The Messenger from Madisonville, Kentucky • 9

-SPORTS EDITOR Pruiett: 824-3241 SPORTS WRITER Don Perryman: 824-3226 SportsSunday The Messenger August 3, 2003 SECTION Eli Barron 1st round washed out A little less conversation, and a little more action Heavy rain reduces annual golf tourney to one round received approximately an inch and a half of rain, making for wet and soggy conditions. Despite the weather, tournament play was attempted. However, after two rain delays of two hours each, the round was called. We actually didnt have anybody finish. The golf course was so wet on our second delay.

We got down to the midnight hour and ran out of options, Howerton explained. The best way to do it, since nobody got finished, we decided to wash today out and have an 18-hole tournament (Sunday). More than 130 golfers are hoping the weather will break and theyll be able to play out the prestigious event. Howerton said that the course will be wet, but conditions should be better. The forecast, it looks to me like its going to be a lot better than today.

Theyre calling for scattered showers. Im just hoping the front clears out of here. BY DON PERRYMAN Messenger Sports Writer MADISONVILLE Mother Nature wreaked havoc on the first round of the 35th Eli Barron Invitational. Heavy rains and thunderstorms moved into the Madisonville area early Saturday morning and lingered most of the day forcing tournament officials to declare the first round of the two-round golf tournament at Madisonville Country Club a wash out. MCC pro Jeff Howerton is hoping for better conditions when golfers arrive this morning to begin play (see tee times i on B2).

We had a horrible day. I think its the second time in the last 10 years weve had a round rained out, Howerton said. It got too late in the day to try to get everybody in. When Mother Nature calls nothing we can do about it. Howerton said the course Madisonvilles Steve Cox was one of the golfers who dodged raindrops at a very wet Madisonville Country Club course during Saturdays first round of the Eli Barron Invitational.

Saturdays round was washed out. (Messenger PhotoJim Pearson) Meunier-Lebouc chasing second major title BY ROBERT MILLWARD 7 AP Sports Writer LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England Ten weeks into her pregnancy, Patricia i Meunier-Lebouc is chasing her second i major title of the year at the Womens i British Open. i The Frenchwoman shot a 5-under 67 Saturday to lead Se Ri Pak and Wendy Ward by one stroke after three rounds. was at 10-under 206 with right behind.

i Im happy to get on the golf course i and play, said Meunier-Lebouc, expecting her first child. I have no choice. I know I feel I just have to enjoy being out there and hitting one shot after another. Pak, a former champion and four-time I major winner, and Ward each carded a 69 for 207. And Meunier-Lebouc also will have to shake Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb.

holes before which is a good thing. Pak won this tournament two years ago at Sunningdale. The South Korean knows she should be leading but missed par putts at Nos. 17 and 18 and finished bogey-bogey. At the last hole, her tee shot found a fairway bunker and she had to chip to the fairway.

She hit a superb third shot to 15 feet but again misread the lie. I think I misread two in a row, Pak said. I didnt much see the break, but the ball went to the right. But no matter what I miss or make, Im in good shape. Ward, who started out 6 under, picked up four birdies by the 10th.

But she bogeyed the last hole when she missed the green with her second shot. Its frustratinjfending'with a bogey and having a 9-iron in your hands and missing the green, she said. I just got a little aggressive with my approach and came over the top of it a little bit. already in the one that I won, she said. She birdied four of the first five holes and then added an eagle-3 at the sixth where her 3-wood second shot wound up 5 feet from the hole.

I felt a little better on course, but its still tough, she said. Sorenstam, a winner of five majors, had a 68 to move into contention. Webb, with six majors, shot a 70. That means there are winners of a combined 16 majors in the top five on the leaderboard entering Sundays final round in which Sorenstam and Pak will be playing partners. Sorenstam eagled the par-5 sixth by chipping in from 20 feet and added two more birdies in a bogey-free round.

