The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 41

1 dii ll Smi Fnnciico Sundiy Earning ind Oimniclt SAN FRANCISCO-EXAMINER Sunday, November 15. 1992 C-13 3 MOTOR SPORTS I Him $3 -mi MARK SOLTAU GOLF bads mm IS(Q)WvB ratw 'fir mmm msm Richard Petty reaches for his trademark hat Saturday in the garage area of the Atlanta Motor Speedway on the eve of his last race as a driver. Potty's finish also Winston Cup finale Pros and cons of golf in the Olympics DESPITE negative feedback from PGA Tour regulars, it appears likely golf will be included in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. What next, squash and polo? If the Olympics were restricted to amateurs wasn't that the original intent? adding golf would be a sporting idea. Even then, how many countries would contend for a gold medal? "I fear it's going to be a little bit wacko," said Palo Alto attorney Grant Spaeth, former president of the United States Golf Association.

"About 10 countries out of 80 will be competitive." Not that Spaeth isn't supportive. On the contrary. He loves the idea. "My view is Godspeed," he said. "All I care about is amateur golf.

The Olympics ignite something patriotic." Golf has become so popular, the Russians are building that country's first 18-hole course called Moscow Country Club, designed by architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. of Palo Alto. Construction has already begun. Nine holes should be playable next year. "The world is now playing golf and the Russians want to compete for a gold medal," said Jones.

Fine. But it's a Catch 22 proposition. If pros are allowed to compete, only a handful of nations stand a chance. If they aren't, who will watch, let alone care? Case in point: Olympic tennis. Without Jennifer Capriati, Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vlcarlo, the matches barely make the sportspages.

"I had some reservations about whether it would work in the long haul," Spaeth said. "But who cares?" Spaeth believes exposing the world to the sport, no matter how briefly, is the most important factor. "For little countries that want golf, it enhances their chances of government-supported courses," he said. Which is why Spaeth thinks the USGA will fully support golf in Atlanta. "I'm sure David Fay (USGA executive director) will do everything possible," said Spaeth.

GOLF "We'll knock ourselves out to make it right." Chip shots Must reading and a good stocking stuffen "Harvey Penick's Little Red Book," published by Simon and Schuster Greg Norman airs it out in the December issue of Golf Digest The Shark said he was so disgusted with his game, he almost quit. "But I couldn't do that," he said. "Either you stop or you fight your way through it." On John Daly: "I remember when I was 25. Hell, I was just like him." On world player of the yean "I think Freddie Couples has had a hell of a lot better year than Nick (Faldo). I honestly believe that." Arnold Palmer, after shooting a high score: "It wasn't all bad.

I'm still looking down at the grass instead of up at it" Couples averaged $61,099 per event this year. Incidentally, Couples and his wife, Debbie, are separated. He's living in the desert and she's living in Florida. Tom Watson extended his record for seasons to 19 Roger Malt bie of Los Gatos finished 125th on the money list with a late-season charge, banking $109,742 Ex-San Jose State standout Mark Wiebe made the most of sponsor exemptions to regain his card for the 1993 season. Wiebe won $174,763 and placed 86th on the money list The par-4 12th at TPC Avenel was the toughest hole (4.445) on the PGA Tour in 1992.

The par-4 16th at Spyglass Hill was third (4.417) and the par-4 eighth at Spyglass was 10th (4.383) There were only four first-time winners on the PGA Tour this year Mark Carnevale, Fred Funk, Lee Janzen and Richard Zokol. Carnevale was the only rookie to break through, and led first-year players with $220,982. Defending champ Loren Roberts, Mark Brooks, Keith Clearwater, Duffy Waldorf, Tom Lehman and Maltbie have entered the Pebble Beach Invitational Dec. 31 through Jan. 3.

For ticket information, call (800) 347-6126 Kris Moe, Douglas Johnson, Dennis Gedestead, Todd Spain and Mike Gambello qualified for the NorCal Open Sunday through Wednesday at Chardonnay G.C. First alternate Sarif Buksh replaced Gambello, who was forced to withdraw. Holes-in-one Jim Sevrens, 160-yard 13th at Green Hills C.C., 6-iron; Al Nlcora, 137-yard 11th at Richmond C.C., 7-iron; Dr. Paul Hazelrlg, 135-yard 13th at Burlingame C.C., 9-iron; Bea Elmore, 118-yard 15th at Napa Valley C.C., 4-iron; Fran Link, 106-yard 4th at Indian Valley G.C, 7-iron; Jackie Toton, 123-yard 17th at Indian Valley, 6-iron; Mike Sheedy, 140-yard 7th at Diablo Hills G.C, 9-iron. open a two-shot edge on Standly, who was playing one group behind Hulbert.

