Kingsport Times-News from Kingsport, Tennessee • 17

Friday August 6 1982 Klngsport Times-News 3B 'It scorches field Floyd 9s sizzling 63 TULSA Okla (UPI) Play M3t Richman ing a round of golf unsurpassed in the annals of major championships Ray Floyd led an unexpected assault on scorching Southern Hills yesterday and claimed a three-stroke lead in the opening round of the PGA Championship Floyd in his 20th year as a shots behind the front-runner Canadian Open champ Bruce Lietzke Bill Rogers Tom Kite Ben Crenshaw and Hale Irwin were all at 73 At 74 came defending champion Larry Nelson Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in quest of a record sixth PGA championship and his 20th major title overall "I hit a few good shots but not enough" Nicklaus said "When you don't drive well on this course you are history You can get out of the rough sometimes and you can get out of the trees sometimes but you can't do both and they have both on this course" par scores rolled in with surprising regularity Bob Gilder author of a double-eagle at Westchester and the winner of two tour events this year shot a 4-under 66 as did Australian Greg Norman Fred Couples who ranks a lowly 75th oh the money-win-! ning list birdied the last six holes for a PGA championship record of 29 on the back nine and finished with a 67 a score matched by Rex Caldwell and Englishman Nick Faldo And at 68 came club pro John Jackson Jim Simons David Graham and one of the tour's rising young stars Vance Heafner "I don't know how I played the last six holes in this heat" Heafner said "I thought I was going to have to crawl upthe hill on the 18th on my hands and knees" While the heat rough and slick greens failed to deter Floyd Gilder Norman and a host of others many of the game's top players found the opening round to be a distasteful experience Leading money-winner Craig Stadler fired a 71 and Tom Watson seeking to become the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three major championships in the same year struggled to a 72 nine no one has ever shot a lower score "It's the best round of golf I've ever played" said Floyd who at one point during his round recorded nine consecutive threes "No doubt Considering this is the PGA that this is Southern Hills and considering the conditions of the greens there is no way I could say I have ever played a better round "To have this happen in a major championship well it's something I'll remember for the rest of my life" Despite the 100-degree heat which had been the subject of pre-tournament concern sub- Zim earth live without baseball professional golfer and the winner of two major titles shot a 7-under-par 63 that left the rest of the 150-man field gasping in the heat Although there have been several 63's shot during the history of the four major pro events the PGA Masters US Open and British Open Hey there was another manager fired too remember? Don Zimmer remembers They sandwiched him in so to speak between Gene Michael and John McNamara and his Garland's heart still in the majors By BILL LANE Times-Sews Sports Editor That No 26 in the Pikeville 77 dugout the man with the mustache the one gazing at Brewers rookie pitcher Danny Scarpetta is the highest paid coach in Appalachian League history something for 25 years it's hard to quit Coaching is new to me and I'm enjoying it It's a lot easier to teach someone else something than to teach yourself If I could still do what I'm teaching these kids I'd be up there pitching "It was a shock when they first told me I needed the operation if I ever wanted to pitch again I'd been pitching since I was 7 or 8 There's no doubt I could still pitch in the big leagues But after I throw even a couple of innings my arm eels the same as it would if I'd thrown nine It feels that way for three days" Garland describes the shoul But he isn't doing what he'd Garland seemed upset last night when Scarpetta ran into trouble in the ninth inning allowing Marlin McPhail Ken Harris and Greg Geren each a single He walked at a fast pace down the right field line to tell Delwin Downs to heat up quickly A few minutes later reliever Downs came in to get Cito Sanchez on a double-play grounder The Brewers beat Kingsport 5- :3 The Mets with top draft choice Dwight Gooden pitching flirted with victory until Joe Weatherford hit a two-run hom-! er in the eighth for a 5-2 Pike- ville lead Kingsport scored runs in the second fourth and ninth on hits really like Wayne Garland admits his heart is still in the ma jor leagues The former Cleveland Indi ans pitcher fell victim to the same arm trouble that wrecked the careers of Don Gullett Steve Busby and Buzz Capra yet didn't force Tommy John out of baseball der muscle problem this way: a rubber band 200-poundSticl 4Jarlandri and remove it There's a hole riRht-hander who played his high school ball at Nashville