Norman Pulls His Game Together With a 69

Four days after his Masters cave-in, Greg Norman pulled his psyche and his golf game together to land in contention Thursday in the MCI Heritage Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Norman, who gave away a six-stroke lead and the green jacket to Nick Faldo at Augusta National on Sunday, finished with a 69. He was three strokes behind the four leaders--Ken Green, Guy Boros, Jim Furyk and Loren Roberts.

“It was important to have a good solid round today, especially with what happened the week before,” Norman said.

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Hale Irwin went into the water twice to save pars and worked his way around the wind-swept Champion Course at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., in six-under-par 66 for the first-round lead in his first PGA Seniors’ Championship.

Irwin, who turned 50 in June, played a bogey-free round and negotiated the difficult final eight holes at two under to take a one-stroke lead over Larry Gilbert. Vincente Fernandez was another stroke behind at 68.

“After No. 10, the golf course really begins,” John Schroeder said after shooting a 69, three strokes off the lead along with Isao Aoki and Tommy Aaron.

“If you can play those last eight holes in even par every day, you are going to have a good tournament,” Schroeder said.

Irwin fared better than other seniors who were at the Masters last week. Defending champion Raymond Floyd shot a 74. Jack Nicklaus, winner of the Tradition two weeks ago, triple-bogeyed No. 17 and shot a 77, the same as Arnold Palmer.

Gymnastics

The judges at the World Gymnastics Championships at San Juan, Puerto Rico, were forced to revise the finishing order in the uneven parallel bars semifinal after a revision showed they had given the wrong starting values to several gymnasts.

The judges’ mishap worked in favor of Romania’s Lavinia Milosovici, who had finished in 12th place in the original order, but moved up to first in the revision. Dominique Dawes of the United States dropped from second to sixth as the top eight finishers advanced to the finals.

Dawes and teammate Jaycie Phelps qualified for finals on both the beam and the bars while Kristy Powell and Amy Chow came up short on the floor exercise and vault, respectively.

On the U.S. men’s side, Chris Lamorte advanced to finals on the rings, and UCLA’s Chainey Umphrey reached the high bar finals.

Pro Football

A judge ruled that the legal tussle over the Seattle Seahawks’ attempted move to Southern California will be heard in Seattle and not moved across the Cascade Mountains to Ellensburg, Wash.

The Seahawks had argued that moving the trial to a more neutral forum was warranted because of unrelenting publicity against team owner Ken Behring. They also said King County filed the lawsuit as a “preemptive strike” during negotiations to settle differences between the sides.

Free-agent offensive lineman Steve Wallace, who spent 10 years with the San Francisco 49ers, signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. . . . Safety Patrick Bates, who sat out last season in a dispute over playing time, was acquired by the Atlanta Falcons from the Oakland Raiders for a second-round pick, the 48th overall, in Saturday’s draft. . . . Safety Bennie Blades has accepted a one-year, $1.7-million offer to remain with the Detroit Lions for the 1996-97 season. . . . The Cincinnati Bengals terminated cornerback Mike Brim’s contract after he failed a physical.

Jurisprudence

Retired all-pro linebacker Lawrence Taylor is four months behind in child support payments and owes $58,538, but his agent says he’s no deadbeat dad.

“It’s the furthest from the truth,” agent Bobby Cupo said. “He’s got the best relationship with his kids. They’re living in a $500,000 house in North Carolina and they’re well provided for.”

Bergen County Sheriff Jack Terhune was quoted in the Star-Ledger of Newark as saying that a warrant for Taylor’s arrest could be issued next week at Hackensack, N.J., if he fails to catch up on his $14,000 monthly child support payments.

New England Patriot running back Dave Meggett was acquitted of charges that he assaulted a former girlfriend at Franklin Lakes, N.J.

A July 15 trial date has been set for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Bam Morris, who pleaded not guilty at Rockwall, Texas, to two drug possession charges stemming from his arrest last month during a traffic stop.

Tennis

Pete Sampras defeated Swedish qualifier Magnus Norman, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Japan Open at Tokyo.

Michael Chang lost five consecutive games in the first set but struggled to a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory over fellow American Jeff Tarango.

In women’s matches, 18-year-old American Corina Morariu upset fifth-seeded Naoko Sawamatsu of Japan, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), to advance to the quarterfinals.

Defending champion Thomas Muster of Austria, seeking the 38th title of his career, ousted Czech Bohdan Ulihrach, 6-4, 7-5, at the Barcelona Open in Spain.

Also, Jim Courier coasted past Roberto Carretero of Spain, 6-4, 6-3, and will play Todd Martin in the quarterfinals. Martin defeated Christian Ruud of Norway, 6-0, 6-4.

The men’s winner at Wimbledon this year will receive $592,675, an increase of $41,525. The women’s winner will take home $533,030, up by $37,750.

Miscellany

A contract extension and a 34% pay raise were approved for Mississippi State basketball Coach Richard Williams, who led the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Final Four appearance.

Kate McEwen, the woman assaulted by former Nebraska football star Lawrence Phillips, has lost her basketball scholarship because the Nebraska coach is displeased with her play, the New York Times reported today.

Soccer clubs Rapid Vienna and Paris-St. Germain advanced to next month’s final of the European Cup Winners Cup.

Canadian sprinter Sean Baksh was banned for four years by Athletics Canada after testing positive for the substance stanozolol during random drug testing conducted earlier this month.

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball coaches selected UCLA’s Stein Metzger as the league’s player of the year.

Former Angel Bobby Grich has been named assistant general manager of the Long Beach Riptide of the independent Western League. The club, known last season as the Barracuda, is the defending champion.