Standly also closed with a birdie at 18 to narrow the margin to one. The Kapalua International is sanctioned by the PGA but is not an official tour event, and money won here does not count as official earnings. U.S. takes big lead KITAURA, Japan Three victories in best-ball play boosted the United States to a 12-4 lead over a team of Japanese golfers in the Du Pont Cup Senior Match. Dale Douglass and George Archer beat Ryosuke Ota and Ichiro Teramoto, 62-68; Gibby Gilbert and Larry Laoretti beat Masaru Amano and Hisashi Suzumura, 63-67; and Jim Colbert and Miller Barber edged Chin Seiha and Shig-eru Uchida, 65-66.

Japan's only victory Saturday came when Seiichi Kanai and Hi-roshi Ishii shot the day's best score, a 60, and beat Lee Trevino and Mike Hill, who had a 62 over the par-72 Kitaura Golf Club course. Alfredsson goes up by 5 KURIMOTO, Japan Helen Alfredsson of Sweden shot a 4-un-der-par 68 and stretched her lead to five strokes after the second round of the $400,000 Itoki Classic. Alfredsson, who finished second to Betsy King in a sudden-death playoff in last week's Mazda Japan Classic, the final LPGA Tour event of the a two-round total of 132, 12 under par. eye, which was thumbed by Holy-' field during the slugfest "I needs my money like a hog needs his slop. I got bills to pay and a baby on the way." Then he called over his wife, Judy, put his arm around her and said: "I told them that we have a baby on the way.

Tell them." Mrs. Bowe looked up at him as if he were certifiably crazy, shook her head and said emphatically "No." "Well, we have three. That's enough," the champion said. Bowe said he called his 6-year-old son, Riddick after the fight. "I said, 'Junior, did you hear what He said, Yeah, you're champion.

Do you have all three I said, 'Yeah, what does that make He says, Bowe. said, "If Evander Holy-field was King Kong last night, (with) the state of mind I was in, the results would have been the same. He hurt me a couple of times, he just didn't know it." Newman said he would announce in a few weeks where and whom Bowe would fight next. But he appeared to be backing off his idea of staging Bowe's first defense in China against George Foreman. Newman is seen by many as using a possibility of the China fight as a ploy to raise the ante for a fight with Lennox Lewis, the No.

1 contender. Chwasky said the Chinese have "two windows for a fight." One was in February and the other in October. He would not elaborate on why those were the only two dates nor would he characterize the status of negotiations other than to say he had been talking to a Chinese promoter. Newman signed an agreement obliging Bowe to make his first; defense against Lewis. The World Boxing Council has threatened to, strip Bowe of its version of the title, if Bowe reneges on the agree-1 ment.

system and really likes it." The only risk is the energy needed to maintain the pace. Los Angeles appeared to lose its legs Tuesday night in the third period against host Winnipeg when a 4-2 Kings' lead ended in a 4-4 tie. Melrose spent his last three seasons coaching the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL. His 115 wins made him the second-winningest coach at Adirondack, where Melrose led the Red Wings to the Calder Cup championship last season. Before that he was a winner at Medicine Hat and Seattle in the WHL.

"I'm not surprised," said San Jose forward Johan Garpenlov, who played for Melrose at Adirondack last year before being acquired by the Sharks. "He relates very well to young players and gets the most out of everyone." The missing one With legal matters dating back to 1990 in Vancouver, B.C., finally resolved, injured Sharks defenseman Link Gaetz was scheduled to check himself into a Monterey-area hospital Friday for a 30-day rehab program that will include physical therapy, cognitive therapy, psychiatric care and alcohol treatment. But as San Jose director of Link Gaetz hockey operations Dean Lombardl says, "Reverse the list for order of importance." Gaetz, out indefinitely with impaired motor skills resulting from head injuries sustained in an April 2 auto accident, was fined $500 in Vancouver Provincial Court Tuesday after admitting guilt to charges of willful damage and dangerous driving. Shark sightings Sharks captain Doug Wilson has been elected president of the NHL Players' Association. With the current collective bargaining agreement due to expire Sept 15, Wilson figures to be busy trying to reach a new accord with owners, and hopes to avoid a work stoppage like the league's first-ever 10-day players' strike last year.

