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Show Monday. April 1. 194 Prat, I Uh THE DAILY HERALD, Pafc BJ elaiBinis1 CypOes IPC hardware By JEFF BABINEAU The Orlando Sentinei 497-yar- d PONTE VEDRA BEACH. Fla Tommy Tolles. w ho shared the lead at Trie Players Championship through 68 of its 72 holes, stood on the 4th green Sunday and couldn't believe the voracious roar that reverberated through the trees It had armed from up ahead, near the 16th green at the TPC at Saw grass, and Tolles had but one theory on just what could possibly have produced such hearty noise: "I thought 20.000 people had just won the lottery." he said Afterward, he wished that were the case. Instead. Fred Couples was back to his old tricks, taking charge on the back nine of a big tournament on Sunday, making all the big shots and stealing the show. A eagle at the 6th hole (remember the roar1) was the clinching blow that seized the lead, and a birdie at 17 served as his encore as Coupies fired 64 to win golfs richest event (S3.5 million) by four shots. It was Couples' first triumph in 1 ( Si 4 if' ti 1 25-fo- I h CI, ' fm, '' ... the L nited States since he won the Buick Open in the summer of 1994. and it paid S630.0OO. But it's not the money and championship cry stal that Couples chases - he has plenty of both. In his 16th season on tour, it is the thnll of victory he seeks. Having been derailed by a bad back for more than two years, he had begun to question if he ever would sense it - -- i V ' AP PtKJto seven-fopar putt to capture the Dinah Shore Golf Tournament championship Sun- - Hall of Fame golfer Patty Sheehan races to embrace her caddy. Cart Laib, after sinking a ot day in Rancho Mirage. Calif. She won by a single stroke. again. In fact, considering his uphill battle. Couples. 36. declared Sunday's victory as the finest of his career, more significant than his 1992 Masters tnumph "I really think I'm back," said Couples, who finished at 270. beating Tolles and Colin Montgomerie by four shots "I'm slowly pan ing to myself that if I feel sood. I can beat every- Sheehan's Dinah Shore victory iresylis in cartwheel, dip m lake By KEN PETERS AP Sports Writer RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. At 39. LPGA Hall of Famer Patty Sheehan was a youngster again Sunday afternoon, racing across the 18th green, leaping high in the air. then reeling off a perfectly executed cartwheel. Moments later, she took the traditional Nabisco Dinah Shore champion's plunge into the lake surrounding the green. Almost two decades after she saw the tournament for the first time. Sheehan. her hair mostly gray now. rolled in a pressure-packe- d putt for par to win the Dinah Shore. Although her 34 career wins included fie titles in major championships, the Dinah Shore was not among them. "This was the tournament that introduced me to women's golf." said Sheehan. who finished one shot in front of Annika Sorenstam. Meg Mallon and Kelly Robbins. "I watched it (on TV) in junior high school and high school, then I came here when I was in college. This more than any other was the most isible tournament, the most prestigious I just hoped one day I'd play here." Sheehan shot a closing 71 to go to at Mission Hills Country Club, cap- ping her round with the dramatic playoff putt to avoid a four-wa- y as Sorenstam. Mallon and Rob-bin- s, who had already finished, looked on. and Robbins Sorenstam bogey ed No. ot Jeff GorBRISTOL. Tenn. don continued his NASCAR tear Sunday, dm ing a Chevrolet to vicFood City tory in a 500 at Bristol Raceway. The wm was the third in the past four races for Gordon. Gordon finished third in the other event during the hot streak in rallying from the worst start by a Winston Cup champion. Gordon, the 1995 title winner, placed 42nd and 40th in the first two races, leav ing him 43rd in the point standings. Sunday's victory in a race cut or 266.5 from 500 laps to 342 moved Gormiles to 182.286 don from ninth place in the standings to sixth. 133 points behind leader Dale Jarrett. Terry Labontc gave team owner Rick Hendrick a sweep of the top two positions in taking the runner-up spot. Finishing third through sixth on Kyle game was an audition for the 23 NBA scouts in the stands at the Civic Arena, but who could believe them after the East's 120-10- 5 v ictory over the West ? After all. there were 31 dunks most of them the show y. m variety. And among shots tried, from well hoisted were many beyond the NBA's trey line. The rule of thumb seemed to be this: style rules So when a simple lay up w imld tlo, somebody w as nt ar p Ford The showing by Jarrett, who wrecked his primary car in qualifying Friday, enabled hint to stay 37 points ahead of Earnhardt in the title chase. The start of the season's sixth Winston Cup race was delayed 42 minutes by rain. A shower forced a halt in the action on Lip 324 and there was an delay at Lap 336 to clean up a gasoline spill from Darrell Wal-irip- 's wrecked Chevy. The race never went under the green flag again after the Waltrip accident because heavier weather moved in and forced another red flag on Lap 342 at 4:38 p.m. Officials surrendered to the rain at 5:45 p.m. Under NASCAR rules, a race is considered official upon reaching the halfway point. There was I hour. 59 minutes. going to bring