Irwin Runs Away With PGA Seniors’

Hale Irwin became the first golfer since Sam Snead to win consecutive PGA Seniors’ Championship when he retained his title Sunday with a 12 stroke victory at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Irwin shot a five-under-par 68 for a 274 total on the Champion course at the PGA National Golf Club. For the day, he had three birdies and a bogey.

Irwin, who matched Snead’s consecutive wins in 1972 and 1973, is one victory away from duplicating three consecutive wins by the late Eddie Williams in 1942 and 1945-46. No tournaments were played in 1943-44 because of World War II.

In earning his third title of the season on the senior tour, Irwin received $216,000 from the $1.2 million purse.

Jack Nicklaus and Dale Douglass shared the runner-up spot at 286. Nicklaus, who redesigned this course after the 1989 PGA Seniors and won the title in 1991, birdied the final hole for a 70.

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Nick Price, the world’s best golfer three years ago, showed he was capable of championship golf again by leading all four rounds of the MCI Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C. for his first PGA tour title since 1994.

Tom Lehman finished tied for fourth and moved ahead of Greg Norman for first on the Official World Rankings, formerly known as the SONY ratings, that come out today.

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Stuart Cage of England won the first European Tour title of his career when he captured the $480,000 Cannes Open at Cannes, France.

Auto Racing

Jeff Gordon easily won the Goody’s Headache Powder 500 at Martinsville, Va. for his second consecutive victory and fourth in eight starts this season.

Gordon led a race record 432 of 500 laps and not even being spun out in an incident with Jimmy Spencer could slow his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for more than a few moments.

Defending series champion Vic Rice drove his Chevrolet Monte Carlo to a 0.735-second flag-to-flag GT America victory over Chris Neville at Phoenix International Raceway.

Jack Sprague, who started his Chevrolet from the pole, gave up the lead briefly at the mid-point of the Chevy Trucks Desert Star Classic, then drove away from his pursuers to score a record third consecutive victory at Phoenix International Raceway.

Tennis

Richard Krajicek made a strong recovery after dropping his only set of the tournament to defeat Lionel Roux 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the championship match of the Japan Open.

In the women’s final, Japan’s Ai Sugiyama won her first professional title in her hometown, edging Amy Frazier 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The final of the Seat Godo Open men’s tournament between Spaniards Albert Costa and Albert Portas was postponed because of heavy rain at Barcelona.

Miscellany

Top-seeded Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak won their third consecutive Evian Women’s Pro Beach Volleyball Tour event with a victory over Gail Castro and Gayle Stammer in the championship of the $50,000 WPVA Deerfield (Fla.) Open.

Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh defeated Brian Lewis and Scott Ayakatubby to win the $100,000 Miller Lite Open at Ft. Myers, Fla.

Grant Hackett won the 1,500-meter men’s freestyle to cap Australia’s dominance of the World Swimming Short Course Championships at Goteborg, Sweden.

David Pichler won his second consecutive 10-meter platform title, while Doris Glenn Easterly won the women’s three-meter springboard event at the U.S. Spring National Diving Championships at Auburn, Ala.

Names in the News

Miami Dolphins quarterback Bernie Kosar has decided to retire after a 12-year NFL career. Kosar, 33, was a free agent this year, but was expected to re-sign with the Dolphins and compete for the third-string job behind Dan Marino and Craig Erickson.

Portuguese Domingos Castro outran a top-flight field to win the 17th Rotterdam Marathon.

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Corey Sawyer was sought by Tallahassee, Fla. police on a domestic battery charge after his girlfriend said he assaulted her.

Michael D. Priest, a football player for the University of Wyoming, died after he passed out on the practice field a day before, school and hospital officials said.