Nelson Is Very Fit, and One-Shot Lead Proves It

To prepare for the tournament that styles itself as a “launching pad for youth,” Larry Nelson started his own youth movement.

Nelson, 48, whose last PGA Tour victory was in 1988, went through a rigorous off-season conditioning program that includes weights, training machines and three-mile runs because he thought he wasn’t tapping his full potential.

It paid off Thursday, when he shot a seven-under-par 65 at Tucson National to grab a one-shot lead in the Nortel Open.

John Morse, Manny Zerman and Joel Edwards shot 67s to stay within two shots. Edwards’ round was the best of the day at Starr Pass, a 6,942-yard, par-71 mountainside layout with exacting fairways and multi-tiered greens.

Each player in the 157-man field must play one round at Starr Pass in the first two days. Those who make the cut finish up at the more forgiving Tucson National.

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Liselotte Neumann, unable to practice until recently because of the weather in Sweden, shot a five-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead after one round of the LPGA’s season-opening Tournament of Champions at Orlando, Fla.

“I drove the ball pretty long today and my putting was great,” she said. “Seven birdies, that tells you right there that your putter is good.”

Martha Nause was at 68, with Hall of Famer Betsy King and Missie McGeorge at 69 and Patty Sheehan and Barb Thomas at 70. Only eight golfers in the 43-player field broke par on the difficult Jack Nicklaus-designed Grand Cypress Resort course.

Tennis

Top-seeded players Monica Seles and Goran Ivanisevic led the advance to the semifinals of the Peters International in Sydney, Australia. Seles defeated South African Mariaan De Swardt, 6-3, 6-2, and Ivanisevic defeated Mark Woodforde of Australia, 6-4, 7-5.

Michael Chang advanced to the final of the Colonial Classic in Melbourne by routing fellow American Jim Courier, 6-4, 6-0. Andre Agassi will face Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the other semifinal today. . . . Top-seeded Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands reached the quarterfinals of the Indonesian Open in Jakarta when Chris Wilkinson of Germany retired because of dehydration while trailing, 6-1, 3-0.

Necrology

Al Silvani and Nick Serfas, longtime Southland boxing trainers, died this week, Silvani after a long illness, Serfas of a stroke. Silvani was 85, Serfas 69.

Silvani trained such fighters as Jake LaMotta, Rocky Graziano, Nino Benvenuti and Alexis Arguelo in his 60-year career and was the technical director for the first three “Rocky” movies. He is survived by his wife, Norma, and five children. Services are pending.

Services for Serfas, also a Southland restaurateur, will be held at 11 this morning at St. Sophia church in Los Angeles.

Joe Schultz, 77, who managed the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969 and the Detroit Tigers briefly in 1973, died of heart failure in St. Louis. Schultz played nine seasons in the major leagues, with a .259 batting average in 240 games as a backup catcher and pinch-hitter. He spent six of those seasons with the St. Louis Browns.

George Volkert, 62, a star running back at Georgia Tech in 1956, died at his home in Nashville, Tenn., of leukemia.

Roger Crozier, 53, a former NHL goaltender who was rookie of the year with the Detroit Red Wings in 1964, died in Newark, N.J., of cancer.

Sam Skinner, 58, a pioneering black San Francisco sports journalist died in a Burlingame, Calif., nursing home after a series of strokes.

Olympics

Last year’s deadly chemical attack in a Tokyo subway will be simulated next month by Atlanta mass transit authorities to test their readiness for a terrorist assault during the 1996 Olympics. . . . Ending months of negotiations, organizers of the Olympics reached an agreement with the city of Atlanta to pay for such municipal services as police overtime and trash collection. The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games will pay the city $8 million in three payments.

The United States will abide by restrictions set earlier on allowing virally infected European horses to compete in the 1996 Olympic Games, according to the Agriculture Department. Only a few horses infected with piroplasmosis, a tick-borne disease that has been eradicated in the United States, will be permitted to enter the country for the Games and will be under strict quarantine.

Miscellany

Assault charges against unbeaten heavyweight Jo-el Scott will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for the next six months. Scott, 24, was charged with hitting Kim Hooks on New Year’s Day in Albany, N.Y., injuring her right eye and cutting her nose. He was charged with third-degree assault.

All-American linebacker Ray Lewis of Miami has joined the list of juniors in the NFL draft. Also on the final list of undergraduates opting for the NFL were All-Pacific 10 linebacker Duane Clemons and defensive lineman Regan Upshaw of California.

Names in the News

Mike Devereaux, who earned a World Series ring with the Atlanta Braves after being released by Baltimore last winter, agreed to a $700,000, one-year contract with the Orioles. . . . Reliever Julian Tavarez, whose 10-2 record helped the Cleveland Indians win the American League pennant last season, agreed to a three-year contract with team options for 1999 and 2000.

Rebecca Lobo, who led Connecticut to the NCAA basketball championship, was named 1995 Associated Press female athlete of the year. . . . Oscar De La Hoya is the Boxing Writers Assn.’s fighter of the year.