Name’s Bland, Scoring Isn’t in Seniors’ Championship

John Bland took advantage of an early start and a wet golf course Thursday to shoot a five-under-par 67, which gave him a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the PGA Seniors’ Championship at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Bland ignited his round when he holed out a 165-yard nine-iron approach from the right rough at the par-four ninth for an eagle. He also made five birdies and two bogeys.

Defending champion Hale Irwin and Gibby Gilbert were at 69.

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Nick Price put together five consecutive birdies and took a one-shot lead in the MCI Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Price was four strokes behind Brad Faxon, Tom Lehman and Rick Fehr through 13 holes. But then he got it going, with on-target irons that left him putts of 20 feet or shorter. Lennie Clements and Hal Sutton were two shots behind.

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Nanci Bowen shot a career-best seven-under-par 65 in taking a one-stroke lead over Lisa Kiggens and Nancy Harvey in the inaugural Susan G. Komen International at Murrells Inlet, S.C.

Those three rounds kept some of the LPGA’s biggest names from leading on the first day. The group at four-under 68 included Laura Davies and Annika Sorenstam. . . . Stephen Scahill of New Zealand took the first-round lead in the Cannes (France) Open with a four-under-par, 67. . . . Tim Straub of Orchard Park, N.Y., shot a three-under-par 65 for a share of the first-round lead in the 82nd Philippine Open at Baguio.

Swimming

Swimmer Chad Carvin of Laguna Hills recorded the second-fastest time in the preliminaries of the men’s 400-meter individual medley--4 minutes, 12.36 seconds--but was disqualified at the World Short Course Championships at Gothenburg, Sweden. Stroke judges ruled that his hands did not enter the water at the same time on the opening butterfly leg.

American Jenny Thompson upset China’s Le Jingyi in the 100 freestyle, winning in 53.46., and Australia broke its own men’s world short-course 400-meter medley relay record, clocking 3 minutes 30.66 seconds. The previous mark was 3:30.91.

Tennis

Boris Becker, cruising toward victory, pulled a thigh muscle in the second set and lost instead to Lionel Roux in the third round of the Japan Open at Tokyo, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Thomas Muster, his game abandoning him on his favorite surface, lost, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, to Cedric Pioline in the Open Seat Godo clay-court tournament at Barcelona, Spain. . . . Prize money at Wimbledon this summer will be a record $11.2 million, but the women’s prize money will still be less than the men’s. Men’s singles and doubles will be worth $5.68 million. The women’s purse will be $4.75 million.

Pro Football

The Washington Redskins traded restricted free-agent quarterback Heath Shuler to the New Orleans Saints for a fifth-round draft choice this year and third-round pick in 1998.

Frank Wall, 78, who played a major role in bringing the expansion Falcons to Atlanta and was club president from 1970-76, has died of apparent suicide. Wall was still on the franchise’s board of directors. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office said Wall had shot himself in the head. . . . New England Patriot owner Robert Kraft recently met with the chairman of the Mashantucket Pequots, and the Native American tribe is expected to make a formal proposal to lure the NFL team closer to its reservation. . . . Retired all-pro linebacker Lawrence Taylor has made a deal with federal authorities for a lighter sentence, agreeing to testify against his former business partner, according to the North Jersey Herald & News of Passaic, N.J. . . . Alltell Corp., a Little Rock (Ark.) telecommunications company, reportedly has agreed to buy the name of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, home of the Jaguars.

Miscellany

Villanova freshman forward Tim Thomas announced he will give up his remaining college basketball eligibility for the NBA draft.

An NCAA committee has refused for the second time in three months to rule on the University of Idaho’s appeal to become a full-fledged Division I-A football program.

Also, members of the Idaho Board of Education were surprised to learn that University of Idaho officials had agreed to pay former basketball coach Kermit Davis a $20,000 signing bonus. . . . Defending champion Taiwan will sit out this year’s Little League World Series, but may return if problems with team accreditation can be resolved.