instead. Several PITTSBURGH feci like didn't said they players yesterday's McDonald's three-poi- 37-c- "It's an the lunise down r game," said Kobe Bry ant of Lower Merion. Pa. "It's supposed to be like that." This game was as Fan tastic as the NBA's version if you believe the oohs and aahs of the 3.400 in attendance. But fans' cheers got when the pace got all-sta- 1 half-hearte- d ragged late and breaks multiplied in a game in w hich defense w as as common as the old lime set shot "At these games, you run," said Brooklyn's Eddie Cota. who played the seastvn for St. Thomas More of Connecticut. "We're here to have fun." Oddly, it wasn't a dunkmeistcr three-on-non- e two-putt- ." two-pu- tt tt bounced perilously near the water alongsiJe the fairway. Her second shot flew across the fairway and into a sand trap, about 120 yards from the island green. out of the Sheehan's sand went left, onto the green, but about 120 feet from the pin. She lagged up close enough on 1 week." Robbins shot her way into contention with a 68. but had a costlv douhle-hoiie- v Tom SAN ANTONIO (AP) Weiskopf took nine holes to break away faun a pack of contenders Sunday for his on No. 15. third Cofly 1 ry Winston Cup race at Bristol since the track opened in 1961. "We were where w c needed to be w ith the car at its best. It was much better than we anticipated. Ray Evetnham (Gordon's crew chief) made some great calls in making adjustments on the car this morning. d "It's amaing how things have turned around for us. Cray really. I guess the slow start to the season lit a fire under us and it's really burning now." Gordon chuckled. "It was strange being in Victory Lane anJ seeing no one in the grandstands," said Gordon. "It's not as exciting and not the way we want to do it." There was some confusion PGA 500 about the positions of Gordon and Labontc after all the leaders pitted near what would prove to be the conclusion of the race. Lahonte beat the red flag on Lap 324 to pit and get four tires and fuel. Gordon and the others on the lead lap came in on Lap 325 when the event went back under caution and it appeared the lead would go to Lahonte. However, officials ruled Gordon got back on the track in front of his teammate and that's where Gordon stayed. "I don't know what happened." s.ud Gordon "I thought Tern might be in front of me. but N ASCAR said no and I'm mt going to argue with them" Said Lahonte: "I don't understand the whole thing, so I guess I don't have any understanding. We outsmarted them and should have come out leading the race. That's the bottom line." The teams have next weekend off for Faster, then go ;o North Wilkeshoro Speedway for the First I'nion 400 on April 14. ho w as MVP. The l ast's Shaheen Hollow ay. of St. Patrick's in Elizabeth. N.J.. took the award as if he were poking the ball away from a West guard. Hollow ay. who joined Metro area players Cota. Holy Cans' Willie IVrsch. Long Island Lutheran's Vassil F.vtmiov and Paterson (N.J.) Catholic's Tim Thomas in the game, had seven points, eight assists and six steals. "I tried to get everyone involved." Hollow ay said. "I knew we had a lot of great plav-ers- ." Then were at least four who rave reportedly considered that hardship leap to the NBA. a la the Timherwolves' Kev in Gameit. the McDonald's MVP last year They are. the Thomas, Bryant, a 6 Jermaine swtneman; O'Neal U .au Claire. S C ; and Lester Farl of Glen Oaks. La 6-- 0 1 6-- 9 "It's ridiculous." said Billy Knight, the Indiana Pacers' vice president of basketball operations. "I wish the NBA vumld pass a rule that you can't lum pai until you go to college. None of the players here are ready." And yet. Knight said. "I've got to have an opinion on them. You're drafting potential " After the game, both Bryant and Thomas, the two who are men-tione- d most, said they would mull the possibilities. "I'm definitely thinking about it." Bryant said. Thomas gave scouts something Senior v ictory . w uh Tied others three heading into the final round of the $650,000 SBC Dominion Seniors. Weiskopf jump- started his amnd Tom Weuskopf -- the pond. "I thought it was in the water for sure." Couples said. "It was a huge break. It wasn't a bad shot -it just turned out lucky ." The putt seemed almost academic, crashing to the bottom of the cup for an eagle-3- . Couples wasn't done He then knocked a to the middle of the island green at the par-7th and rolled in a 30-fo- ot 1 3 putt for birdie to get to 18 under. Again. Tolles heard the roar, this time standing in the 15th-fair-wa- "Funny enough, those same 20.000 people won the lottery for a second time." he said Within seconds. Tolles bogey ed 15th hole after pulling a par-- 4 left of the green, and Montgomerie. trying to duplicate the the heroics 16th-hol- e of Couples, found the water with his second shot, also making bogey. Both dropped to 15 under; suddenly. Couples' lead had swelled to three. "I had to go for the shot." said Monteomerie. who closed with 68 for a 274 total, winning $308,000. "You don't get many opportunities in these types of tournaments. I look it on and I got wet. unfortunately. It was "tournament over,' I'm afraid." Couples became the first player to win twice at TPC at Saw grass: The first title w as in 1984, w heti he was 24 and it "just kind of happened." In his