The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 15

A rsvnsno OBITUARIES 7 CHILDREN'S EXPRESS 10 CLASSIFIED ADS Pages 8, 9 4. MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1995 The Indianapolis Star Crenshaw displays Masters stroke Fate may have dictated victory, but two late birdies helped him win a second green jacket. The Masters At Augusta, Ga. (6,905 yards, par 72) Final standings Ben Crenshaw 68274 Davis Love III .....66275 Greg Norman 68277 Jay Haas 70277 David Frost 71279 Steve Elkington 72279 Phil Mickelson 73280 Scott Hoch 73280 Curtis Strange 73281 Fred Couples 75282 Brian Henninger 76282 Masters in the past eight years. The other was Fred Couples, in 1992.

Love had the day's low round 66 to earn $237,600 and his first top-10 finish in a major championship. Greg Norman shot 68 and Jay Haas 70 to share third at 11 under. David Frost (71) and Steve Elkington (72) tied for fifth, another stroke back. "In the end, Augusta National has a way of sifting out who it wants to sift out," said Norman. "There's always a dramatic finish, some way, somehow.

Ben did that by birdieing 16 and 17. That is very, very special." Indeed. Playing with Norman five groups ahead of Crenshaw, who was in the final twosome, Love led briefly after birdies at Nos. 14 and 15. He 3-putted 16 for bogey but hit sand wedge to with- See MASTERS Page 2 "I believe in fate.

Fate dictated another championship here, as it does so many times," said Crenshaw, who also won the green jacket in 1984. "I don't know when I grew such confidence over a few practice days. I don't think I've ever had a quicker transformation, but 1 played my heart out. "I had a 15th club in my bag in Harvey." Harvey Penick, 90. passed away last Sunday evening.

Penick was a golf instructor and author of great renown who served as head professional at Austin Country Club for a half-century and as University of Texas coach nearly half that time. Crenshaw took his first lesson from Penick at age 6. his last only a couple of weeks ago. Love's father, Davis Love also was a WHAT A BIG RELIEF: A thankful Ben Crenshaw falls into the arms of caddie Carl Jackson after; winning the Masters at Au- A. i i i A -I Pkcere lliil j'fetJv! i susta Natior iGolfClub.

I National Associated Press take i out of tmg By Phil Richards STAR STAFF WRITER -Augusta, Ga. Ben Crenshaw flew to Austin, Texas, Wednesday to serve as a pallbearer at the funeral of his mentor and dearest friend. Sunday evening, back at Augusta National Golf Club, he buried Davis Love with birdies at the and 71st holes. Crenshaw's late birdies produced a 4-under-par 68 and won the 59th Masters by a stroke over Love. Crenshaw shot 70-67-69-68 for a 14-under-par 274 total that despite a 72nd-hole bogey came within three strokes of the tournament record held by Jack Nick-laus and Raymond Floyd.

Crenshaw earned $396,000 but this was not about money. Indians throttle Redbirds By Don Bates STAR STAFF WRITER Louisville, Ky. On a sunny Sunday afternoon at Cardinal Stadium, the slumbering Indianapolis Indians' offense finally woke up and in a real bad mood. After mustering only one run in the previous 18 innings, the Tribe scored 11 runs In the final four innings en route to a 12-2 victory over the Louisville Redbirds. The win evened the Tribe's record at 2-2.

"It was the best we could do after losing two of the first three," said Tribe manager Marc Bom- Indians 12 Louisville 2 Next game: at Iowa, 7:15 p.m. today; WNDE-1260 AM, FM. bard. "Considering the hitting problems we were having In the last two games, I'm glad to get out of here with a split we finally found some offense." And a lot of It. Tribe batters had a 12-hit picnic.

Right fielder Jerry Brooks struck the biggest blow, a three-run, 400-foot homer that moved the Tribe on top 8-2 in the seventh. "I think it was a fastball the Hornets i 1 Indiana sets 2 club records for defense in 97-68 humiliation of Charlotte. By Dan Dunkin STAR STAFF WRITER Larry Brown has said all along that his decibel level can't set the tone. Ultimately, his players must set the standards. With uneven effort having come to a head in Friday's players-only meeting, the Indiana Pacers went out Sunday in their biggest game yet and set two NBA franchise records for defense.

The Pacers humiliated the Charlotte Hornets, their closest challenger in the Central Division. 97-68 in MSA. The Hornets' output broke the lowest by a Pacer NBA opponent (71 by Boston In November 1993) and tied Charlotte's record for futility. Charlotte's 22 field goals also marked a Pacer opponent low. Shooting a season-low .338 from the field, the Hornets just avoided the worst offensive NBA outing of the season with six points in the final minute.

Even by the Pacers' coach's lofty defensive standards, this performance was the summit in his 23 years of coaching. "I told the team this is the best defensive game I can ever remember being a part of," Brown said. "When they see the kind of standard they set with this kind of effort, they ought to be proud. I know I am. I'd like to make a highlight tape and show people highly regarded teacher.

He died in a 1990 plane crash. Davis Jr. played for Penick at Texas and patterned not only his instruction but the manner in which he related to students after his old coach. Crenshaw became only the second American player to win the engine problems, but managed to qualify fourth fastest Saturday. He muscled past de Ferran on Lap 4, smoked Paul Tracy for second on Lap 16 and squeezed around Andretti and into the lead on Lap 30.

Other than two laps on his final pit stop. Junior never surrendered the top spot. "We were klnda behind the 8 ball at the beginning of the season and everybody's gotten stronger," said Unser, who captured eight of 16 races in 1994. "But we didn't have any electrical or computer glitches (Sunday) and my car ran super. "All Roger (Penske) kept saying all day was, 'Nice and but we had to work pretty hard to get to the front." Teammate Emerson Fittipaldi.

