The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • 41

The Fresno Bee Friday July 18 1997 D3 sports CALENDAR Even wind-aided Tiger blows i'f Digging deep Tiger Woods has to reach down to And the shots that keep him In mis hunt at British Open Angataa al Atlanta KC8L 1340 K08T 1900 1BR 690 KYNO 1300 7:15 pm Minna- Today on radio: i 420 pm Loa (Spsmah) 429 pm San FrandaooN St louto iota a OaMand KT1P 1460 I TODAY IN THE VALLEY VIsaHs Oaks: al Sm Joaa OMa T15 pm Kings SfMSdway: Pombo4arganl CMe 7-SO pm Hantord Horse racing: SalallHa wagartna Tatartan nrandatond al Praam After seeing the feat in person or mi the telly all of Britain will be shocked to find the tabloids on the front steps this morning trumpeting the awful truth TIGER CONFESSES: 435-YARDER ONLY MY SECOND-LONGEST DRIVE "You've hit one farther?" a skeptic asked "In Tiger Woods answered "At fiOLF Then he REPORT flashed a sheep-iahgrin "So maybe that one Inquiring f-flwurm minds wanted to know more Scores Na- anyway tjaaWgrtrii "How far was that Woods thought about it for a second "Close to 500 It should be noted the 435-yard boomer which came at the par-5 fourth hole had a 25 mph gust of wind behind it It led to one of his four birdies during a 1-over par round of 72 that leaves him five strokes off the lead The wind at Royal Troon is at the golfers' backs on the front side aim in their faces on the back "Most of the holes on the front nine trying to throw the ball into the air Then all of a sudden struggling to get it on the Woods said "If you look at most of our shots with the same yardages we were hitting wedges on the front and four five or six dubs more on the No better example of that surfaced than at No 15 Woods hit a driver off the tee and then from Montgomerie has missed the cut four times in the last five Opens "There's nothing new in this for me" he said done badly at British Opens before I shot a 76 in the second round as probably aware at the last mqjor I played in US Open and it seem to hurt me too much Montgomerie wound up second st the US Open at Congressional Back-nine blues Former winners Tom Watson and Greg Norman went on and on about how tough the gUBting winds Thursday made the back nine at Troon The inward nine is a par-35 but 221 yards longer than the outward par-36 front nine "We were hitting 6-irons 240 yards downwind and 6-irons 120 yards into the Norman said after his 2-under 69 "You can hit a lot of great shots or you can look like a Watson who opened with a par-71 lauded the even-par lenges for the WBA junior middleweight title against Laurent Boudouani also managed and trained by his father Other fights: Wilfredo Vasques defends the WBA feather weight title against Roque Caa-siani Lonnie Bradley defends the WBO middleweight title against Julio Cesar Green and a WBC lightweight title 165 yards out a 4-iron into the green He tried to recall the last time he needed that much club to cover that little distance "When I was he said finally been a British Open: Monty lost at home The course Colin Montgomerie played as a kid and where his father is club secretary appeared to be alien territory He shot a 5-over 76 with uncharacteristic wild shots off the tee Although he splashed out of a greenside bunker to 18 indies at the last hole for a stylish finish it was a miserable round for a player carrying Scotland's hopes just a shame that it had to happen at said Montgomerie who grew up some 150 yards from the first tee "But it affect the situation any more than it does whether it was in England or Scotland The situation is I play very well 20th defense of the WBC strawweight title when he fights Alex Sanches the WBO 105-pound champion managed and trained by Felix Trinidad Sr whose son will fight in the feature bout Felix Trinidad Jr the IBF welterweight champion chal Futch says Tapia just another in away Jack Nicklaus shot on the back nine to finish with a 73 "It was quite a feat for anybody to shoot even-par on the back nine Watson said Im Baktr-Flluch: There may no sadder case than Ian Balter Finch the 1991 champion who has missed 31 straight