Fehr Leads by Three After Shooting 62 in Las Vegas

Rick Fehr flirted with a magical 59 Thursday before settling for a 10-under 62 to tie the PGA Tour’s 36-hole record, and take a three-shot lead in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Fehr’s 62, which tied the course record on the TPC at Summerlin, followed an opening 64, giving him a two-day total of 126, 17-under, in the five-day tournament. That score matched the 126 shot in the first two rounds of the St. Jude Classic by John Cook earlier this year.

Tiger Woods shot a nine-under 63, his best score in his brief pro career, to get to 10 under.

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On a day so windy Michelle McGann had to leave her trademark wide-brim hats at home, only Dottie Pepper and Vicki Goetze were able to match par in the first round of the JAL Big Apple Classic at the Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle, N.Y.

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The LPGA added four new tournaments for 1997 and 17 existing events increased purses, pushing total prize money for next year past $30 million, a nearly 20% increase in one year.

Pro Basketball

Dominique Wilkins, eighth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, has signed a one-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs. Wilkins played last season in Greece. . . . John Stockton signed a three-year contract with the Utah Jazz worth an estimated $15 million. . . . The Toronto Raptors have invited two-time slam-dunk champion Harold Miner, a former Trojan, to training camp. . . . The Denver Nuggets lost forward Antonio McDyess for three to four weeks when he tore the cartilage in his right knee during an informal workout.

Tennis

Top-seeded Michael Chang advanced to the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open. Chang, No. 2 in the world rankings, defeated Venezuelan Nicolas Pereira, 6-3, 6-1, in 69 minutes. . . . Steffi Graf, playing one of her worst first sets in memory, recovered in time to beat Austrian Judith Wiesner, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, at the Leipzig Open in Germany. . . . Mark Miles, head of the ATP Tour, has warned players they can face immediate default for abusive on-court behavior.

Boxing

Eddie Futch, the 85-year-old trainer who has worked with 19 world champions, has severed his ties with former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

Jurisprudence

The Dallas Cowboys’ Deion Sanders pleaded no contest to trespassing charges for fishing on a restricted lake in Fort Myers, Fla. He was fined $250 plus court costs, given 50 hours of community service, put on six months’ probation and told to stay away from the lake.

Purdue reprimanded and fined assistant basketball coach Frank Kendrick an undisclosed amount for violating NCAA rules by giving recruit Jamaal Davis a two-mile ride from Mackey Arena to a West Lafayette, Ind., hotel.

Names in the News

NCAA Executive Director Cedric Dempsey was given a three-year contract extension.