Conn and attended Gulf Coast Junior College in Florida underwent rotator cuff surgery in 1978 He tried to come back the next season pitched a few innings here and there and was off and on the disabled list He retired But the fat pay checks keep rolling in Moving by Bodle Andy Lawrence and Geren Pikeville got three in the fourth on an error singles by Billy Joe Robidoux and Weatherford and Jim Utecht's bases-cleaning double The Mets will host Pikeville at 7 o'clock tonight MET FOOTNOTES: McPhail injured early in the season has just returned to the lineup Manuel Lee 17-year-old in-fielder has been on the roster since late June he finally made it to Kingsport this week Lee from the Dominican Republic has been awaiting his visa that long When Met catcher Gene Hawkins throws a ball away he does it in style Trying to stop Pikeville's Larry Jackson from stealing second in the seventh inning Hawkins threw the ball in the air all the way to center fielder Carl Hollis Stretch the band and the hole becomes larger The rotator cuff is similar to the band" He tried a comeback with the Nashville Sounds this year hoping to perfect a knuckleball that would carry him back to the majors and preserve the arm He had a fine teacher in Class AA ball the master himself Hoyt Wilhelm "Of the 90 or so pitches I threw each game 80' were knuckleballs But the New York Yankees have strong arms on the AA level and I felt that I was just standing in the way of some guys who have a chance to go up" Released unconditionally by Cleveland Garland is free to do what he wishes His contract will run for four more years He doesn't have to work He rules out becoming a manager "I've got enough gray hairs in my head" But he likes coaching over to Cleveland from Baltimore on free agency in 1976 he wisely negotiated a $23 million 10-year contract Garland is still getting his $230000 annual salary from the Indians "I saw the right opportunity took a helluva gamble and got a good deal I'd have been crazy not to accept it" he says He was drafted first by Pittsburgh then by St Louis then by Baltimore On joining the Milwaukee organization as pitching coach he says "When you've been doing Tlm-Nwi photo Earl Cortor Wayne Garland the former Cleveland and Baltimore pitch- er watches intently from the Pikeville dugout during the Brewers' 5-3 victory over Kingsport last night uiMiuKsai irom me rexas Rangers last week wasn't the most polished ever devised by management but you know Zim he already has bounced back completely and there isn't one ounce of bitterness in him Eddie Chiles the Rangers' owner who hasn't been in baseball that long tried to get Zimmer to say he was resigning Chiles thought that would look better from a public relations standpoint but Zimmer wouldn't go for it He was being fired and that's what he would tell them when they asked him he said That was the way the record would read and it does But Zimmer has no hard feelings Toward Chiles or anyone else "I like Eddie Chiles" he made it clear speaking from ArlingtonTTexasrwhere he his wife Soot own a condominium and are looking to sell it but are in no particular hurry to get out "He treated me very well He and I never had a single bad Word between us The best way I can put it is I wish I had been told the club was going to make a change when I was fired and that was it That's the way it was when I got fired by San Diego and Boston But everything got fouled up "I still think Eddie Chiles is a good man though Being new in baseball I can understand what he's up against If he had someone to help him when it came to my firing it would've been better" Shortly after Zimmer's firing was announced he got a phone call from Oakland's Billy Martin but Zim was so tied up with the media at the time that Joe Macko the Rangers' equipment and clubhouse man took the call for him Martin likes Zimmer as do so many others in baseball He told Macko to tell Zim to give him a call presumably about a job after all the smoke cleared? Zimmer hasn't called yet but intends to "I haven't had any definite offers but I got a call from one club and the man at the other end said 'You can work for me anytime'" revealed the 51-year-old Zimmer Among those who are fond of Zimmer is George Steinbrenner He offered him a job coaching for the Yankees after the Red Sox fired Zimmer at the end of the 1980 season Zimmer was interested but knew he had a chance at getting the Rangers' managerial job Could Steinbrenner wait for an answer? Sure the Yankees' owner said and he waited patiently quite a while' Now Eddie Robinson who gave Zimmer the job as Rangers' manager and was fired as Texas general manager on June 10 is working as a consultant for the Yankees: He may move into the Yankees' front office next season and he still likes Zimmer so it wouldn't be too surprising to see Zimmer eventually go with the Yankees One