Norman, Newcomer Daley Share Lead at Hartford

Greg Norman staged a late charge and shot a six-under-par 64 Thursday at Cromwell, Conn., to match newcomer Joe Daley for a share of the lead in the first round of the Canon Greater Hartford Open.

Norman, the defending champion, found himself three strokes behind Daley with four holes left. He surged with three birdies to join Daley on the top of the leader board.

“I’ll take 64 in the first round of any golf tournament,” Norman said. “It’s a good score. The golf course didn’t play that easy today. It played like a good golf course. You had to be careful. If you didn’t hit the shots, you’re going to make a bogey. That’s an important way of setting up a golf course.”

Daley played in the morning and used an eagle to take early command of the field at the TPC at River Highlands. He said it was his first eagle on the PGA Tour.

“This feels great,” said Daley, who has finished no higher than a 35th-place tie and has missed the cut six times in 13 tournaments this year. “I’ve been trying to go for lower scores.”

Daley, in his first full year on the PGA Tour, worked as a money lender and banquet manager before quitting to pursue golf.

Daley has finished no higher than a 35th-place tie and has missed the cut six times in 13 tournaments this year. The co-leaders finished a stroke ahead of Bob Gilder.

Norman won the 1995 title with a record 13-under 267 total.

Football

Steve Hatchell, the commissioner of the new Big 12 Conference says a national championship game is in the works, although the first one may have to wait until after the year 2000.

Hatchell said it won’t happen quickly because two powerful conferences--the Big Ten and Pacific 10--are not in the bowl alliance. The alliance was redefined last year to set up the best possible matchup among its teams. The Big Ten and Pac-10 champions play in the Rose Bowl, a non-alliance game.

With the NCAA out of the TV contract business and the College Football Assn. out of business altogether, it’s left for conferences to proceed on their own.

University of Colorado football Coach Rick Neuheisel agreed to a new one-year contract. Although details were not released, the package was believed to be worth anywhere from $400,000 to $450,000. Neuheisel made about $350,000 in his first season as head coach. Neuheisel led the Buffaloes to a 10-2 season and a No. 5 final ranking last season

Bill Futterer, a marketing executive who helped bring NFL and NBA expansion teams to North Carolina, was appointed president of the Cleveland Browns Trust. Futterer was hired by the NFL and will coordinate a variety of business and marketing activities for the expected return of the Browns in 1999. . . . The Seattle Seahawks traded safety Eugene Robinson to the Green Bay Packers for defensive end Matt LaBounty.

Jurisprudence

Former NFL lineman Luis Sharpe’s failure to complete a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program could cost him up to four years in prison, a spokesman for the Maricopa County attorney said in Phoenix.

Sharpe, who is recovering from a second gunshot wound in less than a year, may also face additional criminal charges stemming from a brawl with police, who found him with a bullet wound in his neck Tuesday night. Sharpe remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition as police attempted to learn who shot him and why.

Sgt. Mike McCullough, a Phoenix police spokesman, said the investigation made little headway.

Police have no suspects in the shooting, he said.

Sharpe, 36, was ordered to enter a drug treatment program when he was sentenced in May to three years’ probation by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan. The arrest warrant was issued after he returned from a drug treatment program in Minnesota but failed to show up for further treatment at a California facility.

A former Brown track coach sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted of raping one of his athletes had the guilty verdict overturned by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. William “Skip” Miller, 37, is entitled to a new trial because of two errors made by a Superior Court judge, the high court said in a unanimous decision.

Hockey

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed coach Eddie Johnston and General Manager Craig Patrick to new contracts and are hoping they can also entice Mario Lemieux into returning.

The superstar center still hasn’t committed to playing next season, but team owner Howard Baldwin said he expects Lemieux to come back. Lemieux would pass up a contract worth nearly $11 million next season if he retires.

The Kings signed right-winger Kai Nurminen to a two-year contract. Nurminen, 27, was the Kings’ eighth-round draft pick in the 1996 NHL entry draft. Last season the 6-1 Finnish native finished second in the league with 55 points in 40 games with HV71 of the Swedish Elite League. Nurminen will play for Finland in the 1996 World Cup and report, then report to the Kings training camp.

Five days after the 1996 NHL entry draft, the New York Islanders signed the top pick in last year’s draft. Defenseman Bryan Berard, the overall No. 1 pick for 1995, signed a three-year deal.

Soccer

The Galaxy will play its first international game July 11 at the Rose Bowl against the El Salvador national team.

Motor Racing

Richie Hearn turned the fastest lap ever at a 1 1/2-mile oval during test runs at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Indy Racing League officials said.

Hearn, in a Della Penna Motorsports car, was clocked at 222.359 mph at 11:17 a.m. He ran several consecutive laps at 220 mph or faster.