The Index-Journal from Greenwood, South Carolina • Page 35

The Index-Journal, Greenwood, S.C., April 10, 1994 5D TEi 1 ri A aiaottlhieiP toflngEa Masters snatched from his grasp, Norman was as gracious in defeat as a man so often teased by fate could have been. It won him another contingent of fans to add to those wowed by his looks and his slashing golf game. Yet a third wave joined in with his courageous showings in the last two major championships of last year. This did not go unnoticed by either Norman or the marketing arm on his empire. But the fact remains that when you sell everything and win only a few things, people will only buy you for so long.

Norman is already 39, an age at which only one golfer, Ben Hogan, began collecting major championships in any quantity. His time is running odt. And unless he does something about it, his sales will start drying up as well. AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) A half-dozen Greg Norman shirts, several Greg Norman hats, a few pairs of Greg Norman shoes and even a set of Greg Norman clubs turned up at the seventh tee a good 20 minutes before the real deal did.

If endorsement checks were the sole measure of a Masters champion, Norman would have won this thing several times by now. Unfortunately for him, tournament golf isn't decided that way. And on this decidedly windswept Saturday afternoon, he was already a few shots out of the lead, coming off a stinging bogey at No. 6, and a fair stretch of very tough tournament golf still lay ahead of him. It didn't treat him kindly.

"I didn't get a break at the right time. I probably played better today than I did the first couple of days, but I couldn't make a putt," Norman said when yet one more down to the bags of brand new balata balls they handed him to smack out on the practice range. And all this happened before he grabbed a share of the first-round lead with a 69, went on to finish a surprisingly strong fourth, and gave birth to his alter ego, the Great White Shark, by revealing in the interview room his passion for hunting the predator. Now, 13 years later, that inaugural Masters tour stands out as both a blessing and a curse. It made him a rich man, to be sure, but likely it also made him a haunted one.

In 1986, he finished second as Jack Nicklaus staged one of the most stirring comebacks in the history of golf. A year later, he stood just as close to Larry Mize, the Augusta native who slipped into the green jacket after slipping Norman in a playoff by running in a 140-foot pitch. Like the several other victories "I'm playing well enough. I just hope the golf course plays the same tomorrow, that the wind blows a little bit and keeps the greens hard. "Because the harder it is," Norman added, "the better it is for me.

I can go out, make a couple of birdies early and who knows what will happen on the back nine." The Masters is golfs annual rite of spring, its site of renewal. But too many times now, it has held little else but disappointment for Norman. As happy as his first one was is how unhappy nearly each one since has been. In 1981, before he was the Shark, before he was a global business enterprise, before he raised expectations to a level that only his income has so far matched, he came here as a raw, muscular 26-year-old awed by the surroundings. Everything about the place felt right, beginning with the way the golf course was set up disastrous tour of Augusta National was behind him.

"So I walk off with a 75." That number left him at 215, six strokes behind his playing partner and chief tormentor on the day, Tom Lehman. Whether it effectively knocked Norman out of contention remained to be seen. This much, though, is certain: A round like Saturday's bad execution following bad decisions in a major championship like this one would have done the old Greg Norman in. Instead, he came here insisting that Norman was gone, sealed off with a past that was long on promise and short on results. He came here steeled by that second British Open win, by a heartrending, second-place finish in the PGA Championship, and just after a seamless performance in the TPC.

And he seemed every bit as good as his word when he escaped the Tubbs leaves Oklahoma The Masters (Continued from page ID) Olazabal eagled the 535-yard 8th hole, hitting his second shot within 5 feet of the hole, and turned the front nine in 33. He took the lead at 7 under par when he birdied No. 1 1 but gave it back with a boegy on the par-5 13th hole when he hit into the water. Mize, who three-putted Nos. 1 and 3, settled down and made a 5-foot birdie on 9 and was at 5 under par at the turn.

He birdied No. 12 with a spectacular sand shot from the back trap, landing it on the fringe and deadening it just enough to roll down the slick slope and into the hole to go to 6 under. He gave fell back to 5 under when he bogeyed No. 18. "He's just an excellent player," Mize said abbout Lehman.

