Mediate, Els, Pernice Share Lead

Rocco Mediate shot an eight-under-par 64 Friday, earning a share of the lead with Ernie Els and Tom Pernice at 11-under 133 midway through the Buick Open golf tournament at Grand Blanc, Mich.

Tom Kite, who continued his hot wedge play, and long-hitting Vijay Singh were each a shot behind the leaders.

The 7,105-yard, par-72 Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club yielded birdies in bunches as soft greens, a light breeze and generous fairways turned the tournament into what Els called “a putting contest.”

“Today was nice,” he said. “You always smile when you shoot 65.”

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Lori Kane shot a five-under 67 for a 136 total and a share of the second-round lead with Sherri Steinhauer in the LPGA areaWEB.COM Challenge at Sutton, Mass. Steinhauer shot a 68.

Kane, third on the 1999 LPGA money list, has finished second eight times but has yet to win a tournament.

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Bruce Fleisher had nine birdies before a bogey on No. 18 gave him an eight-under 64, matching the course record and giving him a one-stroke lead over Mark Hayes in the opening round of the Long Island Classic senior tournament at Jericho, N.Y.

Fleisher, second on the Senior PGA Tour money list and winner of four tournaments in his rookie year, had a string of six birdies.

Motor Racing

Al Unser Jr. is out and Gil de Ferran and Greg Moore, two of the circuit’s hottest free agents, are in on Roger Penske’s CART champ car racing team.

Penske announced that he and Unser, who joined the team in 1994 but has not won since 1995, will part ways at the end of this season. De Ferran and Moore each signed three-year contracts to begin driving for Penske in 2000.

Michael Schumacher needs an operation on his broken leg, Ferrari said in a statement, ruling out any chance the Formula One driver would return to racing in the next few weeks. Schumacher broke his right leg in two places when his car crashed during the British Grand Prix on July 11.

Miscellany

Olympic documents point toward possible scholarship and travel abuses during Atlanta’s bid for the 1996 Summer Games, the Associated Press reported.

Sources familiar with a congressional committee’s investigation of the city’s bid said the documents contained “several references to scholarships” for relatives of International Olympic Committee members and non-Olympic travel for some members.

Southern Methodist, the only university ever punished with the death penalty for NCAA violations, announced it has uncovered potential recruiting irregularities in its football program and responded by suspending assistant coach Steve Malin.

Andre Agassi moved into the semifinals of the du Maurier Open at Montreal, but top-seeded Australian Patrick Rafter was eliminated. Agassi outclassed France’s Fabrice Santoro, 6-0, 6-3, in 52 minutes. Rafter was beaten by France’s Nicolas Kiefer, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-4), in a two-hour 43-minute thriller.

In the Pan Am Games at Winnipeg, Canada:

* Cincinnati’s Gerald Tucker scored a lopsided 15-3 victory over Venezuela’s Neouar Cermeno to win the bantamweight boxing crown.

* Lea Foreman lifted 215 kilograms (474 pounds) and won the gold medal in the 69-kilogram (152-pound) weightlifting class. It was the second U.S. gold in the games for a woman weightlifter.

* Denise Parker of Salt Lake City won her 11th Pan American medal, a bronze in archery.

* Canada, the only team to defeat the United States in the round-robin men’s softball tournament, did it again in the medal round, 2-1. If the Americans beat Cuba today, they get another chance at Canada for the gold.

* U.S. Olympic Committee Executive Director Richard Schultz took exception to suggestions the United States did not bring its best athletes.

“We’ve accomplished a lot of things here,” Schultz said. “We’ve seen the media sometimes refer to the U.S. bringing their B team. That’s not correct. We brought a good combination of athletes here.”

The 2002 men’s World Cup soccer final will be played at Yokohama International Stadium, which can seat 70,564, organizers announced. Japan and South Korea are co-hosts for the next World Cup. . . . Arnold Eaton, charged in a fiery crash that killed Purdue women’s basketball player Tiffany Young, was in court just hours before the collision, trying to plead guilty to alcohol-related misdemeanors. . . . Chad Carvin continued his comeback with an 800-meter freestyle national championship in the USA Swimming Nationals at Minneapolis.

The leading jockey at the Del Mar meeting, Alex Solis, suffered an apparent concussion before the second race when his mount, Ke Bound, reared his head and struck the head of Solis. . . . Rudy Baez, the top jockey in New England, probably will never walk again, one of his doctors said. Baez was paralyzed from the waist down after severing his spine during a spill Wednesday at Rockingham Park in New Hampshire. . . . John Veitch, one of thoroughbred racing’s top trainers, will train horses in Saudi Arabia for Prince Faisal.