The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 44

Baseball: Dodgers, Angels both winC4 Paul Oberjuerge Sports Edltof (909) 386-3865 Fax (909) 384-0327 'P0RTS The Sun Section Monday August 30, 1993 Tennis: U.S. Open begins todayC2 Paul Burton goes long way for major win 71 UDenuereev' IM THIS f' CORNER IT lJ Burton earned $120,000 and King collected $74,474. Burton, a Rialto resident, shot 2-under 70 and King shot 1-under 71 in constant rain that forced one brief suspension of play. "Coming down the stretch," said Burton, "it was very hard to judge the speed of the putts." Ironically, Burton wasn't certain of the length of her winning putt. She thought it was something over 20 feet and less than 25.

For sure, it was uphill and downhill and breaking left to right through the water. The ball seemed to hang on the lip of the cup for a moment before falling in from the side. "I didn't think the ball was going to get there," said Burton, 21. "I can assure you that it wasn't going by the hole." In regulation play, Burton three-putted the 18th hole for a double-bogey 6 to let King back into the tournament. King, who entered the final round with a one-stroke lead over Burton, led Burton by three strokes through 10 holes, but she four-putted the 15th green and lost the lead.

"If I had the 15th hole to play over again, I would have marked my ball after I missed the second putt," King said. Her first putt was from 35 feet, the second was from eight, the third from four and the fourth from 1 'a feet. Still, she had a chance to win the tournament in regulation on the 18th hole when she missed a birdie putt from 15 feet. "I thought I'd made it," said King. "It just turned away at the end." The Rialto resident sinks a 20-plus foot putt on first hole of playoff to win the du Maurier Classic, her first major championship.

By Jerry Potter Gannett News Service LONDON, Ontario Like most young golfers, Brandie Burton always dreamed of winning a championship with a birdie putt. "Not a tap-in," she said. "But a putt of something over 15 feet." Burton's dream came true Sunday as she beat Betsy King on the first hole of a playoff in the du Maurier Classic, the final major championship of the season in women's golf. Burton and King ended regulation at 11-under-par 277 at the London Hunt and Country Club. THE BURTON FILE Age: 21.

Homotown: Rialto. 1993 victories: Two Jamie Farr Toledo Classic and du Maurier Classic. Career victories: Three also won 1992 PingWelch's Championship in Tucson. 1993 earnings: $405,039. Career earnings: $1,001,022.

Hams of Interest: Was Rookie of the Year In 1991. Qualified fortour on her first attempt. one year of golf at Arizona State and won 6-of-7 tournaments. the 1987 and 1989 San Diego Junior World Championship. 0 APWIREPHOTO Brandie Burton shows off her prize for winning Sunday.

Mote fDDKlDsfl ddh cs3ODrDcnr 4 "-if ii J- ling on defense, ponderous and ineffectual on offense, the Trojans were bamboozled by the Tar Heels' clever option attack (which produced 291 rushing yards, 408 total) and were stymied by their own offensive mistakes and lack of firepower. "Obviously it was a tough night for us," Robinson said. "The results were pretty nasty," added defensive end Willie McGinest. Almost nothing went right for the Trojans. Second John Robinson era begins with No.

18 Trojans losing to No. 20 North Carolina. By Mike Davis Sun Sports Writer ANAHEIM The second John Robinson era at USC started about as well as the first one did and about as well as the Larry Smith era ended. Which is to say, .31 ...9 TAR HEELS, TROJANS They had three kicks blocked a field goal, a punt and an extra point. They fumbled at the North Carolina 20 in the first quarter and at their really, really badly.

Returning to the scene of one of their darkest episodes, the 18th-ranked Trojans, full of confidence and optimism, stormed Next: vs. Hous ton Saturday, 3:30 p.m. Different era, same qld result NAHEIM John Robinson is back. USC football isn't. Returning the Trojans to what they consider their rightful place in the football universe is going to be more difficult than dressing Robinson in cardinal and gold and propping him up on the sideline.

The operating assumption around Heritage Hall seemed to be that bringing back the guy who went 67-14-2 and won a national championship in 1978 would be enough to make USC a national power again. Like, right now. Robinson, see, said all the right things from the moment he replaced Larry Smith. He woke up the echoes. He invoked the names of Charles White and O.J.

Simpson and Marcus Allen and talked about the horse and the band. He talked about student-body right and power football and aiming for national championships. About pride and tradition and lofty goals. No question, J. Robby can talk the talk.

Unfortunately, his football players can't walk the walk. I' Sunday night at Anaheim Stadium, USC was ripped by North Carolina, 3 1-9, in the Pigskin Classic. It was no fluke. The better team the much better team won. That was the biggest upset ofall.

North Carolina, remember, is about as interested in football as USC is in basketball. Football in Chapel Hill is merely something to fill the dead time in the fall before Dean Smith begins his annual run for the NCAA championship. at North Carolina is Ethan Horton and Natrone Means. It's a bowl game once a decade. It's nowhere.

But North Carolina had more enough to take USC's ground game and stuff it like a Christmas turkey. It had the alternately too physical or too tricky for USC to stop. It didn't take long for all this to become painfully clear. Heck, the USC band hadn't played "Fight On" more than a couple dozen times before the Trojans were passing on third-and-2. i Power football? It was wearing Carolina blue.

USC finished with 101 rushing yards. North Carolina had 291. Bringing back John Robinson wasn't going to help Sunday night. The Trojans could have rounded up Howard Jones, Gus Henderson and John McKay, too, and they still would have been hammered. The Trojansjust don't have enough football players right now.

Forget about injuries. Disregard turnovers. Discount game plans. USC can't suit up what it takes to win. Robinson himself sounded the warning a month ago when he spoke ominously of his team being a "step slow." Being a step "slow" in football is more deadly than fumbling.

