Calcavecchia Shoots a 65; Green Has 60 in Nike Event

After brief breaks from the PGA Tour, Mark Calcavecchia and Tiger Woods returned with strong outings Thursday in the first round of the BellSouth Classic in Duluth, Ga. David Duval has never gone away.

Calcavecchia, who lost 10 pounds during a three-week break to focus on conditioning and flexibility, shook off a three-hour rain delay, shot a seven-under-par and took a one-stroke lead over Steve Flesch and Esteban Toledo. A tornado warning halted play with about half the field still on the course.

Woods, who had not played since the Masters, shot a 69. Lurking two shots behind Calcavecchia after shooting a 67 was Duval, the hottest player on tour with five victories in the last seven months and more than $1.2 million in earnings in 1998.

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Jimmy Green flirted with history before settling for an 11-under 60 in the first round of the Nike Tour’s Carolina Classic at Raleigh, N.C.

Green, 28, who lost his PGA Tour card after finishing 197th on the money list last year, fell one shot shy of the record low score in a pro tournament. Al Geiberger shot a 59 in Memphis in 1977. Chip Beck matched it in 1991 in Las Vegas.

Green shot a 29 on the front side and was 11 under through 13 holes. He missed a 30-foot birdie putt for a 59 on the 18th hole.

Tennis

The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, will meet in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open in Rome in their second family showdown this year.

Serena Williams, who is unseeded but has risen more than 400 places in the rankings in only seven months, shocked four-time Italian champion Conchita Martinez, 6-2, 6-2.

Venus Williams, seeded ninth, ousted Alexandra Fusai, 6-1, 6-1, setting up a repeat of the sisters’ meeting in the second round of the Australian Open in January, a match Venus won in straight sets.

Sixth-seeded Monica Seles lost to No. 12 Sandrine Testud of France, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, and is returning to the United States, to be with her ailing father, before flying to Paris for the French Open, which begins May 25.

Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten, the 1997 French Open champion, sharpened his clay-court game with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Hicham Arazi at the German Open in Hamburg. Thomas Muster, the 1995 French Open champion, also breezed into the quarterfinals, but another former winner, Michael Chang, was eliminated, losing to Francisco Clavet of Spain, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2.

College Sports

The NCAA will appeal the $67-million judgment awarded to assistant coaches whose salaries were restricted by colleges in violation of antitrust law.

The NCAA contends Judge Kathryn Vratil made a number of errors in the penalty phase of the trial that could result in a successful appeal at the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Texas Christian center Lee Nailon, the nation’s third-leading scorer after averaging 24.9 points last season, said he is giving up his final year of eligibility to make himself eligible for the NBA draft.

The NCAA recertified Texas Pan American, two years after citing the university for rules and ethics violations involving charges that two men’s assistant basketball coaches helped potential recruits with correspondence work.

Eastern New Mexico men’s basketball Coach Earl Diddle, accused of grabbing the crotch of one of his players, will resign today, the same day his contract expires.

Track and Field

History was made in the Doha International in Qatar when women participated in a track and field meet in the Middle East for the first time.

With the female athletes agreeing not to wear any midriff-bearing vests so as not to offend the conservative Muslim population, the 100 hurdles was the best of the six women’s events at Khalifa International Stadium, with Michelle Freeman of the United States winning in 12.72.

Women’s pole vault and hammer throw will be included in the 1999 World Championships and the 2000 Olympics, the International Amateur Athletic Federation said.

Miscellany

The FBI confirmed a report that it has a file on Mickey Mantle, but stressed that it never investigated him.

A spokesman said Mantle’s file contains information concerning a blackmail attempt and a physical threat against the late Yankee legend and the FBI’s response to a 1969 White House request that Mantle’s name be checked.

The Mighty Ducks’ Steve Rucchin had a goal and an assist to lead defending champion Canada to a 6-2 victory over Belarus at the World Hockey Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.

In Basel, Olympic champion Czech Republic struggled to a 1-0 victory against Slovakia.

Names in the News

Oksana Baiul, 1994 Olympic figure skating gold medalist, is in alcohol rehabilitation, a year after she crashed her car into a cluster of trees in a drunk-driving accident. Baiul, 20, volunteered for the program last week and will stay about a month, a spokesman said. . . . Picabo Street, the Olympic super-G gold medalist who faces a year of rehabilitation from leg injuries, and 1994 Olympic downhill champion Tommy Moe head the 1998-99 U.S. Alpine team.

Robert Baker, a star receiver who was kicked off the Auburn football team after a drug arrest, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to cocaine trafficking in Alabama. . . . Gene McDowell, former Central Florida football coach, was sentenced to six months’ home detention and community service for lying to federal agents investigating his players for cellular phone fraud. . . . Bill Arnsparger, the architect of the Miami Dolphins’ famous “No-Name Defense” in the early 1970s and former head coach of the New York Giants, came out of retirement to accept a position as special teams coach at Cornell.

Steve Hatchell, who helped form the Big 12 Conference in 1995, resigned as the league’s commissioner. . . . The Mighty Ducks have claimed minor league left winger Eric Lecompte, 23, on waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Services for former USC track star Jack Trout will be held at 10 a.m. today at Mission San Juan Capistrano. Trout, a sprinter who helped lead USC to the NCAA title in 1943, died Saturday at 76. . . . Paul Seymour, captain of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals, died Wednesday. He was 70.