Tewell Wins Seniors Title With Ease

Doug Tewell didn’t have the same feeling as he approached the 18th green at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Monday as he did while winning the 1986 L.A. Open.

He didn’t have any goose bumps. He didn’t receive quite the ovation. And his wife, Pam, wasn’t in town.

It hardly felt like a victory, especially a major. Not until Tewell hoisted the PGA Seniors Championship trophy above his head did he really understand the gravity of his first senior tour win.

“I’d have to rank this as the biggest victory of my career,” said Tewell, whose win earned him $324,000.

Tewell, playing in his first Seniors Championship, shot a five-under 67 and finished seven strokes ahead of four others. He became the 12th golfer to win his first senior event at a major championship.

Tewell finished only one hole in the third round Sunday before play was halted for the seventh time in four days. More than nine inches of rain drenched the Champion Course at the PGA National Resort & Spa during the event, forcing the reduction to 54 holes.

Few fans remained for Monday’s finish, including Tewell’s wife. She left a day earlier to see their third grandchild, who was born Sunday morning.

Dana Quigley, who started the final round a stroke behind Tewell, shot one-over and finished in a four-way tie for second at eight-under with Hale Irwin, Tom Kite and Larry Nelson. Vincente Fernandez and Hubert Green were seven-under.

Pro Football

The San Diego Chargers announced they have dropped their interest in L.A. Avenger and former USC quarterback Todd Marinovich, who was hoping for a comeback after eight seasons away from the NFL. The Chargers selected JuJuan Seider from Florida A&M; in the sixth round of the draft Sunday, then agreed to terms with free-agent quarterback Mike Burton of Division III Trinity University of San Antonio, Texas.

The Arizona House rejected a bill proposing a new stadium for the Arizona Cardinals hours after the Senate approved it. Even if the $331-million stadium financing package was approved by the Legislature, the plan still needed approval by Gov. Jane Hull and Maricopa County voters before a stadium could be built. Under the plan, the Cardinals would pay $85 million and the Fiesta Bowl $10 million to build a 73,000-seat domed stadium with a partially retractable roof. The rest of the money would come from increased taxes on rental cars and hotel rooms plus stadium-related sales taxes and income taxes on pro football players and Cardinal employees.

The lawyers for Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis filed motions in a Fulton County (Ga.) court saying that their client should not be tried by the same jury as his two co-defendants in the murder trial of two men. A joint trial will hinder a “fair determination of each defendant’s guilt or innocence,” the motion said. Lewis is charged along with Reginald Oakley of Baltimore and Joseph Sweeting of Miami in the Jan. 31 post-Super Bowl stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker, 21, and Richard Lollar, 24, both of Decatur, Ga.

Running back Rashaan Salaam, the 1994 Heisman Trophy winner from Colorado, was among four players released by the Green Bay Packers. . . . Running back Natrone Means, who played last season for the Chargers, agreed to a one-year incentive-laden contract with the Carolina Panthers. . . . The Atlanta Falcons signed 11 free agents, including Florida quarterback Doug Johnson. . . . The Washington Redskins, who lost a chance to advance to the NFC title game on a botched field-goal snap, acquired long snapper Joe Zelenka from the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2001. The Redskins did not re-sign Dan Turk, whose bouncing snap forced the Redskins to abort a field-goal attempt in the final moments of a 14-13 loss to Tampa Bay in the NFC playoffs in January.

Boxing

Former heavyweight champion Michael Moorer was taken to a mental hospital after he threatened to kill himself during an argument with his girlfriend in Boca Raton, Fla. Moorer, a two-time champion, had been drinking at a friend’s house before he went home and started an argument with his girlfriend, Maria George. He then put a handgun to his head and told her he wanted to “end it,” police said. George ran to a neighbor, who called police. When officers arrived, Moorer, 32, was about to drive away on his motorcycle. Moorer, whose breath smelled of alcohol, told officers he fired a shot in the house and wished to commit suicide, police said. . . . Steven Farhood, a freelance boxing writer and television analyst, testified that he found no basis for favorable ratings given to several boxers who got shots at International Boxing Federation titles. Farhood testified in the week-old trial of IBF founder Robert W. Lee, accused with other IBF officials of taking $338,000 in bribes in return for manipulating the organization’s rankings.

Miscellany

Mark Philippoussis and Greg Rusedski, struggling to adapt their big serves to clay, were defeated on the first day of the Monte Carlo Open in Monaco. Wayne Ferreira scored a 6-4, 7-5 victory over 14th-seeded Philippoussis, and Slava Dosedel stopped No. 10 Rusedski, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1. Rusedski was angry his opponent took a 10-minute bathroom break at the start of the third set. Dosedel said he had been asked by the security staff to use the bathroom in the clubhouse rather than the one immediately behind the court that had been used by Rusedski earlier in the match. Cedric Pioline was the only seeded player to win, defeating Magnus Larsson, 6-2, 6-2. . . . Former Virginia men’s basketball coach Jeff Jones, forced out two years ago after the Cavaliers’ third consecutive subpar season, was named coach at American University. Jones had been an assistant at Rhode Island this past season. . . . Racing through cold, rainy conditions on San Francisco Bay, sailors Russ Silvestri and John Myrdal claimed spots on the U.S. Olympic team as Olympic trials concluded in four classes. . . . A Superior Court preliminary hearing for former UCLA women’s basketball player Ayesha Rembert has been delayed until Monday, a Los Angeles County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman said. Rembert, accused of stealing a laptop computer, leather jacket and other items Dec. 27 from a friend, was arrested Jan. 19 on burglary charges. She is free on $30,000 bond. . . . The WNBA will conduct its 2000 player draft on April 25. The league begins play on May 29. The 32-game season ends Aug. 9.