"It's just a matter of time before he wins and this week might it." Defending champion Bernhard Langer shot an even-par 72 to put him at 4-over-par 220 after three rounds along with Jeff Sluman, Lanny Wadkins, Ben Crenshaw, Australian Wayne Grady and Fuzzy Zoeller. Faldo continued to struggle here, shooting 73 and finishing 54 holes at 6-over-par 222. Price shot 74 and was at 221. John Daly and Ian Woosnam both shot 77 and were at at 10-over-par 226. Many of the pins Saturday were tucked tight to the front edge, making getting close on the hard greens no easy task.

The wind was chugging from the familiar southeast, but gusting to 15 mph, just enough to create doubt about club selection. Nicklaus doesn't make any excuses Since taking over the Sooners in 1980-81, Tubbs is 333-132. His overall record is 439-200 in 20 seasons. Glenn Robinson wins Wooden Award LOS ANGELES (AP) With his future still undecided, Purdue forward Glenn Robinson completed a sweep of college basketball's player of the year honors when he received the John Wooden Award. Robinson, a 6-foot-8 junior who led the nation with a 30.3-point scoring average, figures to be the first or second selection in the NBA draft on June 29 if he decides to give up his final year of eligibility.

Robinson finished with 4,930 points in the voting of over 1,000 sportswriters and sportscasters nationally to 3,862 for runnerup Grant Hill of Duke, 3,585 for Do-nyell Marshall of Connecticut, and 3,461 for Jason Kidd of California. Dayton names Purnell coach DAYTON, Ohio (AP) Oliver Purnell, who guided Old Dominion to postseason tournaments in each of his three seasons, was hired as coach at Dayton. Purnell, 40, replaces Jim O'Brien, who was fired last month after winning only 10 games in his final two seasons. Purnell was 57-33 at Old Dominion. He said he will sign a six-year contract, but declined to disclose terms.

Dayton had courted Siena coach Mike Deane, but Deane went to Marquette instead. Tulsa coach to stay TULSA, Okla. (AP) Tubby Smith, whose stock as a coach rose sharply after he look Tulsa to the NCAA tournament's Sweet Sixteen, signed a new five-year contract. Tulsa president Robert Donaldson announced, the agreement at a downtown rally that had been scheduled a week ago to honor Smith and the basketball team. Smith, who met with Kansas State athletic officials Thursday about their coaching vacancy, decided for the second straight year to stay at Tulsa.

He turned down GREG NORMAN Struggles in third round early-round troubles that had dogged him here in the past. Now he is down to one chance to deliver. MASTERS NOTES home early. He also hinted that he might stay there awhile. "I've embarrassed myself," he said.

"I've got to figure something out. I'm thinking about taking some time off and I don't know when I'll come back. "I've never been this bad," he said. "I'm just not having a lot of fun and I won't come back until I do." SHOELESS DALY BITING NAILS: John Daly wasn't in no mood to discuss his round Thursday when he posted a 76 in the opening round. He was three shots better on Friday at 73, but still wasn't ready to talk.

Daly was in such a hurry to leave the course he walked through the parking lot in his socks. He got another chance to talk on Saturday after barely surviving the cut. CUT LIST INCLUDES BIG NAMES: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Payne Stewart had plenty of company on the list of stars who failed to survive the cut. Three-time champion Gary Player had slight visions of being in the chase after shooting a 71 in the first round. Any such thoughts vanished with a second-round 79 that left him one shot shy of the 149 cut.

Also failing with 150 totals were former British Open champion Mark Calcavecchia, 75; Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, 73; 1982 Masters winner Craig Stadler, 74, and Johnny Miller, who qualified by winning at Pebble Beach earlier this year, 73. Hawaiian Open champion Brett Ogle of Australia finished with a -77 for 151; Davis Love III, winner, of two events this year, had a 78 for 154, and Steve Elkington of Australia shot 74 for 155. 33ZSEI3d the coaching job at Houston a year ago. Terms of the new contract were not released but the university said it replaces Smith's existing contract, which had two years remaining. The Hurricane won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title this year and got a bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1987.

Smith was named the conference coach of the year, and three of bis players swept the MVC post-season honors. Ruth bat sells for $63,000 NEW YORK (AP) The bat Babe Ruth used to hit his 56th home run in 1921 was was sold Saturday for $63,000, the highest price ever paid for a bat at auction according to Sotheby's. A Honus Wagner baseball card also brought $63,000 at the sale of sports memorabilia, said Magda Gregorian, a spokeswoman for the auction house. The bat, which was accompanied by a letter from Ruth, was sold to an anonymous bidder on the telephone, she said. Also vying for the bat were two people in Sotheby's main salesroom.