picture amid the wall of champions. Couples, and clad in red polyester, laughingly said he appears to be "10 years old." "Now I look like I'm 70," he joked. "But I think I'm a much better player today. In fact. I don't even think there is a comparison." Heed the notice. PGA Tour: Fred's back. Weiskopf. who began the day at parted the opening eight contiest Coaching logond missos tilt w dence. Nothing was happening until I birdied the ninth hole. It just seems like that was tin. turning point. I hit the ball solid on the back nine." So solid, in fact, that he really wasn't challenged in collecting $97,500 to increase his 96 earnings to $149,738. tinning into the top 25 on the monev list from No. 36 I c -- Two-tim- 1 1 1 -- all-st- ar to ponder when he took an a ley oop pass from Hollow ay and slammed after the opening tip. The score was tied at half, but a run midway ihamgh the second half gave the East some breathing axm. Then the only thing East fans were left to wonder w as whether or not Evtimov would foul out. He picked up his fifth with 10:00 left. "I knew they were giving us six," he said. "At halftime, our coach said to us, 'How can you be playing hard if you don't have any fouls?' So I decided to play harder defense." fcuimov had a game-hig- h II boards plus 14 points. And he didn't foul out 12-- 2 holes and birdied the par-- 5 No. 9 to stand at 545-yar- d On hole. that and then Weiskopf hit a made a 3 12-foputt for the birdie On the back nine. Weiskopf had three birdies and a bogey. He panvd the final three holes. Gary Player. Bob Dickson and Graham Marsh were at 209. Dickson. Marsh. 1989 champion Larry Mowry (who finished at 217) shared the lead with Weiskopf entering Sunday. Player, the winner of 18 senior titles, closed with a 68. "It's been a very good year for me." he said. "(Saturday) is when I blew it. I finished with three Un' last five holes. I hit bogeys it well today, but yesterday's finish (2 over) reallv hurt." In fifth place was Tom Shaw at 211. Chi Chi Rodriguez, the 1987 champion, tied for ninth with two others at 213. e champion Lee Trevi-n- o was tied with 1992) (1991. three others at 2 6. Jim Albus. who captured the tournament in 1994 and 1995. was bidding to become only the fourth senior player to win the same tournament three consecutive years. Albus, who has an ailing shoulder, finished at over 227. uh a birdie on the ninth hole. He went on to shoot a fQ to win by two strokes. Weiskopf. 53. finished with a 207 for his third total of the PGA Tour on Senior victory "I was patient today," he said "I felt I was swinging with confi- All - American w 5 Weiskopf eases to win in Dominion Seniors t. 47 seconds of racing compared to 2 hours. 40 minutes of delay v Gordon led I4S laps, including the final 4S. for his 2th career v and second straight in the spring at Bristol. He averaged 91.308 mph and earned $83,765. "I hated to see the rain end it." Gordon said after the second weather-shortene- He did exactly that on Sunday, finishing atop a field that featured 45 of the top 50 players in the Sony Ranking The tournament took a quick tw ist in the middle of the back nine, when Tolles and Montgomerie shared the lead at 6 under. Couples stood in the 16th fairwav. one shot back. ' have to do that. That was the of my career." biggest two-puSheehan added she was confident over her final pun. telling herself. "You've done this thousands of times, go ahead and do it again I knew when I hit it that it was on line and was going in." Said Robbins "What an aweIf anybody's some two-putgoing to do it. Patty s going to do it. She played really well this 1 Fd body." "It was a monster she said. "To look at it and say I have to it to win the Dinah Shore. I never dreamed I'd putt. She pulled her dm e on No. 8 into the left rough and the ball rules m McDonald's By ANTHONY McCARRON New York Daily News the 40 the lead bp were Mark Martin. Ford: Dale Earnhardt. Chevy: Rusty Wallace. Ford; and Jarrett. who rallied from starting at the field in a back-urear of the ry. 1 ordon 'rains' in By TOM HIGGINS The Charlotte (NC.) Observer her first putt to give herself a chance for the par and the victo- and Mallon 18 missed a birdie putt. Sheehan. in the last group, needed a finishpar on the par-5- . 526-yar- d ing hole. She got it. but it wasn't easy. After consecutive bogeys on the 13th and 14th holes dropped her out of the lead. Sheehan hit her tee shot on the par-- 3 No. 7 within two feet sank the birdie Couples had 220 yards to the 16th. par-green at the tow ard and he tried to fade a the flagstick. But the shot started nght of where he intended, and Couples thought the ball was going to die in the pond that fronts the green Instead, the ball hit on land and kicked left, onto the apron of the green - nt nght into -- LOS ANGELES (AP) John Wooden was unable to attend his first McDonald's high school basketball game in 20 years Sunday because of an ',' injured shoulder. The coaching great tore the rotator cuff in his ftht shoulder in a hotel room fall CkJ weeks ago. "I nobble aantnd but I'm OK." he said famt his suburban Los Angeles home. "The shoulder is coming along real well." But the man who coached I'CLA to 10 NCAA championships did not feel up to traveling to Pittsburgh, where the East beat the West 120-10- 5. ; j i |