cuts He is 60-over in his last seven British Open rounds and it got worse with a 21-over 92 Baker-Finch said Even his dunce of caddiea tennis player Todd Wood-bridge was no help Baker-Finch managed only five pars with six double bogeys and a triple bogey He saidkept playing for one reason you have an he said "You say to yourself 011 well I'll walk in So he withdrew after the round LPGA: Sorenstam tries to regroup While Michele Redman shot as hot as the weather putting up a 7-under 64 for a twoitroke lead in the Big Apple Classic Annika Sorenstam is trying to regain her sizzling game Sorenstam seeking to regain her touch after surprisingly miming the cut while bidding for a record third straight UJ5 Open shot 39 on her first nine but recovered with four birdies on her lad nine to finish at even-par 71 at New Rochelle NY "I was hitting the ball so well on the front but putting well" die said "I thought had enough of this from last I'm really glad I got it turned Compiiod from Bet news services the crowd bout between Christy Martin and Ism Girgrah Morrisoa guilty: Heavyweight Tommy Morrison entered a 12-month diversionary agreement on a charge of drunken driving and speeding after withdrawing his innocent idea and request for a trial in Fort Scott Kan CompKsd Rom Bat news services MUST PRESENT COUPON GOLF SHOES STARTING AT COUPON EXPIRES 72097 WOODS IRONS LOOK FOR RED TAGS! GREATLOW PRICES! LIQUIDATING NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO SAVE These Offers Do Not Apply To Other CoupoiiAdvertised Specials However We'll Honor The Lower Of The Two Prices Roger Dunn Shops mEOlMZINGMGOBFiSlNOEiim GOLFERS: IQglMaEBCTp AlKSAl FRIDAY JULY 18th TO SUNDAY JULY 20th SAVINGSlfNTEVERYiDERARTMENTi no Haddix nor is he Vander Meer Francisco Cordova started Ricardo Rincon finished and Mark Smith homered It was history repeating itself Almost This time Cordova only lasted two-plus innings in his first start since his combination no-hitter and the Pittsburgh Pirates wound up losing 9-5 to the Cincinnati Reds cm Thursday night Cordova who repeat the extra-innings no-hit effort of Harvey Haddix who lost his bid also cow the back-to-back no-hitters of Johnny Vander Meer Cordova who pitched nine innings Saturday in the first two-pitcher extra-innings no-hitter in major league history yielded seven runs cm eight hits in the worst of his 25 starts in the ma- No I think the pressure bothered him" Pirates manager Gene Tjmnnt paid "If it had it would have bothered him in the eighth and ninth innings Saturday The only way I'd believe it is if it came out of his own NL: Maddux gets some help They may want to rename the Cy Young Award some day Greg Maddux lifted fig a pinch hitter when the Braves pulled away with a four-run seventh became the National first 13-game winner by winning hia sixth consecutive decision 8-2 over Colorado He also kept himself solidly in contention for a fifth Qy Young in want to get to the postseason what really Maddux said "I know early to talk about that But regardlees of how many wina I get what happens after the regular aaaaon is what really Ryan Klesko hit two hone runs once in the fourth to put the Braves ahead for good and again in the seventh nis 11 the season "The ball carries better when the weather is warmer no doubt about he said "But I think helping me that much because iWhitting the heck out of the Rockies bwron With San Francisco winning in Houston and San Diego winning in St Louis Colorado falls lOVi games behind the NL West leaders The Rockies picked by many to challenge for the NL pennant are Atlanta pitcher Greg Maddux leads the National League with 13 victories one more than San Francisco's Shawn Estes last in the division beyond manager Don Baylor said "Most of the year been two three four games out and now 10 out or whatever the most disturbing part "We expect to lose when we go out I have meetings But I AL: Clemens keeps piling up victories Roger Clemens again pitched up to his high standard The twist this tune was that the Toronto offense kept up Clemens pitched a five-hitter to become the