McNulty Leads by One in First Senior Start

Mark McNulty put himself in position to win in his first Champions Tour start, shooting a six-under-par 65 Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am at Lutz, Fla.

McNulty, from Zimbabwe, won the tour’s qualifying tournament late last year but withdrew from events in Miami and Naples after contracting shingles.

“I didn’t have many expectations,” he said. “I’m not one to talk about injuries, but five weeks ago I got shingles on my face. I just came this week to try and relax and enjoy myself.”

McNulty, who has won 55 worldwide events but is winless in the United States, had seven birdies and one bogey on the TPC of Tampa Bay to take a 10-under 132 total into the final round.

Larry Nelson (69) and D.A. Weibring (65) were a stroke back, and Vicente Fernandez (67), Mike McCullough (70), Tom Purtzer (67) and Tom Jenkins (67) were eight under. Tom Kite, the first-round leader after a 63, shot a 73 to drop five shots back.

Tennis

Second-seeded Mardy Fish was beaten by Joachim Johansson, 6-2, 6-4, in the semifinals of the Kroger St. Jude tournament at Memphis, Tenn. Johansson will face Nicolas Kiefer, who beat Thomas Enqvist, 6-3, 6-3, in the other semifinal. Enqvist beat Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals Friday night.

Second-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Max Mirnyi, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (4), to set up a match with Lleyton Hewitt in the ABN Amro tournament final at Rotterdam, Netherlands. The sixth-seeded Hewitt beat Tim Henman, 6-3, 6-3.

Top-seeded Guillermo Coria beat France’s Richard Gasquet, 7-6 (1), 6-1, to advance to the final of the ATP Buenos Aires event. Coria will face defending champion Carlos Moya in a rematch of last year’s final. Moya beat Jose Acasuso, 7-6 (3), 7-5, to advance in the clay-court event.

Kim Clijsters beat Myriam Casanova, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the Diamond Games final at Antwerp, Belgium. Clijsters will face Silvia Farina Elia, who beat Karolina Sprem, 6-4, 7-5.

Winter Sports

Renate Goetschl of Austria won a World Cup super giant slalom at Are, Sweden, gaining ground on Anja Paerson in the overall standings. Goetschl sped down Olympia course in 1 minute 9.22 seconds. Goetschl trails Paerson by 23 points heading into the giant slalom today.

Mathias Fredriksson won the men’s 15-kilometer cross-country ski race at Umea, Sweden, after Lukas Bauer was disqualified for taking a shortcut.

Bauer finished about eight seconds ahead of Fredriksson, but the race jury determined Bauer cut into the final straightaway too early after a curve. When he discovered his mistake, he turned back -- but not far enough.

Miscellany

The Oakland Raiders designated cornerback Charles Woodson their franchise player, giving the team sole negotiating rights with the four-time Pro Bowl selection.... The St. Louis Rams designated offensive tackle Orlando Pace their franchise player.

USC Coach Pete Carroll will receive the Frank Leahy Co-Coach of the Year Award and the Johnny Vaught Lifetime Achievement Award at the All-American Football Foundation’s 58th Banquet of Champions on March 9 at the Biltmore Hotel.

Also scheduled to be honored are former UCLA coach Billy Barnes, who will receive the foundation’s Admiral Thomas J. Hamilton Award, and Chris Dufresne of The Times, who will receive the Fred Russell Outstanding Sportswriter Award.

Passings

John Charles, a member of the 1958 Wales World Cup team and one of the most popular players in Italian soccer in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died in Wakefield, England, at 72. Story, Section B.

T.J. Simers has the day off.