Sluman Birdies 18 to Lead by One Stroke

Jeff Sluman, whose only victory is the 1988 PGA Championship, rolled in a 15-foot putt on the 18th hole for a 67 and a one-stroke lead over Tom Byrum after three rounds of the Buick Open Saturday at Grand Blanc, Mich.

Sluman completed three rounds at 16-under-par 200 to hold off Byrum, who was at 201 after a 65.

Fred Couples, Mike Brisky and Joel Edwards were two strokes off the lead at 14 under. Couples and Brisky shot 67s and Edwards a 68.

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Jay Sigel sank an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 18 for a four-under-par 66 and a one-stroke lead over three other golfers after two rounds of the VFW Seniors Championship at Belton, Mo.

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Dottie Mochrie and Pat Bradley shot five-under-par 67s to share the second-round lead in the LPGA McCall’s Classic at Stratton Mountain, Vt.

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Jesper Parnevik, hoping to become the first Swedish winner of the Scandinavian Masters, shot a 69 in the third round to open a three-shot lead at Barseback, Sweden.

Parnevik had a 54-hole total of 203, 13 under par. Colin Montgomerie of Scotland shot a 67 to share second at 206 with New Zealand’s Michael Campbell, who led the British Open after three rounds.

British Open champion John Daly, shot a 67 and is at 212.

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Defending champion Tiger Woods won two matches to advance to the semifinals of the 93rd Western Amateur in Benton Harbor, Mich. Woods, the U.S. Amateur champion who will be a sophomore at Stanford, will face Robert Floyd, the 19-year-old son of Raymond Floyd, in today’s semifinals. Patrick Lee of Oxford, Miss., will face Darron Stiles of Plant City, Fla., in the other semifinal.

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Marcy Newton of High Point, N.C., defeated Andrea Cordova of Fresno, 4 and 3, to win the 47th U.S. Girls Junior Golf Championship at Longmeadow, Mass.

Drag Racing

Blaine Johnson led top fuel qualifying for the fifth time this year, setting track records with a quarter-mile run of 4.744 seconds at 305.70 m.p.h. in the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Kent, Wash. Cruz Pedregon topped the funny car division and Warren Johnson led the pro stock competition.

Tennis

Austrian Thomas Muster defeated compatriot Gilbert Schaller, 6-2, 6-7 (7-1), 6-3, to advance to a finals showdown against Spaniard Alberto Costa in the Austrian Open.

Names in the News

Laker forward Elden Campbell pleaded not guilty to a drunk driving charge stemming from an incident last month in which his car flipped over on a Ventura County freeway. . . . Mickey Mantle’s strength has improved after he returned to Baylor University Medical Center Friday for treatment of anemia brought on by his chemotherapy for lung cancer. Mantle is expected to go home Monday.

Miscellany

The United States yachting team held a 25-point lead in the Admiral’s Cup as 24 boats in the eight-team field set sail on the 605-mile Fastnet leg of the event off the Isle of Wight.

Nechiro Takahara scored in the final minute to give Japan a 2-1 victory over the United States in Group A of soccer’s Youth World Cup for players under 17.

Seana Hogan of San Jose won her fourth consecutive title in the 2,904-mile Race Across America bicycle race, finishing with a record time of 9 days 4 hours 17 minutes. Rob Kish of Port Orange, Fla., won the men’s division for the third time in 8 days 19 hours 59 minutes.