Pressure Builds as Waldorf Maintains Lead

Duffy Waldorf boasted early on that he felt no pressure in this year’s Texas Open in San Antonio.

How quickly things have changed.

Waldorf holds a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the $1.1-million tournament, 18 holes from his first victory on the PGA Tour.

“I think I feel a little pressure,” Waldorf said Saturday after a one-under-par 71.

Waldorf bogeyed two of the last five holes in the third round and watched his comfortable lead deteriorate to one stroke over Jay Don Blake, who shot a 70.

Justin Leonard started five strokes off the lead and ended up three strokes back after shooting a 69.

Waldorf’s best finishes came in 1992 when he placed second twice. The former UCLA golfer said he would try to stay relaxed and swing smoothly today.

“The important thing is to be focused on what you’re doing and not concentrate too much on the other guys,” he said.

A dramatic eight-foot putt by England’s Howard Clark at the final hole knocked out Australia, and the top-seeded U.S. team wound up at the bottom of its group in the Dunhill Cup in St. Andrews, Scotland.

In today’s semifinals, Spain meets Zimbabwe and Ireland faces Scotland, with the final later in the day.

The demise of the American team was worsened by team captain Ben Crenshaw suffering a kidney infection.

The problem had been bothering him for two weeks and he left St. Andrews quickly after a 68 that beat Dave Barr by four shots and gave the Americans their only victory in a 2-1 loss to Canada.

The rest of the American team fared poorly as Peter Jacobsen lost at the first extra hole to Ray Stewart after they each shot 71 and Lee Janzen fell by one shot to Rick Gibson, 72-73.

Spain rallied to beat Argentina, 2-1, and reach the semifinals for the first time since 1988 without star players Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal.

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Two-time U.S. Amateur champion Tiger Woods of Stanford birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Tulsa’s Fredrik Soderstrom in the Savane College All-America Golf Classic at El Paso.

Motor Sports

On a day of surprises, Hut Stricklin won his first Winston Cup pole and Ernie Irvan’s comeback was dealt a blow when he failed to qualify for today’s AC-Delco 400 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham.

Stricklin, preparing to start his 192nd race, was the fourth of 47 drivers making qualifying attempts. He took advantage of the cool mid-morning temperatures to turn a lap of 155.379 m.p.h that made him the 14th pole winner this season.

Irvan’s first problem came when he ran into Todd Bodine’s car during the morning practice. He had to go to his backup car for qualifying, then drew a spot in the bottom third of the line and had to run as the sun heated up the asphalt track, slowing it down for the later qualifiers.

Later in the day, Bodine won by the nose of his Chevrolet in a three-way photo finish in the crash-filled AC-Delco 200 Busch Grand National race.

Tennis

Three-time Lyon Open champion Pete Sampras again reached the final, defeating Todd Martin, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, in France.

Wayne Ferreira of South Africa defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, in the other semifinal.

Michael Chang defeated South Africa’s David Nainkin, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the finals of the Salem Open in Beijing. Chang will meet Italy’s Renzo Furlan, who defeated Japan’s Shuzo Matsuoka, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Thomas Muster of Austria defeated Australia’s Tood Woodbridge, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the final of the CA Trophy indoor tournament in Vienna.

Muster will face Filip Dewulf of Belgium, who defeated Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Australia’s Mark Philippoussis retired from his semifinal match while trailing, 2-0, in the first set against Italy’s Andrea Gaudenzi at the Marlboro championships in Hong Kong because of back trouble.

In the final, Gaudenzi will meet defending champion Stefan Edberg of Sweden. Edberg defeated Spain’s Sergi Bruguera, 6-2, 6-2.

Mary Joe Fernandez beat Kristie Boogert of the Netherlands, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, and South African Amanda Coetzer beat Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the final in the Brighton Championship in England.

Hockey

Boston University wing Travis Roy, 20, of Yarmouth, Maine, was in serious but stable condition at Boston City Hospital, still paralyzed from the neck down after crashing headfirst into the boards in his first college game Friday night.

Boxing

Yong Soo Choi of South Korea stopped Victor Paz in the 10th round at Salta, Argentina, to win the vacant World Boxing Assn. junior-lightweight crown and hand the Argentine his first loss in 60 fights. Choi improved to 18-0-3 with 12 knockouts.