and McMorris said the sides have basically agreed on salary issues for a new two-year deal. He said the league wanted to freeze salaries for the first year with a 1 percent increase in year two.

The officials were willing to go along with that, McMorris said, because of the economic difficulties the league is facing, but the NBA was still asking for significant reductions in the referees' budget.

TRACK AND FIELD

IAAF HAS GENDER TEST RESULTS OF TEEN RUNNER

The IAAF has received the results of gender tests on the South African runner who won the women's 800-meter world title last month and is waiting to speak with Caster Semenya before completing its report.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies says he cannot confirm a story in Australia's Sydney Morning Herald newspaper stating that tests show the 18-year-old Semenya has male and female sexual organs.

Davies says he hasn't seen the results of the tests, done in Germany on behalf of track's international governing body.

He says the results must be examined by a group of experts and that the IAAF didn't plan to speak to Semenya for "at least a few weeks."

AND WHAT'S MORE ...

Australia's Michael Wright and four South Koreans each shot a 67 for a share of the lead after yesterday's opening round of the Korea Open at the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club just south of Seoul, South Korea. ... The Memphis Grizzlies announced yesterday they have signed former NBA MVP, 10-time All-Star and 13-year veteran Allen Iverson to a one-year contract. ... Usain Bolt, the reigning world and Olympic champion in the 100 and 200 meters, has pulled out of a meet Sept. 25 in South Korea because of fatigue.