Bobby Rahal and Mauricio Gugelmin presented potential problems to Unser, but all were either slowed or eliminated by mechanical misfortune. But Unser's chief worry, polesit-ter Andretti, took himself out twice at the same place. Storming down the Seaside Straightaway on Lap 54, Andretti Lifted alongside Unser and tried to reclaim the lead. See INDIANS Page 5 NBA Pacers 97 Charlotte 68 Boston TK) Washington 98 Cleveland 79 Chicago 78 Milwaukee 102 Atlanta 99 Houston 123 Denver 120 Phoenix 104 Portland 94 San Antonio 101 LA Lakers 87 American association Indians 12 Louisville 2 Charlotte 68 Pacers 97 Next game: at Chicago, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; WNDE-1260 AM, FM, WTTV4.

that's the way you're supposed to play." The timing was perfect as the Pacers clinched their first NBA first-round homecourt playoff advantage, took a three-game lead in the Central on Charlotte with six games left and closed to one game behind New York for homecourt through the second round. Chicago and New York are next. After collapsing at Atlanta Friday, the Pacer defense was dominant from the outset, allowing little penetration, swarming the lane, trapping, rotating and contesting virtually every In building a 45-30 halftime lead, the Pacers handcuffed the Hornets to 10-of-30 shooting and recorded their best defensive first half of the season. Energy on that end created opportunity on the other a 20-3 second-quarter run sparked by the second unit. Even with Antonio Davis and Rik Smlts carrying four fouls in the third quarter, the Pacers' attack increased.

They w5ent up by 33 points midway through the fourth quarter, holding "'the Hornets scoreless for a span of 7 minutes, 11 seconds until remained in the game. '7 "It seemed like we did everything right," Smlts said. t'We bumped cutters, didn't allow guys See PACERS Page 4 driver left for Pruett to pursue on this afternoon and there was no catching Al Unser Jr. A late stop-! and-go penalty deprived Teo Fabi of second and Scott turned out to be the beneficiary of a hard- 1 fought second place. Still, all things considered, a team and driver that raced nobody in 1994 is outrunning a lot of folks so far in "95 and sitting No.

1 heading to Nazareth, Pa. i "I couldn't imagine this (leading the points) a year ago but now I know how Joe Montana must feel to be surrounded by the best people," said Pruett, whose career, was left for dead after driving the Truesports Made In America Dl- saster in 1992. "This is a superb group of guys: and this is the first time I've really had a lot of fun In lndy-car rac- Ing." In 1988, at this track, Pruett Invested his life savings and bought a ride, which he qualified 13th on the grid. A lot has happened during the past seven See MILLER Page 3 i 1 Star Staff Photo Patrick Schneider TENACIOUS DEFENSE: The Pacers' Reggie Miller harasses Charlotte guard Hersey Hawkins. Unser posts another seaside win jrfM Pruett, Firestone suddenly find themselves atop series f' 1 Two-time Indy 500 "winner has turned Toyota GP into his private (Long) Beach.

By Robin Miller STAR ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR Long Beach. Calif. Al Unser Jr. resides in Albuquerque, N.M., but let's be honest the streets of this seaside city are truly his private domain. The defending In-dyCar champion should consider renting a house, or at least a condo, because he owns this neighborhood.

For the sixth time in the past eight years, Unser ran away with Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He led 74 of the 105 laps In his Marlboro '95 Penske-Mercedes, finished 23 seconds ahead of runner-up Scott Pruett and restored Team Penske's superiority In less than 2 hours. Unser wasn't unchallenged, just unshakable as he banged wheels early with Gil de Ferran, withstood Michael Andretti's banzai attack aiyl had too much for the rest of his competition. Long Beach GP At Long Beach, Calif. Top 10 Finishers 1.

Al Unser Jr. P-M 2. Scott Pruett L-F 3. TeoFabi R-F 4. Eddie Cheever L-F 5.

Mauricio Gugelmin R-F 6. Stefan Johansson P-M 7. Eric Bachelart L-F 8. A Zampedri L-F 9. Michael Andretti L-F 10.

Danny Sullivan R-F Chassis: P-Penske, L-Lola, R-Reynard. Engines: M-Mer-cedes, F-Ford. Points leaders: Pruett 46, Gugelmin 38, Unser 34, Paul Tracy 32, Bobby Rahal 30, Jacques Villeneuve 30. "We finally made the press room," exclaimed the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, whose best showing had been sixth at Australia. "I don't know what it is about this place but Long Beach has always been good to me." Foiled by electronic gremlins In the ftrst three races, Unser stood 27th on the grid Friday because of i Robin Miller Long Beach, Calif.

The current PPGIndyCar point leader isn't trying to kid any- one, ne gratetui I to be driving the factory Firestone LolaFord for Pat Patrick. He's also very appreciative of having Steve Newey and Jim McGee to engineer his car and strategy. But Scott Pruett is most happy Just to be back in the mix. "I was thinking out there (Sunday) how much more I enjoy racing than testing," said the 35-year-old veteran following another superb effort In Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. "We tested over 12,000 miles last year and I had to imagine I was racing somebody to make myself go faster.

"It's nice to be chasing somebody again." Of course, there was only one Associated Press HAPPY WINNER: Al Unser Jr. celebrates yet another Long Beach Grand Prix victory. "1 rt'ally went in (Turn 6) deep, but Michael went in a car length deeper and he didn't make it," explained Unser, who watched Andretti lock up the brakes and w. "See UNSER Page 3.