first 15-game winner in the mqjors and Carlos Delgado homered twice and drove in five runs as the Blue Jays beat Texas 9-1 The Blue Jays had 15 hits and scored their most runs for Clemens since getting 13 cm May 31 In his eight starts since then Toronto had a total of 15 runs "The hitters deserve all the said Clemens who struck out 10 in his first start since striking out a season-high 16 against Boston was exciting for me to see them having fon been quite some Clemens lowered his AL-lead-ing ERA to 162 improved to 8-1 after a Toronto loss and 94) on the road Hitting shoes ndSoc Mo Vaughn had another big night against Baltimore pitching and this time his Boston teammates joined in the fon Vaughn hit a tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning and drove in four runs as part of a 21-hit attack and a 12-9 victory John Valentin had four singles as four Red Sox including Vaughn had throe hits apiece Orioles have a good-hitting balldub so you need all the runs you can said Vaughn who hit 359 with five homers against the Orioles last year and has six home runs against Baltimore this season Boston cut AL East lead to 3V4 games EteJ Apushfor Shoeless Fame A group of residents from Shoeless Joe Jackson's hometown of Greenville SC are determined to see him in the Hall of Fame More than 90000 people have signed a petition asking baseball Qfftrfala to give the fallen hero part of the 1919 Black Sax scandal his due at Cooperstown Ckxnpflsd from Bm news MfvIcM Veteran trainer Eddie Futch says unbeaten Johnny Tapia has "a unique boxing style no one can a strong statement for Futch who will be 86 on Aug 9 He has trained hundreds of fighters during his 65 years in file sport His latest challenge is junior bantamweight title bout tonight against Danny Romero Jr in Las Vegas Futch has trained 20 world champions including heavyweights Joe Frazier Larry Holmes Riddick Bowo and Ken Norton impressed with Tapia He is one of a kind when it comes to combined hand speed and footwork" Futch said "He moves I so quickly he gives his opponent an entirely different look in the matter of seconds He can score with a lot of punches from Johnny Tapis every angle" Tapia down to 117 pounds has been sparring in Las Vegas with Angle Sanches (94)) a 128-pounder who fights on the Tapia-Romero undercard In a surprise move Futch replaced veteran Emanuel Steward as trainer about two weeks ago Steward had just taken over from Jeaae Reid but devote the proper time to Tapia because he also trains Lennox Lewis who successfully defended his World Boxing Council heavyweight title Saturday when Henry Akinwande was disqualified for holding Futch said Tapia who will fight at 115 pounds is the lightest world champion he has trained Up to now Wayne McCullough a bantamweight and Francisco Gomes of Venezuela a featherweight were the lightest Title fight: Jorge Julio and Oscar Maldonado of Mexico fightfor the vacant WBO bantamweight title July 28 in a 12-round bout at the Forum in Inglewood Julio a former WBA bantamweight champion is 36-1 with 28 knockouts and has won 10 straight The 28-year-old from Los Angeles is the top-ranked contender Maldonado has won six straight and has a record of 17-5-2 with 12 knockouts The 19-year-old is the currant NABO 118-pound champion Julio and Maldonado will fight VBC8S6Q for the 118-pound title by Robbie Regan of Britain who gave it up fin: medical ret fivdM parly: Ricardo Lo- pex is one of six champions in four world title bouts Aug 23 at Madison Square Garden Lopez who has 34 knockouts on his 45-0 record makes the MUST PRESENT COUPON GOLF BALLS STARTING AT COUPON EXPIRES 72097 MUST PRESENT COUPON GOLF BAGS STARTING AT COUPON EXPIRES 72097 MUST PRESENT COUPON GOLF SHIRTS STARTING AT COUPON EXPIRES 72097 MUST PRESENT COUPON GOLF GLOVES STARTING AT COUPON EXPIRES 72097 MUST PRESENT COUPON WEDGES PUTTERS STARTING AT COUPON EXPIRES 72097 MUST PRESENT COUPOfi GOLF CARTS TRAVEL COVERS COUPON EXPIRES 72097 VISALIA 3278 MOONEY (209)734-1385 Mon-Fri 9-7 Sat 9-6 Sun 10-5 FRESNO 5618 BLACKSTONE (209)436-0464 Mon-Frl 9-7 Sat 9-6 Sun 10-5 i i i.