64 Gives Brooks Golf Lead

Mark Brooks shot a 64, one stroke off the course and tournament record, to take a three-stroke lead at the Memorial golf tournament Thursday at Dublin, Ohio.

He credited his lucky ’64 nickel, which he uses to mark his ball.

Brooks finished at eight under par at Muirfield Village Golf Club despite brisk winds.

John Cook and Tom Lehman, the Masters runner-up, shared second place.

Tennis

France, in a stunning upset, beat the defending champion United States in the World Team Cup at Duesseldorf, Germany, 2-1. The only U.S. victory was Pete Sampras’ 29th in a row.

After Sampras had defeated Cedric Pioline, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), Arnaud Boetsch surprised Michael Chang, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), then teamed with Olivier Delaitre and beat Patrick McEnroe and Richie Reneberg, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, in doubles to clinch the victory for France.

Russia upset Germany, 2-1, leaving all four teams in the Blue Group with a 1-1 record and a chance to reach the final.

Gabriela Sabatini, who hasn’t won a tournament in two years, reached the quarterfinals of the Strasbourg Open in France, with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Alexandra Fusai. Lori McNeil defeated fellow American Shaun Stafford, 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Top-seeded Laxmi Poruri of Stanford and No. 3 Angela Lettiere of Georgia advanced into the semifinals of the NCAA women’s tennis championships in Athens, Ga.

Poruri beat Mindy Weiner of Kansas and No. 5 Vera Vitels of California, and Lettiere beat Jennifer Poulos of California and No. 6 Jane Chi of UCLA.

Poruri will play unseeded Keri Phebus of UCLA today. Phebus beat Maggie Simkova of USC to reach the semifinals.

Pro Basketball

Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller tearfully apologized for a scuffle with three Denver fans and for criticizing his own team. “I screwed up,” he said. “I made a stupid mistake.” Miller has agreed not to attend the rest of the playoff series.

New Jersey Nets Derrick Coleman and Jayson Williams will surrender to New York detectives next week and be charged with assault in connection with a street brawl outside a Manhattan club April 30.

In his second NBA season, Golden State guard Latrell Sprewell was named to the All-NBA team. He joins Chicago’s Scottie Pippen, Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon and the Utah’s Karl Malone and John Stockton on the team selected by sportswriters and broadcasters.

Net guard Kenny Anderson will have a screw put into his broken left wrist and is expected to be ready for training camp next fall.

Hockey

In the wake of one of their most embarrassing seasons, on and off the ice, the Hartford Whalers fired Coach Pierre McGuire.

McGuire, 32, was the youngest coach in the NHL when he was hired in November because Paul Holmgren, who had been doing double duty, decided to concentrate on being general manager. When McGuire took over, the Whalers were 4-11-2. Under him they were 23-37-7 and missed the playoffs for the second year in a row.

The Philadelphia Daily News reported that Bobby Clarke, a star in the Philadelphia Flyers’ glory days, would return to the Flyers as president and minority owner. Clarke is the general manager of the Florida Panthers.

Miscellany

Speedskater Johann Olav Koss of Norway has retired from international competition after a season in which he won three Olympic gold medals in world-record times. . . . Amateur teams will compete Saturday and Sunday in the Cuervo beach volleyball series at Manhattan Beach. . . . A prosecutor in Frankfurt, Germany, has opened a manslaughter investigation of Austrian Kurt Hoch and Swiss Jan Tischhauser, the ski officials in charge of safety at the Jan. 29 race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where Austrian star Ulrike Maier broke her neck and died during a downhill ski race. . . . After a 30-year wait, the pre-1959 NFL players are now included in the NFL Players-Bert Bell Pension plan, Len Teeuws, pension trustee, announced.