Yokoo Has Enough for PGA Lead

Japanese rookie Kaname Yokoo shot a seven-under-par 65 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Jerry Smith in the National Car Rental Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Yokoo, who has won each of the past three years on the Japanese tour, had a 13-under 131 total. Smith shot his second consecutive 66.

Davis Love III (66) and Argentina’s Jose Coceres (65) were two strokes back at 133, and PGA champion David Toms (68) was another stroke back along with Fiji’s Vijay Singh (68), Brian Wilson (68) and David Peoples (65). Tiger Woods (67) was five strokes back.

After another day of low scoring on the Magnolia and Palm courses next door to Disney World, the cut was at five-under 139, the lowest in the 23 years of stroke play there.

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Gary McCord made six birdies in an eight-hole stretch en route to nine-under 63 and a two-stroke lead after the first round of the SBC Championship seniors’ event at San Antonio.

McCord, the CBS announcer seeking his second career Senior PGA Tour title, matched the tournament record on the Dominion Country Club course set last year by Fred Gibson.

Bobby Wadkins opened with a 65, and Bruce Fleisher shot a 66. Defending champion Doug Tewell stood at 67, tied with Larry Nelson, Bruce Lietzke, Mike Smith and Bob Murphy.

Tennis

Pete Sampras’ long wait for another tournament title was extended when he lost to qualifier Max Mirnyi, 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart Masters in Germany.

Mirnyi hit 11 aces to set up a semifinal meeting with fifth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who beat Thomas Enqvist, 7-5, 6-4.

U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt stretched his winning streak to 17 matches by beating defending champion Wayne Ferreira, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2. His semifinal opponent will be 15th-seeded Tommy Haas, who upset No. 7 Tim Henman, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Sampras said a sore arm was partly to blame for the loss.

“Not to take anything away from Max, he really played well. When you can’t serve, it definitely takes a little bit out of my game,” Sampras said. “But he played great.”

Top-ranked Jennifer Capriati set up a semifinal showdown against Lindsay Davenport at the Swisscom Challenge in Zurich by defeating local qualifier Marie Gaiane Mikaelin, 6-4, 6-2.

Earlier, two-time champion Davenport rallied after a slow start to eliminate qualifier Daniela Hantuchova, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Fifth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat eliminated No. 9 Sandrine Testud, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), to reach the semifinals. Tauziat faces Jelena Dokic, who beat Silvia Farina Elia, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Slovakia’s Ludmila Cervanova upset second-seeded Anne Kremer of Luxembourg, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the semifinals of the Eurotel Slovak Indoor tournament at Bratislava. Cervanova will meet fourth-seeded Rita Grande, who defeated Bianka Lamade, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Motor Racing

A showdown between Tony Stewart and NASCAR over mandatory use of head-and-neck restraints ended with the driver reluctantly agreeing to wear one.

Stewart missed the first 45 minutes of the morning practice at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama while he argued with NASCAR over the new requirement, adopted Wednesday as a response to a string of fatal accidents.

Stewart, who didn’t speak to reporters, is the only one of 43 drivers who had refused to voluntarily wear a HANS or Hutchens device.

Stewart wore his Hutchens device for qualifying. His fast lap of 181.082 mph was 41st on the speed chart. Stewart will start Sunday’s race 37th based on team owner points.

Stacy Compton won his second pole of the season in his Dodge for the EA Sports 500. The second-year driver, second from last in the 45-car qualifying line, bumped the Chevrolet driven by Bobby Hamilton from the pole with a lap of 185.240 mph.

John Force broke Texas Motorplex speed and time records in Funny Car qualifying for the O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at Ennis. Force sped down the concrete quarter-mile track in 4.758 seconds at a top speed of 322.69 mph in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang.

Miscellany

The Golden State Warriors made official what center Marc Jackson had announced four days earlier--that the team had matched the six-year, $24.37-million contract he was offered by the Houston Rockets.

Antoine Walker of the Boston Celtics was fined $5,000 for verbally abusing an official and failing to promptly leave the court after his ejection from an exhibition game this week.

Syracuse denied the appeal of freshman basketball player Billy Edelin, who was suspended indefinitely last month for allegedly sexually assaulting two female students. University officials announced that Edelin was no longer enrolled.

The United Arab Emirates earned a spot in the Asian playoff of World Cup qualifying, playing to a 2-2 tie with visiting Oman at Abu Dhabi. The UAE will play either Iran or Saudi Arabia in a playoff for the right to face Ireland in another playoff for a World Cup berth.

Three-time Olympic gold-medal winners Karch Kiraly and Regla Torres were inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame at Holyoke, Mass. Kiraly, who attended UCLA, was voted top male player of the 20th century by the FIVB, the sport’s world governing body.

Russia, led by Alina Kabaeva, easily retained its team title in the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships at Madrid.

Passings

Former Texas A&M; baseball Coach Tom Chandler has died of a rare form of Parkinson’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy. He was 76. Chandler, who died Thursday night at his home, had a 660-329-10 record in his 26-year A&M; career, which ended in 1984.