Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Appleby, Toms among leaders at Buick Challenge

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Saturday, October 2, 1999

Appleby, Toms among leaders at Buick Challenge
Pair tied for lead with Frazar at 10-under after two rounds; Sorenstam takes lead at New Albany
Associated Press

PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - A casual stroll through Callaway Gardens worked wonders for Stuart Appleby and David Toms, who put together effortless rounds that landed them in a three-way tie for the lead Friday in the Buick Challenge.
   Appleby was trying not to get caught up in the last leg of a long, grinding season when he filled his scorecard with so many birdies that he couldn't remember the holes or how he made them. He finished with an 8-under 64 without even carrying his yardage book.
   Toms was surprised he was even playing. He quit his pro-am after only one hole Wednesday because of severe back pain and was simply trying not to hurt himself when he turned in a 6-under 66.
   That left them at 10-under 134 along with Harrison Frazar, whose 67 included a 7-iron on the 178-yard eighth hole that was so close to going in that the 28-year-old Texan couldn't decide whether it was 1 inch or 2 inches away.

Sorenstam's 66 puts her up by two at LPGA_event: At New Albany, Ohio, Annika Sorenstam turned a four-shot deficit into a two-stroke lead with a 6-under-par 66 in Friday's second round of the New Albany Golf Classic.
   Seeking her second victory of the year, last year's LPGA player of the year was even-par for her round and separated from the lead by several players as she completed her first nine holes.
   After an opening-round 68, she stands at 10-under 134 at the midpoint of the $1 million tournament.

Dent leads at Vantage Championship: At Clemmons, N.C., Jim Dent doesn't want to hear that his odds of winning the $1.5 million Vantage Championship are not very good, especially after shooting an opening-round 63 Friday.
   Bruce Fleisher, who has won five times in his rookie season and finished second another five times, was in the group at 5-under 65. He is joined by Bob Duval, Tom Jenkins and Gary McCord.

Rivero leads German Masters: At Cologne, Germany, Spain's Jose Rivero had a one-stroke lead Friday when the rain-plagued $1.9 million German Masters was called because of darkness during the second round.
   Rivero, who has missed 11 of his last 15 cuts, fought rain and blowing winds to finish with a 6-under 66 for a 10-under 134 total.
   A TENNIS: At Munich, Germany, both Williams sisters did their part and set up a family showdown in the most lucrative tournament in the world.
   Serena Williams, the U.S. Open champion, beat Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 6-4 after older sister Venus defeated top-ranked Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 9-7 in Friday's semifinals of the $6.7 million Grand Slam Cup.

Escude on a roll at Toulouse Open: At Toulouse, France, Nicolas Escude beat countryman Fabrice Santoro, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, Friday to gain his first semifinal of the year in the $400,000 Toulouse Open.
   Ranked 80th in the world, Escude beat the seventh-seeded Santoro, ranked 39th, after dominating top-seeded Tim Henman in the second round.

Top-seeded Corretja loses: At Bucharest, Romania, Morocco's Karim Alami upset top-seeded Alex Corretja of Spain, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), in the quarterfinals of the Gelsor Open Friday.
   Alami will meet Alberto Berasategui of Spain in the semifinals. Berasategui defeated Juan-Antonio Marin of Costa-Rica, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
   A BOXING: After taking a beating a year ago from Oscar De La Hoya, Julio Cesar Chavez vowed to fight only once more before finally retiring.
   Now he has a new plan, and retirement comes with a new set of conditions.
   "My goal is to retire as champion. I want the title," Chavez said. "I want to retire with dignity and I think I deserve that."
   Chavez returns to the ring Saturday night against Willy Wise, a loser of three straight fights, to continue a pro career that began in 1980 and spans 106 fights.
   The Mexican boxing legend has been given a favorable No. 2 super lightweight ranking by the WBC and wants to fight champion Kostya Tszyu by the end of the year.
   A BASKETBALL: Kevin McHale drove himself to the very edge. John Thompson pushed others to the limit, and sometimes beyond.
   "He always thinks about what he says," Hall of Fame coach Clarence Gaines said of Thompson, the voluble Georgetown coach. "Then he goes ahead and says it anyway."
   McHale and Thompson shared some common ground Friday - a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
   This year's other inductees were former NBA star Wayne Embry, women's college coach Billie Moore and the late NBA pioneer and owner Fred Zollner.
   A COLLEGE SPORTS: The NCAA returned to federal court Friday to counter charges that its freshman eligibility requirements for Division I athletes discriminated against blacks.
   In March, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Buckwalter struck down the NCAA's Proposition 16, which dictates minimum eligibility guidelines for freshman in the association's 302 Division I schools, after ruling "it had unjustified disparate impact on African-Americans."
   The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals later stayed the decision pending a full hearing, which occurred Friday.
   NCAA lawyer David Bruton, however, argued that the objectives of Proposition 16 - which include increasing graduation rates - are legitimate, and that test score cutoffs were related to that objective.
   Under Proposition 16, the NCAA requires freshmen athletes to have a high school diploma and a minimum grade-point average in 13 core academic courses. The GPA is contingent on an indexed, sliding scale with a student's score on either the Scholastic Assessment Test or American College Test.

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