Beem Proves That He Can Stomach His First Victory

Rookie Rich Beem, who battled an upset stomach hours before tee time, birdied three of the first five holes and cruised to his first PGA Tour victory Sunday at the Kemper Open in Potomac, Md.

Beem, who putted well all tournament, sank a 45-footer on the first hole, a 10-footer on the third and rattled one in from 25 on the fifth. By then he had a four-stroke lead, and he parred all but two holes the rest of the way for a one-under-par round of 70 and a 10-under 272 total, one shot ahead of Bradley Hughes and two-time champion Bill Glasson.

Beem, the leader after each of the first two rounds and co-leader with Tommy Armour III after the third, spoke openly about his battles with nerves throughout the tournament. He downed a dose or two of stomach medicine early Sunday and still had it in his bag at the first tee before giving it to CBS announcer David Feherty, who had complained Saturday of an upset stomach.

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Kelli Kuehne attacked the final round of the Corning Classic with the poise of a veteran and the enthusiasm of a rookie, and both paid off when she got her first LPGA Tour victory and became the youngest winner in the 21-year history of the Corning, N.Y., tournament.

Kuehne, 22, shot a two-under-par 70 for a one-stroke victory over Rosie Jones.

A flawless front nine, including an eagle on the par-five No. 5, and a rocky back nine left Kuehne at 10-under with a four-day total of 278.

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Hale Irwin shot a six-under-par 66 in the final round to win the Boone Valley Classic by two shots at Augusta, Mo., his second victory in three years in the tournament played about 40 miles from his home.

Irwin, who has won two of his last three starts on the Senior PGA Tour, started the day two strokes behind second-round leader Bruce Summerhays and one behind five others.

He birdied three consecutive holes to take the lead going to the back nine. He had six birdies in the final round and finished with a 54-hole total of 13-under 203.

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Colin Montgomerie and Retief Goosen share the lead after the third round of the Volvo PGA in Virginia Water, England, two strokes ahead of Mark McNulty and Bernhard Langer.

Track and Field

Maurice Greene, ranked No. 1 in the world in the 100 meters and the 1997 world champion, won the event in 9.84 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., a time that equaled Donovan Bailey’s world record but was negated by wind.

The wind was clocked at 7.83 mph, well over the allowable 4.473 for record purposes.

Forty minutes later, Greene won the 200 in 20.06, a time that would have broken the meet record of 20.15 by Michael Johnson in 1995 if not for the wind.

Marion Jones won the 200 by about nine meters in 21.81, the fastest time in the world this year.

Bill Bowerman, the 88-year-old former Oregon track coach who invented the modern running shoe, retired from the board of directors at Nike, a post he has held since 1968.

Miscellany

Joao Carlos de Oliveira, who held the world triple jump record for a decade and won Olympic bronze medals in 1976 and 80, died late Saturday in his native Brazil after a month-long battle with lung and liver ailments. He was 45.

The body of the Brazilian sports hero was taken to the Legislative Assembly in Sao Paulo on Sunday and draped in the national flag. Burial is today in his hometown of Pindamonhangaba, about 90 miles northeast of Sao Paulo.

Second-seeded Jeff Morrison, a sophomore at Florida, defeated top-seeded James Blake of Harvard, 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-4, to win the NCAA men’s individual title at Athens, Ga.

Stanford’s Ryan Wolters and K.J. Hippensteel won the doubles championship with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Tulsa’s Nenad Toroman and Gareth Williams.

The first of 230 yachts from the United States cruised into Havana’s Marina Hemingway in a race that drew more attention for its finish line than winner.

The fourth annual Havana Cup regatta is opposed by Florida’s Cuban exiles, who say the race makes light of their families’ suffering and helps Fidel Castro’s communist government.

Among those who voiced their opposition to the regatta last week was Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who called it an “insult” to Cuban Americans living in his state.

But the sailors say they see it as a way to better understand a country and people most Americans know little about.

Adelphi defeated C.W. Post, 11-8, for the Division II lacrosse championship in College Park, Md. Salisbury State beat Middlebury, 13-6, for the Division III title.