Samples Not Needed After the Back Nine

Shooting a score lower than his age of 77 on the Senior PGA Tour is nothing new for former PGA champion Jerry Barber, but the little pro from Griffith Park amazed his fellow players recently when he shot a five-under-par 31 on the front side.

Said Barber: “I told the fellows I was playing with, ‘I’m not playing the back nine. I think they want me inside to find out what kind of steroids I’m taking and give me a saliva test. I got in a zone on the front side. On the back side I got my game back.’ ”

He shot 42 on the back nine.

*

Quack, quack: Disney has the real thing in the Mighty Ducks. So why is the new professional hockey franchise looking for decoys?

Skaters and dancers will audition Monday for the team’s entertainment squad, a troupe to be called the Decoys. Eight Decoys will be chosen to perform during the team’s 41 home games at the Anaheim Arena.

*

Trivia time: What is the only high school to have produced two Heisman Trophy winners?

*

Wait and see: Sports Illustrated had planned to feature Denver Coach Wade Phillips on its cover a few weeks ago when the feud between Bronco quarterback John Elway and former coach Dan Reeves pushed Phillips off the cover.

“All I can think is that they’re saving me for the swimsuit issue,” Phillips said.

*

On the stage: Greg Louganis, a four-time Olympic diving champion who retired after sweeping the men’s gold medals at the Los Angeles and Seoul Olympics, is taking his new act to off-Broadway.

Louganis will appear in “Jeffrey,” a comedy about a gay man looking for love in the age of AIDS. Louganis, 33, will play a best friend of the title character when he joins the show Aug. 31.

*

Different folks: Police patrolling the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first NASCAR practice sessions braced themselves for thousands of rowdy race fans and couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised.

NASCAR fans, it seems, are students of the sport.

“The people are actually in the stands watching cars go around,” Sheriff Michael Hoak said. “There’s a difference in the fans. They’re really genuinely interested in racing. You have a certain segment that comes here in May (for the Indy 500) to party and has no interest in the cars.”

*

High praise: Michigan football Coach Gary Moeller, speaking of running back Tyrone Wheatley, the Rose Bowl most valuable player last New Year’s Day: “He has the potential to be as fine a runner as we’ve had here.”

That would include Tom Harmon?

*

Stallone was unavailable: Concerned about drawing too many penalties for rough play, Coach Chris McSorley of the roller hockey Anaheim Bullfrogs decided to invite a speaker to address the team. He brought in Marty McSorley, his brother, better known as the enforcer of the Kings.

*

Trivia answer: Highland Park High in Dallas produced Doak Walker, Southern Methodist, 1948, and Tim Brown, Notre Dame, 1987.

*

Quotebook: Al McGuire, hearing that Chicago Bull Coach Phil Jackson spent the off-season in Montana: “I mean, who the hell can live in Montana? The first 48 hours are beautiful, but after that, the mountains don’t move.”