Floyd Peels Off Third Senior Skins Title

Ray Floyd won an unprecedented third consecutive Senior Skins title Sunday when he tapped in a three-inch putt at the 15th hole, giving him eight skins and a two-day total of $240,000.

Floyd, in raising his Senior Skins winnings to $960,000 over a four-year span, trailed Jim Colbert by $120,000 through 14 holes of the tournament at the Mauna Lani Resort’s South Course at Kawaihae, Hawaii.

But at the day’s second par-three, a 199-yard hole over water onto a peninsula, Floyd’s shot gently plopped next to the cup to set up the tap-in, which eventually gave him the title.

On the same hole, Colbert, who finished second with seven skins and $180,000, missed extending the progressive pot by flubbing a 10-foot birdie attempt and Jack Nicklaus’ birdie attempt from 11 feet slid by the cup.

At that point, $120,000 in prize money was left on the table, leaving an opening for Colbert to make a run at the title in his Senior Skins appearance, but Arnold Palmer prevented that at the 411-yard 17th by winning his first two skins, worth $80,000, with a six-foot putt.

Nicklaus failed to win any skins in regulation, but picked up the final $40,000 skin on the second extra hole.

Winter Sports

Claudia Riegler, a 19-year-old New Zealander who used to ski for Austria, won her first women’s World Cup slalom in only her second year on the circuit.

Third after the first run at Serre Chevalier, France, Riegler stormed down the course in the second run to finish first with a two-run combined time of 1 minute 31.27 seconds.

Riegler left the Austrian team when then-Coach Herwig Demschar, now coach of the U.S. women’s team, demanded that Austrian skiers practice all four disciplines.

Her mother being a New Zealander, Riegler was able to obtain a Kiwi passport and race for the South Pacific country.

In second place with an aggregate time of 1:31.56 was Switzerland’s Karin Roten. In third was Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg.

Gianni Romme of the Netherlands won the men’s 5,000-meter World Cup speedskating race and leaped atop the event standings. Aided by excellent track conditions, Romme broke the Baselga Di Pine, Italy, track record in a time of 6 minutes 47.42 seconds. Japanese skater Toru Aoyanagi finished second, posting a time of 6:51.07 on the outdoor rink. European champion and defending world champion Rintje Ritsma of the Netherlands was third.

Miscellany

Jermaine Hopkins, a 21-year-old defensive starter at Youngstown State, was killed early Sunday in a drive-by shooting, said police in Youngstown, Ohio. One person, whose name had not been released, was in custody, police said.

Lawyers for Mats Wilander of Sweden and Karel Novacek of Czechoslovakia say they will go to court in London this week to clear the tennis players’ names over allegations in the British tabloid News of the World that they tested positive for cocaine at last year’s French Open.

The newspaper also said that the sport’s world governing body, the International Tennis Federation, had kept the positive tests a secret. The ITF refused to confirm the newspaper’s allegations.

In her first gymnastics meet in 18 months and with Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller off the floor, Jennie Thompson, 14, took three top honors to lead Steve Nunno’s Dynamos to a victory in the Kodak/Peachtree Invitation at Atlanta. Thompson, of Wichita Falls, Texas, won floor exercise, balance beam and all-around.

Miller, the five-time medalist at the 1992 Olympics, did not compete because of an injured arm, according to Nunno.

Veteran German runner Katrin Dorre, alone ahead of the pack over the last 3 1/2 miles, won her third Osaka international women’s marathon in Japan by 100 meters. Dorre was timed in 2 hours 26 minutes 4 seconds.

James Beckford of Jamaica upset Cuban champion Ivan Pedroso, winning the long jump at 27 feet 5 1/4 inches in the Samsung Cup Indoor Track Gala at Budapest, Hungary.

In the men’s 3,000 meters, Moses Kiptanui of Kenya was on pace for a world record before slowing at the end to finish in 7 minutes 38.71 seconds--three seconds behind the record.