Im back where I want to be having a chance to win the British Open, said the Swede, a three-time runner-up in this event. I think right now Im in the perfect spot. I will have played the same Sorenstam, who won this years LPGA Championship, is at 208 while Webb, the defending champion, is at 209. Heather Bowie led by two strokes entering the day in her bid for her first pro title. But she tumbled from the Sorenstam Lytham St.

Annes leaderboard when she lost her ball at the 11th hole and took a double-bogey 7. She wound up at 210, sharing sixth place. Meunier-Lebouc was tested at the Kraft Nabisco in March. She led by two strokes halfway through and by three after the third round. She beat Sorenstam by one shot.

I know its tough to be leading in a major championship, but Ive been that Sorry, but Ive had it up to my Adam's Apple with the TV sports guys and gals trying to out-cute each other. Theyve been doing it since Carter was in the White House, but it really started getting to me when Stuart Scott hit us with cooler than the other side of the pillow, a few years ago. It bothered me the first time I heard it. I gagged. I pointed at the TV and screamed Enough! Cooler than the other side of a pillow sent me over the edge because I thought of it first.

However, because I have a face that is best suited for radio I couldnt smile into a camera and utter it for the masses. I used it instead in a column. I thought it was pretty slick, that I was a clever little devil. That thought came crashing down a few days later when I was playing golf with a buddy of mine. Just after Id carefully positioned my ball on a tee with the arrow Id drawn on it pointing down the middle of the fairway, and just before I hit a duck hook across the adjacent fairway and into a pond, my friend said something.

Donnie, he said, interrupting what little focus I might have had. Cooler than the other side of a pillow? He then shook his head slowly, like he was in pain, and looked down and spit. So, I got out of the clever business and I wish the TV folks would, as well. There seem to be more catch phrases than highlights. While some of the catch phrases are funny, they tell us little about what actually happened.

Sorry, I don't watch SportsCenter to see what Kenny Mayne has come up with this time or if Smart Scott has his freak on (whatever the hell that means). But you cant avoid them. Its become chic. People actually talk about what the anchors said. Heres a list of some of catch phrases.

With the wiff. He gave up the cigarettes, but hes still smokin. Might as well face it hes addicted to glove. Say hello to my little friend. See the three, be the three.

That ball has been voted off the island. Im Camby dammit. He goes shopping at the gap. Bichette happens. Do a little dance.

Make a little glove. Pooh, pooh, kachoo. Hes not your vydas. Hes not my vydas. Hes Arvydas.

Release. Rotation. Splash. Glove is a many splendored thing. Just play the game plumber boy.

Im not sure what the pitch is, but it tastes like chicken. He pulled a groin. His own we hope. Its deep and I dont think its playable. A good craftsman doesnt blame his tools.

He was hotter than donut grease. He smoked him like a bad cigar. Can I get a witness from the congregation? Samuel Morse couldnt have telegraphed it better. Break him off a little something, something. He must be the bus driver cause he took him school.

Glove me tender. -1 aint saying nothing, but that aint right. My head hurts just typing these things. Im not some crochety old man. I like to laugh, and I know its supposed to be entertainment, but just every now and then Id like to get a score without the Henny Youngman.

A few years ago, Saturday Night Live spoofed sportswriters with a SportsCenter skit involving Ray Romano whose character knew nothing about sports, but tossed out catch phrases left and right. His best was Sweet Sassy Molassy. It was about as informative as the list above and at least as funny as the funniest in the list. It also meant nothing, like most of the list. Ive got to go.

My allotted space for the week is just about filled up. In parting I leave you with the words of former SportsCenter anchor Larry Biel: And aloha means goodbye. Don Perryman can be reached at 824-3226 or Furyk fires a 65; leads Buick Open BY LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer GRAND BLANC, Mich. Jim Furyk has bounced back from his abysmal showing at the British Open. The U.S.

Open champion made a 48-foot putt for birdie to cap a 7-under 65 and take the lead at the Buick Open on Saturday after three rounds. He is at 17 under, four shots ahead of Tiger Woods. I was just trying to roll it up there close and I got a bonus when it went in, Furyk said of his spectacular putt on 18. That leaves a nice taste in my mouth. Furyk insisted he wasnt sour for long after he missed the cut at the British Open.

