The Herald from Rock Hill, South Carolina • 32

6D The Herald Sunday August 28 2005 PRO GOLF ROUNDUP WNBA Rose hangs on for lead Sting fall in final game By Aarron Summer Herald correspondent Hie Associated Pres CROMWELL Conn -Bogey-free and four strokes in front after 36 holes at the Buick Championship Justin Rose went over par on No 37 He kept his poise though and was still one stroke in front Saturday after three rounds ton Rose missed a 14-foot par putt the opening hole and scrambled all day for an even par 70 that had ting the score at 18-18 The teams traded the lead back and forth before Connecticut closed the half with a spurt taking a 45-36 lead into the break The momentum spilled into the second half for the Sun as they built their lead to 55-38 Charlotte shaved the margin to 59-51 before another double-digit run by Connecticut pushed the advantage to nearly 20 points But the Sting were determined to defend their turf Charlotte strung together 13 straigit points trimming the differential to just six points Though the Sting ultimately ran out of manpower and ammunition the noble effort typifies the legacy left by the Sting in the Charlotte Coliseum is sad to see this day come but looking forward to the move said Bogues anxious to share the new downtown arena with the Charlotte Bobcats is a new beginning for us I want the players to forget about the bad memories from this season understanding that we need to build from here and hopefully move toward the CHARLOTTE Ladies and gentlemen the Charlotte Sting have left the building Playing the final professional game in the history of the Charlotte Coliseum the Sting battled the Eastern Conference regular season champion Connecticut Sun down to tire bitter end Yfet adhering to the cyclical nature of sports the building closed just as it opened seeing the home team fall Building an insurmountable lead early in the Second half the Sun withstood a valiant late Sting run claiming the 78-69 victory The game drew closure to a dismal season to the Sting who finished in the WNBA cellar while amassing the worst record in franchise history finishing a paltry 6-28 a good day but it is also a sad said Charlotte coach Mug-gsy Bogues who played for the Charlotte Hornets when the Coliseum was built 1 opened this building up in when we saw it packed with 24000 fans screaming until the final whistle We lost 1 Chuck Burton the Associated Press Connecticut's Le'coe Willingham shoots over Charlotte's Ayana Whlker during the first halt him at 12-under 198 It was just enough to hold off Ben Curtis his playing partner and friend Curtis the 2003 British Open champion shot a 3-under 67 His only mistake was driving into the water on No 17 costing him a share of the lead both wcsked hard on our games this year and it's starting to pay off Rose said was nice playing with him today Curtis the first-round co-leader is winless since that British Open He began to turn around his game last month when he finished third at the Western Open and then contended early at the PGA Championship with a first-round 67 at Bal-tusrd for a share of the lead Four golfers including Corey Ravin (67) who got within two-strokes of the lead midway through his round were at 2Q2 That group also included defending champion Vtody Austin (65) Jerry Kelly (67) and Tjaart van der Walt (68) Rose who has four international wins is looking for his first victory since joining the PGA Tbur last year This is the first time on tour he led after 54 holes that game by 40 points but the fans were supportive appreciating the product that was on the floor I have some good and bad memories here but happily take the good and move forward' Charlotte suceumbed to an early 11-2 run by the Sun but countered with a 12-2 run of their own knot Stew Miller The Associated Press Justin Rose reacts as ha makes Ms par putt on the 18th green keeping him in the lead for the third round at 12 under over Ben Curtis with 11 under hi Cromwell Comk Saturday Eagles blank Elon in volleyball Darren Stiles began the day at made the biggest even par and Defensively Grafeman led all players with eight digs while Eton's Brooke Pickard was her leader with six digs Hie Lady Eagles opened the season with a 4-1 home loss to Georgia State After a scoreless first half where Georgia State held a 7-2 edge in shots the Lady Panthers got on the board first Kari Quinn was in the right place at the right time as a badly deared ball Came straight to her and she was able to slip a shot by goalkeeper Dimitra Poulos in the 62nd minute Just over a minute lateer the Lady Eagles responded when freshman Erin Foote scored her first collegiate goal which was set up by Ashley Abood Just under six minutes later Geoigia State took a 2-1 lead and didn't look back It was Quinn again as her header off a comer kick from Paige Beyer sailed over the head