A Leader by Three Strokes, DiMarco Seeks First Win

Chris DiMarco, who has never won a PGA Tour event or even led one after three rounds, has a three-stroke lead entering today’s final round of the inaugural Pennsylvania Classic at Paoli, Pa.

“I’m certainly going to have a lot of pressure on me,” DiMarco said. “I’ve never won. I’m going to be in a situation where everybody is going to be looking at me and trying to catch me, and I’ve never been there before.”

DiMarco shot a five-under-par 66 in chilly and windy weather Saturday for a three-stroke lead over Frank Lickliter, Loren Roberts and Mark Calcavecchia in the first PGA Tour event in Pennsylvania in 20 years.

DiMarco had six birdies and one bogey for a 12-under 201 total in the difficult conditions at Waynesborough Country Club.

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Larry Nelson birdied four of the final five holes to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Gil Morgan after the second round of the Kroger Senior Classic at Mason, Ohio.

Nelson, who shot a 58 during Thursday’s pro-am, bogeyed the 15th, but rebounded for three consecutive birdies to finish his round with a 64, the lowest score of the tournament, and a two-round total of 134.

Auto Racing

Bobby Labonte was not slowed much by the speed-robbing safety change NASCAR ordered after the deaths of two drivers this year at New Hampshire International Speedway.

The Winston Cup points leader won the pole for today’s Dura Lube 300 in Loudon, N.H., with a lap at 127.632 mph.

The cars are equipped with carburetor restrictor plates, NASCAR’s response to the deaths two months apart of drivers Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin. They were killed in practice, with stuck throttles believed to be the reason for the accidents.

Second-fastest was the Ford of Jeff Burton at 127.227.

Juan Montoya crept one point closer to the leaders in the CART championship, claiming the pole position for the Motorola 300 at Madison, Ill.

Montoya got around the 1.27-mile Gateway International Raceway oval at 180.334 mph to grab his sixth pole of the season.

Even with the point for leading qualifying, Montoya is an outsider in the closest championship race in the history of the Champ car series. The defending series champion is 11th in the standings, trailing leader Gil de Ferran by 48 points with four races, including today’s 236-lap event, remaining. There are a maximum of 87 points left to win.

Jeff Green of Long Beach finished in second place in the 40-lap NASCAR Super Stock race before 5,298 at Irwindale Speedway, all but assuring him of the division championship. Green came into the race 48 points ahead of San Pedro’s Mike Price. Price finished the race in third. With only one points race remaining, on Oct. 7, Green’s lead is 50 points, 674-624. The only way Green could lose the title is if he didn’t start that October race and Price emerged victorious. T.K. Karvasek of North Hills, third in points, won his eighth super stock race of the year after taking the lead from Green on the seventh lap. --MARK PEINADO

Townsend Bell of Costa Mesa set a track record and led qualifying for today’s Dayton Indy Lights Championship race at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill. Bell drove one lap around the 1.270-mile oval at an average speed of 159.721 mph to win the second pole of his rookie season and his first on an oval track. . . . John Force, the defending NHRA Winston champion from Yorba Linda, set two funny car track records at the Keystone Nationals in Mohnton, Pa. He completed his quarter-mile run in 4.836 at 312.50 mph.

Tennis

U.S. Open champion Marat Safin of Russia breezed past George Bastl of Switzerland, 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinals of the President’s Cup at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Safin’s opponent will be Davide Sanguinetti of Italy, who beat Julien Boutter of France, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4). . . . Markus Hantschk, a German ranked No. 92 and recovering from a wrist injury, upset eighth-seeded Alex Calatrava of Spain, 6-4, 6-1, to reach the finals of the Gelsor Open at Bucharest. Hantschk will face countryman Juan Balcells, who beat Marc-Kevin Goellner of Germany, 6-4, 6-4.

College Basketball

Bob Knight’s attorney is questioning a contract provision that places restrictions on where the former Indiana coach can work. Russell Yates told the Bloomington Herald-Times, “We’re going to negotiate that or we are going to litigate.” Knight’s contract, first signed in 1982, says he will forfeit deferred pay if after leaving Indiana he joins a Division I basketball program in Indiana or Kentucky or any Big Ten school.

Miscellany

Spanish cyclist Roberto Heras all but clinched the Tour of Spain by winning the next-to-last stage at Monte De Avantos. He covered the hilly 76.8 miles in 3 hours 16 minutes 42 seconds, and increased his overall lead to 4 minutes 26 seconds. The race ends today with a 22-mile time trial around Madrid. . . . Deidra Lane, already charged with murder in the death of her NFL running back husband, Fred Lane, has been arrested in Charlotte, N.C., on bank larceny charges.