"It has to be a win-win situation for both sides," Wilson said J.F. Quintin won IHL player of the Nevada withholds part of his winnings because of dispute over title fight sanctioning fees By John Phillips REUTER LAS VEGAS Money may be like a lot of hog slop to newly crowned, undisputed world heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, but he says he needs it and wants it right away. Bowe's comer said Saturday the Nevada State Athletic Commission, in a dispute over sanctioning fees due boxing's three main governing bodies, is withholding about $3 million of the purse he earned Friday when he defeated Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision to claim the title. The three bodies are the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Organization and the World Boxing Association. Bowe is expected to receive close to $7 million after all the receipts are counted.

Holyfield is expected to make about $17 million from the 12-round fight. Milt Chwasky, a lawyer for Bowe's manager, Rock Newman, said the commission held up the check. "They have no right, no right, no right to hold back Riddick Bowe's check," Newman said. "The commission's function is to hold the check to make sure the fighter gets paid," he said, adding that sanctioning fees were not their concern. He said the fees were about $300,000.

A spokesman for the commis sion was not immediately available for comment. "Thepe bums are holding it up," said Bowe, who at times held ice wrapped in a towel against his right ROSS McKEON Kings find life after Gretzkv Wi i injured Wayne Gretzky out indefinitely, an aging roster and new leadershiD behind the bench, not much was exDected from the Los Angeles Kings this season. But rookie coach Barry Melrose is used to mirnnflin? the critics. Under the 36-vear-old Melrose, the a Kings feature a new system that is third in the leaerue in goals scored through Friday. That's good enough for a share of the Smythe Division lead.

"I remember the first day Barry telling us, 'We may have lost the greatest passer the history of the game, but we can stul win, said forward Tony Granato about the loss of Gretzkv. the NHL's all-time assists leader with 1.514. who is battling a herniated thoracic disk. an grasped wnat carry wanted from Day 1 and it working. The former NHL defenseman has the Kings playing a style that emphasizes getting the puck up the ice as quickly as possible.

Under coach Tom Barry Melrose Webster the previous three seasons, Los Angeles employed a puck-control offense work it into the opponent's zone and set up plays. The current freewheeling offense seems better suited to the skills the Kings possess. The top scoring line of center Jarl Kurrl, left wing Luc Robltaille and right wing Tomas Sandstrom has accounted for 23 goals and 36 assists in their last six games alone. "We just keep coming at teams now," said Granato, fvhose Kings visit the Cow Palace again Tuesday night just nine days after inflicting an 1-4 loss on the Sharks. "Everyone has bought into the 0 lfSiff APCURTIS COMPTON to be a record crowd of more than 120,000, but after the emotional pre-race send-off for the king of stock car racing, it will be business as usual.

That means the focus will re-i turn to the sextet of Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Bill Elliott, Harry Gant, Kyle Petty Richard's son and Mark Martin, all vying for the $1.3 million prize that awaits the Winston Cup champion. Those drivers begin the 500-mile race on the 1.522-mile oval separated by 113 points with a maximum 185 points up for grabs. Allison leads Kulwicki by 30 points, with Elliott 10 more back. Gant trails the leader by 97, Petty by 98 and Martin by 1 13. Allison can join his father longtime Winston Cup star Bobby Allison as champion simply by finishing ahead of the other five or taking the checkered flag fifth or better.

But there are no guarantees. Elliott, the only driver in the title race who has won a championship, went into the race at Phoenix two weeks ago leading Allison by 70 points and Kulwicki by 85 and came away third in the standings because of a burned piston. Elliott, who won the title in 1988, said, "I've told people that it was going to be the driver that had the least bad luck that was going to win it. We had some bad luck at Phoenix. Somebody else could have the bad luck in this race." Allison doesn't want to think about luck or strategies.

He just wants to race. "There's no conservative thoughts for this team," said Allison, who is starting 17th in the 41-car field. "We're going into the race knowing we have to race hard, knowing we have to finish well, not taking anything for granted." Kulwicki is squeezed in between Allison and Elliott in the points and on the starting grid, starting 14th with Elliott 11th. In Saturday's second-day qualifying, Jeff Gordon, making his NASCAR Winston Cup debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway, earned the 21st starting spot. The 21-year-old driver from Pittsboro, turned a lap of 177.735 mph, improving considera-! bly from his first-day lap of 176.421 on Friday.

