Pavin, Gallagher, Wilson Lead in Atlanta

Corey Pavin, seeking his first victory since last year’s U.S. Open, shot a six-under-par 66 Thursday to share the first-round lead in the BellSouth Classic with Jim Gallagher and John Wilson.

They held a one-shot lead over Russ Cochran and Neal Lancaster in the best field the Atlanta event has had in more than 20 years. It was moved back from its usual May start to the week before the golf season’s first major championship--the Masters.

Pavin, who started on the back nine of the 7,018-yard Atlanta Country Club course, got his first birdie with a 12-foot putt on the 15th hole. He then birdied the 17th and 18th, picked up another shot with a 12-footer on No. 3 and took his only bogey on the sixth hole when he missed a four-foot putt. He closed the round with three birdies in a row from 12, four and four feet.

*

Ed Sneed, who had a hole-in-one, and Hale Irwin shot seven-under-par 65s for a one-shot lead over Jim Colbert in the first round of The Tradition, the first major tournament on the Senior PGA Tour.

Raymond Floyd, the 1994 champion, was two shots off the lead, and Jack Nicklaus, the defending champion aiming for his fourth Tradition title in seven years, Bob Dickson, Butch Baird and Arnold Palmer shot 68s on the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Football

Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin is risking suspension by his failure to respond to the NFL’s drug abuse program, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

A source told the newspaper that Irvin has not responded to an NFL letter informing him of plans to enroll him in the first stage of the league’s substance abuse program after his indictment on charges of cocaine and marijuana possession.

The NFL has confirmed that procedural errors were made last year when drug tests were ordered on Dallas Cowboys players, and the results of those exams were never released.

With information from Cowboys players and other team sources, the Dallas Morning News reported that a technicality forced the NFL to void positive drug tests.

But league spokesman Greg Aiello said that because of the technicality, no one ever examined the drug tests and “no one to this day knows whether there were any positive tests.”

The Miami Dolphins signed defensive ends Aaron Jones, who played for New England last season, and Daniel Stubbs, who was with Philadelphia, to one-year contracts and signed free agent wide receiver Henry Neal to an undisclosed contract. . . . The Washington Redskins re-signed defensive back Muhammad Oliver, who played one game with them last season before suffering a knee injury. . . . The Cowboys signed record-setting kicker Chris Boniol, who was successful on 27 of 28 field-goal attempts last season for them. . . . Elbert Shelley, who has played in the last four Pro Bowls as a special-teams player, signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons. . . . Reserve quarterback Alex Van Pelt signed a four-year contract with the Buffalo Bills, who also signed cornerback Emanuel Martin to a one-year deal. . . . The Cowboys re-signed reserve quarterback Jason Garrett. . . . The Chicago Bears said they will not match the offer sheet to linebacker Ron Cox, who signed a three-year contract with the Green Bay Packers last week.

Jurisprudence

Former NBA player Charles “Hawkeye” Whitney, who was accused of robbing and abducting White House lawyer Mark Fabiani, pleaded guilty to armed kidnapping in Washington, D.C.

Colts linebacker Quentin Coryatt pleaded not guilty to a charge of pointing a firearm at a motorist in Indianapolis.

Olympics

Despite finishing seventh in his final match, Eric Uptagrafft held his lead and won the top spot on the Olympic free prone rifle team. Bill Meek also made the team.

In women’s air rifle, 17-year-old Jayme Dickman held the lead with one match to go. Nancy Napolski was second.

Tennis

Fast-rising Iva Majoli beat Amanda Coetzer, 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, and backsliding Mary Pierce wasted five match points in losing to 32nd-ranked Petra Begerow, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, in the Family Circle Cup at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Rosie Casals, holder of 12 Grand Slam event doubles titles and a founder of the Women’s Tennis Assn., and the late Dan Maskell, known as the “Voice of Wimbledon,” have been elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. They will be inducted July 14 at Newport, R.I.

Todd Martin plays the Czech Republic’s Petr Korda and MaliVai Washington plays for the United States against Daniel Vacek when the Davis Cup quarterfinals open today in Prague. In Saturday’s doubles, Americans Patrick McEnroe and Patrick Galbraith face Martin Damm and Jiri Novak, with reverse singles set for Sunday.

Basketball

North Carolina Charlotte named alumnus and longtime assistant Melvin Watkins as its coach, succeeding Jeff Mullins, who retired last month after 11 seasons.

Southland Report

The Lakers’ Magic Johnson will be honored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Jewish Committee at its Social Concern Award dinner on April 22 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

The UCLA men’s volleyball team will play host to the 20th annual UCLA/Big Dog Classic in Pauley Pavilion, with games today including the Bruins against Cal State Northridge at 4:30 p.m. and USC against Loyola Marymount at 7.

Names in the News

Barney Ewell, a three-time Olympic medalist and former world record holder in the 100 meters, died in Lancaster, Pa., at 78. . . . Charles S. Harris, former athletic director at Arizona State, was named commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. . . . Jim Reid, the men’s basketball coach at Georgetown College in Kentucky for the past 23 seasons and this year’s NAIA coach of the year, died at 48 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. . . . The Anaheim Bullfrogs roller hockey team has named Rex Fontenot as director of public relations. . . . Don Ross, a Pasadena native who played seven years in the major leagues with Detroit, Brooklyn and Cleveland, died at 86 in Arcadia.