"The bidding for the bat was active," said Robert Levine, sports specialist in Sotheby's collectibles departmenL "The whole point is that it had such a great story around it and that generated a lot of enthusiasm." The bat, valued at $40,000 to $50,000, was consigned by the grandson of Robert Larson, the manager of B.F. Keith's Theater in Boston. Sotheby's was not releasing the grandson's name. Ruth had sent the bat and letter to Larson to thank him for letting the ballplayer practice his stage act at the theater while the Yankees were in town playing the Red Sox. The day after Larson received the bat, Keith announced Ruth would begin a 20-week national vaudeville tour for $3,000 per week.

The year 1921 was a big one for Ruth: he led the Yankees to their first pennant, batted .378 and made career highs in runs batted in, runs scored, stolen bases, triples and total bases. He hit his 56th home run on Sept. 16, 1921 at the Polo Grounds. Today's pairings, tee times AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Pairings and starting limes (In EDT) for today's final round a of the Masters on the Augusta National Golf Club course (54-liole scores in parentheses): 10:45 a.m.

Jeff Maggert (230) and non competing marker. 10:54 a.m. Costantlno Rocca (227) and a John Harris (228). 11:03 a.m. John Cook (226) and Sandy Lyle (226).

11:12 ajn. Ian Woosnam (226) and John Daly (226) 11:21 a.m. Andrew Magee (224) and Mike Standly (225). 11:30 a.m. Sam Torrance (223) and Fred Funk (224).

11:39 a.m. Hajlme Meshiai (222) and Howard Twltty (223). 11:48 a.m. Fulton A Hem (222) and Lee Janzen (222). 11:57 a.m.

Craig Parry (222) and Nick Faldo (222). 12:06 p.m. Seve Ballesteros (221) and Mark O'Meara (221). 12:15 p.m. Scott Simpson (221) and Nick Price (221).

12:24 p.m. David Frost (220) and Hale Irwta (220). 12:33 p.m. Fuzzy Zoeller (220) and Bill Glasson (220). 12:42 p.m.

Ben Crenshaw (220) and Wayne Grady (220). 12:51 p.m. Bernhard Langer (220) and Lanny Wadkins (220). 1 p.m. Curtis Strange (219) and Jerf Sluraan (220).

1:09 p.m. Vljay Singh (219) and Russ Cochran (219). 1:18 p.m. David Edwards (218) and John Huston (218). 1:27 p.m.

Brad Faxon (217) and Chip Beck (217). 1:36 p.m. Jay Haas (216) and Dan Forsman (216). 1:45 p.m. Greg Norman (215) and Corey Pavln (215).

1:54 p.m. Loren Roberts (215) and Ernie Els (215). 2:03 p.m. Tom Watson (214) and Ray Floyd (215). 2:12 p.m.

Ian Baker-Finch (213) and Jim McGovern (213). 2:21 p.m. Larry Mize (211) and Tom Kite (212). 2:30 p.m. Tom Lehman (209) and Jose Maria Olazabal (210).

Erskine finishes 11-6 DUE WEST Erskine ended it's men's tennis season Friday with a 7-0 victory over Emory. The Fleet, which didn't lose a set against Emory, finishes the year at 11-6. Emory fell to 7-5. Enkln 7, Eimxy 0 vera 6-4, 7-5; Brad Glen (Erskine) Jess LKurtc 6-3, 6-1; Brent Batdwf (Erskine) d. Eric Wesocoskl 6-4, 6-4; Art Wood (Erskine) d.

Ruse Thaler 6-1, 6-3; Scott Tucker (Erskine) d. Scott McDonald 6-3, 6-4; Bi Cheek (Erskine) won by forfeit. Doubfti: Van ThuHenarGlen (Erskine) d. OlMera Llurk 64; BatdortCheek (Erskine) d. Wesocoskl McDonald 6-4; WoodTucker won by Softball tournament There will be a softball tournament in Ninety Six April 23 for church, industrial and Class and teams, with all proceeds going to Coronaca Fire Department.

