Fleisher Looks at Home in Senior PGA Debut Win

Bruce Fleisher began his Senior PGA career impressively, winning the season-opening Royal Caribbean Classic by two strokes Sunday at Key Biscayne, Fla.

The victory made Fleisher the fifth player to win in his senior-tour debut, joining Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and George Archer.

“I can’t express what I’m feeling right now,” Fleisher said after winning in front of many friends and family from his hometown of Miami. “This is something I dreamed about for the last four to five years.”

Fleisher, who needed nearly 30 years to win $1.7 million on the regular tour, earned $150,000 in one weekend for his biggest career paycheck. He shot a one-under-par 70 Sunday and finished with an eight-under 205 at Crandon Park Golf Course.

Japan’s Isao Aoki, who started the final round two strokes behind Fleisher, also closed with a 70 to finish at 207.

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Bernhard Langer’s triple bogey on the last hole paved the way for a two-stroke victory by New Zealand’s Michael Long at the Greg Norman International at Sydney, Australia.

Langer was ahead by a stroke entering the par-three 18th, but finished in third place with 285. Langer closed with a seven-under 80, and Long’s 72 put him at nine-under 283 on The Lakes course. New Zealand’s Michael Campbell finished second at 284.

Winter Sports

Yushiro Yagi, Japan Olympic Committee secretary-general, said there were “excesses” in Nagano’s winning bid for the 1998 Winter Games, but added that an investigation he was leading into Nagano’s activities was being hampered by a dearth of documents detailing what the western Japanese city spent on entertaining to win the bid.

Todd Lodwick of Steamboat Springs, Colo., won two gold medals in the final day of the National Ski-Jumping Championships at Lake Placid N.Y., taking the 90-meter ski-jumping event and the Nordic combined event. In the women’s 90-meter ski jump, Lindsey Van of Park City, Utah, won by landing jumps of 84 and 77.5 meters for a total of 161.5. . . . Renate Goetschl led an Austrian sweep of the top four places in the women’s downhill in the World Alpine Ski Championships at Vail, Colo. The powerful Austrian team has won 10 of a possible 15 medals in the championships, including four golds.

Guenther Huber and brakeman Ubaldo Ranzi held off Christoph Langen’s favored team in the final two runs to win the two-man title at the World Bobsled Championships at Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy. . . . Janne Ahonen of Finland added to his lead in the World Cup ski jump standings, defeating Norway’s Lasse Ottesen on a 120-meter hill at Harrachov, Czech Republic.

Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann of Germany set a world record in the women’s 5,000 meters, en route to winning the overall title at the World All-Around Speedskating Championships at Hamar, Norway. Niemann-Stirnemann was timed in 6 minutes 57.24 seconds, improving by more than a second her record set last year.

Miscellany

In track and field, Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie, the Olympic 10,000-meter champion, won the 1,500 in the year’s fastest time, 3 minutes 34.29 seconds, at the Stuttgart indoor meet. The time was three seconds slower than the world record.

In tennis, France’s Fabrice Santoro won the second title of his career, defeating countryman Arnaud Clement, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in the final of the Marseille Open in France.

Javier Jauregui (40-8-1, 30 knockouts) and Jose Badillo (22-2, 15 knockouts), the only two boxers remaining in the Forum’s junior-lightweight tournament, will fight tonight for the championship, a $10,000 prize and a new car. In the semi-main event, Antonio Ramirez (12-1-4, 10 knockouts), whose only loss was to Badillo in the Forum semifinals, will face Aaron Zarate (26-9-1, 16 knockouts) in a 10-round match. First bell is at 7:15 p.m.

In high school basketball, Oak Hill Academy of Virginia, 26-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today, defeated No. 9 Compton Dominguez, 60-56, before 3,500 in the Nike Extravaganza at Cal State Fullerton late Saturday. Cliff Hawkins, who had 16 points, drove down the lane and scored on a jump shot with 28 seconds remaining to give Oak Hill a 58-54 lead over the Dons (21-3).

Ohio State’s athletics department is reviewing recruiting violations committed by two assistant football coaches who visited recruits shortly before last week’s signing day.

In bowling, Parker Bohn III defeated Hall of Famer Pete Weber, 225-211, at Austin, Texas, to win his third Columbia 300 Open title on the PBA Tour.