way or another Don Zimmer figures to be associated with baseball the rest of his life Of course Zim wants to manage again "And if hot managing I'd like to coach" he told me "It's not like I want to get put of the game yet One thing I realize Is that there are only 26 managers But I'm not too old to get out there at third base and coach Especially after losing 25 pounds" Ultimately Zimmer will return to his permanent home in St Petersburg Fla He's being paid by the Rangers through next year and said he's in "no hurry" to get another job but with him that means he'll probably take one In baseball in a week or so "You're right" he laugheJ 'when I told hinVthat Fum track Gault leads fun at Fest meet A 7 p--" -i I -A 7 Related photos page SB Gault says he is undecided whether to sign an' NFL contract next season or keep his amateur status and try for a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles "I won't make a decision until next spring" said Gault "It will depend on how good I do and what my chances would be if I waited But my time last week helps It was the fifth fastest hurdles time ever run and right now it looks like a gold or a silver" As far as football goes Gault says the Vols can be "as good as any Tennessee team has been in the past five or ten years" "It's according to how the ball bounces for us" said Gault While Gault's appearance highlighted the meet there were some other outstanding performances as well World-class distance runner Louis Kenny who also gave an hour-long clinic on distance running early in the meet crossed the finish line together with fellow Irishman Gerry Duffy the Men's 1500 run Their time was 3:5876 The race also served as preparation for Kenny and Duffy who will run in the Maggie Valley Moonlight Road Race tomorrow night Other outstanding efforts saw former Tennes--see High runner Ronnie Gross win the 5000-me-' tor run in 16:275 former Dobyns-Bennett distance star Steve Starnes win the 1500 steeple chase in 4:459 Springs take the long jump in 21-3 and D-B middle distance star Mike O'Neill run a 2:02 in winning the 800 In one of the highlight events of the evening Scott Jordan was judged the winner in the "Ger-itol 100" for men 30 and over nipping Allen Rothwell and Ben Chaney at the finish line Jordan 35 and a former 440 man at D-B years ago had a time of 1253 for the 100 meters to By RON BLISS Executive Sports Editor It wasn't the type of track meet he usually competes in but for world-class hurdler Willie Gault it served a multitude of purposes Gault came to Kingsport last night to visit the NE Moore family and got some needed training in too by competing in the Fun Fest Track Meet sponsored by the Times-News Gault who holds the best 110 high hurdles time in the world this year a 1326 recorded two weeks ago in the National Sports Festival in Indianapolis highlighted the Fun Fest meet by coasting to an easy victory in a time of 1395 Former state champions Randy Irvin and Scat Springs acquitted themselves well but were no match for Gault in the race Irvin placed second in 1414 while Springs was third in 1425 Gault also gave a clinic on sprints and hurdling to more than 50 persons before running his event and drew rave reviews from his audience "He's really a class guy" said one "He was really impressive" He also drew raves from his competition "That was fun'' said Springs who runs colle-giately at Appalachian State "I've run against all of Willie's teammate who broke the world record in the shuttle hurdle relay with him and now I got a chance to run him He was the final one It's fan to run against your hero Actually I got to run against two of my heros because I always looked up to Randy Irvin when I was coming up" Springs and Irvin remain the finest hurdlers in D-B history Gault said the meet served him well in that it gave the Moore family and other fans in the Kingsport area a chance to see him run and it also filled in a void in his track schedule "I saw it as a good chance to get some training in" said Gault who hasn't competed since Indianapolis "I needed to run somewhere before going to Italy next week" Gault will make his final stop of the summer track season in an international meet in Pisa Italy just two days before reporting to fall football practice at the University of Tennessee where hfl is a star wide receiver 'jf fm- i I 2 9 'vf J' 5 -JrillL 1 A 1 1255 for Rothwell 35 and a 1258 for Chaney' 42 Other winners of note were Gale Osborne in the 20-over men's arm wrestling Jeff Edwards in the 15-19 men's arm wrestling Shannon Bur-1 khart in the 14-under boys arm wrestling and Marge Carter in the women's arm wrestling Glenn Cradic in the men's shot put (49-9) and Eddie Shadeed who swept to first in football throw accuracy and distance Tim-Mwt vheta Cort Carttr Willie Gault runs through his paces during the Fun Fest track fieet clinic.