Call Barry Briggs at 942-0124 for more information. G-Braves win GREENVILLE (AP) Hector Roa's sacrifice fly lifted the Greenville Braves to a 2-1 Southern League victory over the Knox-villc Smokies on Saturday night. FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Billy Tubbs, the Sooners' winning-est basketball coach, said Saturday he will leave Oklahoma after 14 seasons to take on a new challenge: the struggling Texas Christian program. "I came here because I think it's an exciting adventure. It's a tremendous challenge, and it brings with it a lot of excitement," Tubbs said during an afternoon news conference.

Tubbs replaces Moe Iba, who was fired in March after seven seasons. TCU ended the season 7-20 and with attendance sagging below 3,000. TCU athletic director Frank Windegger said the school sought Tubbs because "he is a builder. He builds programs. He builds young men." Tubbs said he decided to make the move because he believes TCU is committed to building a winning program.

He also said he was ready for a change. "You can only get excited about going to Manhattan, so many times. I'd like to see some other places around the USA," he said. As for the uncertainty over which conference TCU will be aligned with after Texas, Texas Baylor and Texas Tech leave the Southwest Conference, Tubbs said, "That's what makes it exciting the unknown factor out there." Tubbs, 59, was interviewed by TCU on Friday in Fort Worth. He said he had been talking to the school for a couple of weeks.

Tubbs signed a five-year contract, and published reports indicate Tubbs will be paid between $200,000 and $400,000 a year. Tubbs' base salary at Oklahoma was $107,000, but he may have doubled that with money from ether sources such as television and radio contracts. The Sooners 1 were 15-13 last season, breaking a string of 12 straight seasons with 20 victories. Tubbs joins Barry Switzer, another former Oklahoma coach, in the Dallas-Fort Worth Switzer, the most successful coach in Sooners football history, is now coach of the Dallas Cowboys. According to The Oklahoman, a top candidate to replace Tubbs is Si Louis coach Charlie Spoon-hour, a former Oklahoma assistant Spoonhour has an 11-year record of 232-104 and is 35-23 at Si Louis, which last season was 23-6 and an NCAA qualifier for the first time since 1957.

1 SEE ALL THAT'S NEW ADMISSION WITH THIS COUPON (A $10.00 VALUE) (NO ONE UNDER 1ADMITTED) fj AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) There were no excuses from Jack Nicklaus on Friday when he failed to make the Masters cut for the first time since 1967. He took it in stride. "I knew I needed to break 70 to make the cut," he said. He didn't Nicklaus followed an opening-round 78 with a 74 Friday, leaving him 8-over for two trips around the Augusta National layout.

"I had a lot of good years here," he said. "I'll take a bad one." Nicklaus, 54, has won this championship six times, two of those coming in consecutive years just before he missed the 1967 cut with rounds of 72 and 79. The only other time he missed the cut was in 1959, his first appearance at Augusta as an amateur. He also wasn't around Augusta for the weekend action in 1983 when a back injury forced him to withdraw before beginning the second round. "I didn't make any putts," he said just after leaving the scorer's tent on No.

18. "As a result, I'm going to go home and watch it on the weekend." ARNIE'S MIND GAMES: After missing the Masters cut for the 11th year in a row, four-time champion Arnold Palmer said thoughts of when he should quit playing keep creeping into his mind. "I don't think it's any drastic decision that I have to confront myself with right now," he said, i "At the moment, I'm planning to do next year the same as I've done this year, except play better. And, I've said that for about the last 10 years." Palmer shot 77 in the second round, giving him a 36-hole score of 155 -1 1 shots over par. "If my game got better, I wouldn't have any problem at all," he said.

"It is the tradition of -the Masters (for former champions) to play. It's just a question of how long I will play not playing very well. As long as I can hit it and as long as I can walk, I'm going to consider playing." Even though years have passed since Palmer gave his army of fans something to loudly cheer at Augusta, the 64-year-old continues to lure big galleries. "I looked at the crowd today and I could almost name all' of them by their first name, which is awfully nice to think that they still come out and follow me even when I'm playing as poorly as I've played the last few yearsf" Palmer EMBARRASSED STEWART THINKS ABOUT QUITTING: Back-to-back 78s had 1991 U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart heading You May Be Missing More Than Your HAVE you ever made all the "big putts" in life only to rcalke you were failing miserably at the little ones that mattered most? Neglecting the little things in life can exact a heavy price, can't it? But you don't have to feel defeated refocus! How? Winners at the game of life April 20,21 Three-Foot Putts.

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