I forgot about it the moment I got on the plane and came back home, he said. When I got my feet on American soil, I was as happy as anybody else. I dont live in the past. I look at the rest of the year and look at how many times Ive played well and that Ive won a major championship and lost once in a playoff. I had four bad days to miss two cuts this year.

Its no big deal. Furyk made six birdies and showed plenty of poise playing with Woods, while a raucous crowd followed them all day. The last time he led after 54 holes was at the U.S. Open. I dont even think about it because I have played in those situations several times before, he said.

The Tiger Woods watches his second shot on the second green, Saturday, during the third round of the Buick Open at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc, Mich. Woods, whose tee shot landed in the left rough and second went into a bunker, bogeyed the hole. (AP PhotoJohn F. Martin) between me and the lead, Im going to have to be very aggressive, Woods said. Its going to be tough because this is the type of course that gives us birdies in bunches, so you cant expect to be the only guy to go low.

It isnt like the U.S. Open where you feel like you have a great chance if you are four back. Here, it is very tough to come from that far behind, and if Jim plays as well as he just did, it will be even worse. only thing was that if there were 25,000 people on the course, it seemed like 20,000 of them were watching us. Carl Paulson is one shot behind Furyk after shooting a 65.

Neal Lancaster is at 15 under. Kenny Perry, Paul Goydos, Paul Gow and second-round leader Chris DiMarco, who shot a 71, are three shots off the lead. Woods is among three players at 13 under. As far back as I am, and as many guys as there are Cardinals hold off late Mets comeback Harvick wins Indy pole BY JENNA FRYER AP Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS Kevin Harvick is a California boy with no special ties to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ryan Newman is a Hoosier with big dreams of winning on his home track.

Both wanted the pole for the Brickyard 400 and both shattered the track record trying to get it in Saturdays qualifying. Harvick was the winner and relished the moment as if it was he, not Newman, who grew up fantasizing about victories on the historic 2 12-mile oval. Anything you do here means a lot to me, Harvick said. Obviously theres a lot of history with open-wheel and stock cars and its an important place for my team. Harvick turned a lap at 184.343 mph in Harvick his Chevrolet minutes after Newman broke the track record with a lap at 184.238 in his Dodge.

As Harvick pulled off the track, Newman was still on pit road and greeted him with wide-open arms as if to say Wow! I didnt expect to be quite that fast, Newman said. I See Brickyard on B2 Tony La Russa said. Hart and J.D. Drew hit consecutive home runs with two outs in a five-run fourth inning that made it 7-1. I hadnt hit a grand slam since Little League until earlier this year at Memphis.

A little bigger deal this time, Hart said. Pujols launched a 440-foot solo shot in the first inning. He extended his hitting streak to 17 games, matching his career high. Brett Tomko (7-7) went 5 2-3 innings for the win, allowing three runs and nine hits. Jae Seo (5-8) lost his sixth straight decision.

The Mets have not won in his last eight starts. NEW YORK (AP) Jason Isringhausen and the St. Louis Cardinals cut it close at the end. Isringhausen threw three wild pitches that helped the New York Mets score five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning before the Cardinals held on for a 10-9 victory Saturday. That was the weirdest inning Ive ever been a part of, Isringhausen said.

Rookie Bo Hart hit his first career grand slam, Albert Pujols hit his 30th homer and J.D. Drew also connected as the Cardinals built a big lead. Down 10-4, Vance Wilson started the Mets ninth by striking out but reaching on Isringhausens wild pitch. A passed ball and an error by Pujols kept the inning going. We made it more interesting than a lot of people would have liked, Isringhausen said.

Pedro Borbon Jr. relieved with two outs and gave up an RBI double to Raul Gonzalez and Roger Cedenos fourth hit, a two-run single that made it 10-9. Esteban Yan then took over and allowed a single to Jose Reyes that put runners on first and third. But Yan retired Wilson on a liner to left field Miguel Cairo struggled to make the catch for his first save. Thats as close as you can come and still come away a winner, Cardinals manager i.