Worse than silly penalties. A "step slow" isn't something you can correct with more practice or more intense chalk talks. If USC wants to get back to the Rose Bowl, Robinson is a good start. He knows football. He knows talent.

What he needs now is time and a tailback. And a couple of receivers, some linebackers and a defensive back or three. He needs somebody timed with a watch and not a sundial. 'After the carnage Sunday, Robinson bravely stood before a passel of reporters and insisted, "We still have all the expectations. We still expect to bring this program all the way back to the top." Maybe so.

Just don't look for it this week, this month or this season. USC has five more games with teams ranked In the 25. We're talking Notre Dame and Penn State and Washington, Arizona and Stanford. lfRobby can coax 7-5 out of these guys, they ought to give him his own annex in Heritage Hall. USC has a coach.

But until it gets some guys who can play, it's not going to matter much' 20 in the third. Trailing 7-0 in the second period, they had a touchdown pass wiped out by an ineligible receiver penalty. Most critically, they lost starting tailback Dwight McFadden with a broken left ankle in the first period. He fumbled on the play and North Carolina drove 79 yards for the game's first TD. Later in the second quarter, USC quarterback Rob Johnson had a fourth-down pass tipped away at the North Carolina 33.

On the next play, the Tar Heels' Jason Stanicek passed 47 yards to Bucky Brooks, setting up Curtis Johnson's 3-yard scoring run for a 14-3 lead 1:40 before halftime. When Scott Fields, McFad-den's replacement, fumbled at his 20 on the third play of the second half to set up another Carolina TD, the rout was on. Trojans still optimistic despHe upsetting loss. StoryC3 out onto the Ananeim Stadium greensward Sunday night and produced another big ol black eye for their storied program, in the form of a 31-9 shelling at the hands of No. 20 North Carolina in the Pigskin Classic.

The season-opening loss in front of 49,309 spectators was every bit as grisly as Robinson's first USC debut in 1976, a 46-25 loss to Missouri. There was a difference this time, though. That '76 USC team didn't lose another game, finishing 11-1. This one appears eminently capable of losing fairly often against a schedule that includes six members of the AP preseason top 20. In fact, on Sunday night the Trojans looked about the same as the 6-5-1 team that ended last season with a 24-7 Freedom Bowl loss to Fresno State in this stadium the embarrassing defeat that led to the firing of Smith and the rehiring of Robinson.

Slow-looking and soft-tack- APWIREPHOTO USC coach John Robinson keeps a watchful eye on quarterback Rob Johnson during Sunday's pre-game practice. Robinson didn't have much to smile about later as his team lost to the Tar Heels. DY THE Johnson shows how low he can go for County Am title Pp-VTWIUUS i I 7 TV HIGHLIGHTS Boxing Morrison vs. Williams, 6 p.m., ESPN College football North Carolina vs. USC (tape), 10:30 p.m., Prime Ticket Golf du Maurier Classic (tape), 5:30 p.m., Prime Ticket Tennis U.S.

Open, 8 a.m., 4:30 p.m., USA TV-Radio llstlnfsCS SCORES National League Dodgers 8, St. Louis 3 Pitt. 7, San Diego 4, (1st) San Diego 11, Pin. Atlanta 8, Chicago 2 Montreal 3, Houston 2 Phlla. 12, Cincinnati 0 Colorado 6, New York 1 San Francisco 9, Florida 3 American League Angels 6, Milwaukee 1 New York 14, Cleveland 8 Kansas City 5, Boston 4, (12) Baltimore 6, Texas 3 Oakland 7, Detroit 3 Toronto 6, Seattle 2 ChKjigo 13, Minnesota 5 "I did that on two different courses," said Johnson, having shot a 66 at San Bernardino and a 3-under 69 at the par-72 El Rancho Verde Country Club.

"El Rancho is a lot longer than San Bernardino." But the way Johnson had his long-game going Sunday, it might not have been such an unfair comparison. He hit all but six greens in regulation, but he was on the short fringe of the green on two of those and just a foot or so in the rough pin-high on the other four. What he lacked in the few inaccurate shots he made, he compensated with his steady putter. He had 11 one-putt greens, including a string of six holes from Nos. 6-11.

During that span, he made four of his eight birdies on the day to put away his second consecutive County Am title. His only two bogeys came when he three-putted the par-4, 323-yard No. 3 and looked up too soon on a poor chip at the par-3, 125-yard 14th. A spectator summed it up best watching Johnson par the par-3, 191-yard 16th hole. "This would have been a really competitive tournament," he said, "if Mark John-son wasn't here." Malnei left behind.

StoryC2 llurtCB Johnson fires 6-under 64 for seven-shot victory. By Dan Evans Sun Sports Writer SAN BERNARDINO The San Bernardino County Amateur Golf Tournament trophy sat in an official's tent on the first tee as the players were starting Sunday's final round. "Does Mark Johnson have to carry that around the course the final round?" runner-up Ted Lyford joked to an official. Even a 3-foot tall, 15-pound trophy, wasn't going to slow down Johnson in his quest for a record fourth County Am title. Johnson followed up his opening round of 66 on Saturday with a 6-under-par 64 Sunday to win the 23rd County Am, with both rounds being played for the first time at the San Bernardino Golf Club.

Johnson's record-low 130 total was a record seven strokes better than Lyford, who chipped in a birdie at the 18th hole to take second over Tom Mainez. "With all the good players through the years in the County Am, that's what makes this special," Johnson said about becoming the first to win four titles. As for his record total eclipsing the best H-hole total of 135 that he set in 1980 Jolftison said it's an unfair comparison. OINA FERAZZIThe Sun Mark Johnson missed tis eagle putt, but not mirh weekend..