Stewart Shares Lead at 5-Under 66

Payne Stewart shot a five-under-par 66 to move into a five-way tie for the lead in the $1.25 million St. Jude golf tournament with Dicky Pride, Dave Barr, Fuzzy Zoeller and Ted Schulz at Memphis, Tenn.

Afternoon winds kept scores high for the later starters as only Schulz managed to move among the leaders, and only Michael Bradley, Duffy Waldorf and John Cook made a group of 11 who finished at 67.

Tennis

No. 8-seeded Andre Agassi saved two match points in the tiebreaker and went on to a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) victory over David Wheaton in the third round of the Player’s Ltd. International at Toronto.

Agassi advanced to the quarterfinals, where he will play top-seeded Sergei Bruguera of Spain. The reigning French Open champion scored a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 16 Karsten Braasch of Germany.

Defending champion Conchita Martinez waited out rain and fog before routing Karin Kschwendt of Germany, 6-2, 6-0, in the second round of the U.S. Women’s Hardcourt Championship at Stratton Mountain, Vt.

Marcelo Rios of Chile and Karel Novacek of the Czech Republic advanced to the semifinals of the Hilversum Dutch Open with straight-set victories.

College Football

Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Assn., said he remains opposed to a playoff to determine a national champion because he thinks that it will destroy the bowl system.

Teaff opposes the proposals made for a new “Tier 1” bowl alliance to determine a national champion. The playoff would involve eight teams playing opening-round games in four major bowls.

With the help of NBC, the Cotton Bowl raised its bid to more than $100 million to become one of the four bowls televised during prime hours on New Year’s Day in a new format after the 1996 season.

Hockey

The NHL league and the International Ice Hockey Federation announced that they had forged an agreement on issues dealing with international competition to allow professional players to participate in the 1998 Winter Olympics. But before certain NHL players can play in the Games, the league and the IIHF still must get the approval of the International Olympic Committee, the various national Olympic committees and the NHL Players Assn.

The Supreme Court of Canada turned down the NHL’s request to hear an appeal of two lower-court decisions, meaning hundreds of former players will have their pensions tripled to about $30,000 a year.

Basketball

The Orlando Magic is reportedly close to trading guard Scott Skiles to the Sacramento Kings for guard Spud Webb. Skiles said he expects to be dealt to create a salary slot for the Magic to acquire free-agent forward Horace Grant of the Chicago Bulls.

Jurisprudence

Derrick Coleman, saying he is intent on clearing his name, filed a lawsuit against the woman who accused the New Jersey Net forward of rape. . . . Tim Barnett of the Kansas City Chiefs was charged with grabbing a 14-year-old maid at a hotel and sexually assaulting her. . . .Las Vegas sports agent Nate Cebrun, who was linked with the Florida State football scandal, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $2,000 for failing to register with the state of Florida.