All but six of the drivers who, made the 41-car field stood on! their first-round laps, including Richard Petty, who will begin his final race from the 39th position. Petty was 36th after Friday's qualifying session at 175.318. He did a practice run Saturday and said, "The car's not running too good. We're running slower today than yesterday. I thought the car was good, but it's not running fast enough.

We'll try to make some changes and, hopefully, it'll be better in the race." First win for Allen Jr. HAMPTON, Ga. Loy Allen Jr. of Raleigh, N.C., earned his first Automobile Racing Club of America stock car victory, beating Tim Fedewa by a car-length to win the Motorcraft 500-kilometer at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 26-year-old Allen took the lead for the first time on lap 182 when Charlie Glotzbach had to pit for gas and led the rest of the way in the 204-lap Ivent on the 1.522-mile oval.

iili Hulbert leads by shot in $800,000 event His 35 years of racing to end as son vies with 5 others for $1 .3 million ASSOCIATED PRESS HAMPTON, Ga. Start with Richard Petty's last race as a driver, add the finish of the wildest six-man Winston Cup championship chase ever and you have the scenario for Sunday's Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The finale of Petty's illustrious, 35-year racing career may be the biggest draw for what is expected 1 week honors for his seven points in a four-game span with Kansas City. Like their parent club, the Blades have been hit with a rash of injuries of late. Besides LW Quintin taking a slash to the knee, Kansas City's recent bumps and bruises have included RW Rob Gaudreau (shoulder), DDuane Joyce (ribs) and Dody Wood (kidney) Correcting a piece of information that ran in this corner last week, San Jose director of player personnel Chuck Grlllo saw 597 hockey games last year.

Around the league Not until late in the third period of their 16th game did the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins get hit with their first fighting major. Ulf Samuelsson was the guilty party in Chicago Kings owner Bruce McNall must not have been kidding when he said his team would no longer travel in the lap of luxury a customized Boeing 727 airplane after bowing out of last year's playoffs with a customary first-round loss. The aircraft, redesigned to include first-class seating throughout, personal VCRs and CD players and a massage table, is for sale. According to the advertisement, "The jet is signed by the team and is a must-have for the ultimate Kinp fan!" That is if the ultimate Kings fan has $5 million Last Tuesday marked the 30-year anniversary when one of hockey's most amazing streaks ended. Injured in his previous 'start, Chicago goaltender Glenn Hall missed the Blackhawks' game with Montreal on Nov.

10, 1962. It ended his consecutive game streak at 503. He appeared in all 70 regular-season games from 1955-56 through 1961-62. In the there's-always-a-local-angle department, Sharks trainer Woody Woodcock designed the first goalie mask Hall would wear years later big surprise here, but when three Kings each scored hat tricks (Kurri, Robitaille and Mike Donnelly) in their win over the Sharks last Sunday, the league had no record of how many times a hat trick of hat tricks had happened previously. Los Angeles, in fact, had three players (Sandstrom, Granato and Dave Taylor) score three apiece in an April 10, 1990 12-4 playoff win over Calgary Vancouver needed seven games to eliminate Winnipeg in the playoffs last year, but has swept the Jets in their first three meetings this season by a combined score of 20-4.

ASSOCIATED PRESS KAPALUA, Hawaii Mike Hulbert birdied four of the final five holes Saturday to take a one-shot lead after three rounds of the $800,000 Kapalua International. His 5-under-par 68 at the Kapalua Resort's Plantation Course left him at 13-under 204, one stroke better than second-round leader Mike Standly, who shot a 3-under 70 Saturday. An eagle-3 at the 18th hole helped Billy Andrade to a round of 68 and a total of 207, three shots off the lead. At 208 are Mark Cal-cavecchia and Davis Love, with Duffy Waldorf and Tom Lehman another shot back at 209. Hulbert is the tournament's defending champion.

A year ago, he came from four shots back in the final round and defeated Love on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. "I can't determine what anybody else out there does," Hulbert said "I'm not going to change anything about my game. I'll try not to look at the leaderboard too much and go about my business. Hopefully, I'll play well and not look back." Rain squalls struck intermit tently throughout the third round as the lead seesawed between Hulbert and Standly. Hulbert, who started the day one shot behind, finally moved ahead to stay with birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes, dropping putts of 5, 5 and 2 feet.

A bogey li 17 stopped that streak, but he birdied again at 18 to.