of Poulos and into the back of the net from about 12 yards out In the 82nd minute Lauren Chavez got into the scoring as she scored two goals in a span of a minute and 56 seconds Poulos who making her first collegiate start made From staff reports Mary Hock Thryn Surbaugh and Ibri Grafeman combined for all 42 of Winthrop's kills to lead the Eagles to a 3-0 volleyball victory over Eton Saturday night to extend their home court winning streak to 15 The Eagles improved to'2-0 with 30-24 30-25 30-20 over the visitors Hock die Big South Conference preseason Player of the Year pick led everyone with 16 kills and six service aces She finished the night with a 500 attack average Smbaugh was the leading hitter with a 556 average as she collected 13 kills in 18 attacks with three errors Grafeman also reached double figures in kills with 12 Winthrop jumped out quickly in game one to win but started slowly in the second game and trailed 10-4 before catching fire behind the serving of Hock who collected three of her six aces in the game Game three was all Eagles as they jumped out to a 19-7 lead before coasting to the win For the match Winthrop outhit Ekm 393 to 143 as die Eagles nearly doubted the Phoenix in kills (4926) The kill leader for Elon was Britany Westphal with nine with a win That would give her an insurmountable lead over Meena Lee in the points standings dial de termine the award The 19-year-old was at 16-under 200 after three rounds at Thrtan Fields Golf Club one shot in front of Cristie Kerr and Soo-Yun Kang Ken matched 66 while Kang shot a 69 Qeamer began the day two shots behind co-leaders Kang and defending champion Catriona Matthew She took the lead with birdies on her first three holes She added birdies at Nos 7 11 and 12 to build a two-stroke lead She added another birdie at the 16th then encountered problems down the stretch She overshot the green on the par-3 17th chipped back and missed a 12-footer for par At the par-4 18th her second shot was on the green but on the bottom tiec Her first putt came up 4 feet short and she missed the par putt Kerr played solid if unspectacular bogey-free golf opening with a birdie and then twice had consecutive birdies Edoando Mdinari built a 5-up lead through 11 holes and went on to defeat Austin Eaton 2 and 1 to reach 36-hole match play finaL Dougherty a senior at Northwestern rallied from an eariy two-hole deficit and evened the match with a par on the eighth He went 1-up with another par at No 9 He moved to 2-up with a birdie at die 10th but Deacon a fifth-year senior at UNLV rallied and tied the match with a par at the 14th drive at No 15 sailed wide and he was forced to punch out into the fairway Deacon capitalized hitting his approach to 40 feet and lagging his putt within gimmie range Dougherty chipped to 15 feet but he fell one hole down LPGA In Dublin Ohio despite dosing with two bogeys faula Creamer moved closer to dinching LPGA rookie of the year honors by shooting a feunder 66 to take a one-stroke lead after three rounds at the Wordy's Championship for Children Creamer who won the Sybase and Evian tournaments earlier this year can lock up the rookie title jump shooting a 7-under 63 and was five strokes back Curtis and Rose were paired at last year's Memorial On Saturday they dueled down the stretch Curtis caught him on No 14 when Rose bogeyed the 421-yard par-4 But shot into the water on the signature hole cost him After a drop he landed his approach 22 feet from tire pin and two-putted to bogey Rose made it interesting a few seconds later on the same hole when his approach dropped into the lakeside fringe He chipped up to about 10 feet and rolled it in to pan US AMATEUR In Ardmore Pa Dillon Dougherty won tiw last two holes with a chip-in birdie and a gimmie par after hitting the flagstick beating JC Deacon 1-up to advance to the final of the US Amateur at Merion Golf Club In the other semifinal Italy's seven saves HmrsdaylN SEPTEMBER! September 1 5:30 pm SflJiiriidlaiiyj 5s FARnnor eday KirafigHilts CsasttOe THIS AFTERNOON First Pitch at 2:15 pm $1 Hot Dogs Kids ran the bases after the game! Downtown Rock Hill Live music by Doc Holliday SPONSORED BY: Delicious food and beverages available for all ages Bowater Carolina FEDERAL CREDIT UNION wwnNLbowitiieOfi Prize drawings $2 draft beers (ID required) Thanks to these generous sponsors: Corporate Sponsor Season Sponsors v-gPco 1st Patriots Federal Credit Union Comporium Communications SUffourk Thomas Gymnastics Training Crater Tyro Electronics September Concert Sponsors Hariey-Davidioa of Rock Hill Horton Homes FASTSIGMS of Rock Hill Neat Stuff University Piedmont Medical Center Piedmont Regional Association of REALTORS Prudential Carolina! Realty Relocation Division The Herald ng Co YORK COUNTY RwlChir case of rain an alternate band will perform next Thursday September 8 Ai.