Love’s New Attitude Paves Way to a First-Round Lead

Winless in his last 53 starts on the PGA Tour, Davis Love III decided to stop being so obsessed with beating Tiger Woods and start concentrating on playing good golf.

The first round of the Byron Nelson Classic on Thursday at Irving, Texas, was quite a test.

On a tough day of hot, whipping winds that bewildered Woods, Love holed a 40-foot chip and a couple of 30-foot putts for a four-under-par 66 on the TPC at Las Colinas to share the lead with Blaine McCallister.

Among those two strokes back were two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, John Huston and Sergio Garcia. Masters champion Vijay Singh was in a large group at 69.

Gusts were up to 38 mph and only 17 players broke par, compared to 103 in the first round a year ago.

Woods, who opened with a 61 last year, was 12 shots worse this time. Baffled by approach shots that sailed over the greens, he took a double bogey from the bunker on No. 14 and played the last five holes at five over for a 73.

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Pat Hurst, finally getting her swing back after giving birth to her first child last June, shot a seven-under 65 and took a two-stroke lead over Cindy Figg-Currier and Kristal Parker after the opening round of the new Electrolux USA Championship at Franklin, Tenn.

College Basketball

Bob Knight’s coaching career at Indiana is in jeopardy, with university trustees considering asking him to resign, a high-ranking school official told the Associated Press.

The unidentified official said the decision could be “tantamount to dismissal.”

University trustees will meet Sunday, apparently to decide whether to expand an investigation into Knight, who has been accused of physical and verbal abuse during his 29 years as Indiana’s basketball coach. The probe is expected to be completed by mid-June.

In one of the latest damaging allegations to emerge, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday that Knight physically attacked former assistant coach Ron Felling last Nov. 30 after overhearing him talk about problems in the program. Felling left the team five days later.

Many of Knight’s players say they will leave the program if he is forced out, an athletic department spokesman said late Thursday.

Tennis

Top-ranked Andre Agassi lost to hard-hitting Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, 6-4, 6-4, in the third round of the Italian Open at Rome. The American lost, 6-4, 6-4, to the No. 15 Hrbaty in just over an hour, with a double fault on match point seeming to sum up Agassi’s futility. Ninth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, a 19-year-old Australian rising quickly in the rankings, moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3 victory over No. 7 Thomas Enqvist of Sweden.

Martina Hingis of Switzerland reached the quarterfinals of the German Open at Berlin with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over Silvija Talaja of Croatia. Germany’s Anke Huber, seeded eighth, also advanced and improved her record to 13-1 on clay this year, beating Spain’s Magui Serna, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-4.

Pro Football

Oakland safety Eric Turner reportedly is suffering from what is termed “a serious stomach illness.”

The Los Angeles Daily News reported Thursday that Turner’s ailment is believed to be career-threatening. Team officials were not available for comment.

Turner, who attended UCLA, signed with the Raiders in 1997 after a six-year stint with the Cleveland Browns-Baltimore Ravens.

The tampering issue surrounding San Francisco 49er quarterback Steve Young and the Denver Broncos is closed, according to the NFL. . . . New York Jet receiver Wayne Chrebet and former Indianapolis Colt running back Keith Elias were fined $230 apiece after pleading guilty to a nuisance violation outside a bar at Seaside Heights, N.J. . . . Cornerback Tyronne Drakeford of the New Orleans Saints refused to take a pay cut and was cut by the team.

Miscellany

The $500,000 sale of the basketball advertised as the one Wilt Chamberlain used to score 100 points was called off because of questions about its authenticity.

Distance runner Johanna Olson of Iowa’s Luther College, who twice recovered from a brain tumor to return to intercollegiate competition and earn All-American honors, is the winner of the Honda Inspiration Award. The award is presented annually to the collegiate woman athlete who has overcome great physical adversity to contribute to the success of her team.