Sluman Leads Memorial; Nicklaus (75) Falters Late

Even after Jeff Sluman polished off his best round of the year, a seven-under 65 that gave him a one-shot lead in the Memorial at Dublin, Ohio, he was quick to ask the question on just about every player’s mind Thursday.

What did Jack shoot?

In what might be his final PGA Tour event on American soil, Jack Nicklaus sent a fan to the hospital after hitting him with a tee shot, brought the gallery to its feet with consecutive birdie putts and spent most of the gray, cool day at Muirfield Village holding his own until three bogeys on the last four holes dropped him to a 75.

It was better than Vijay Singh (77), Davis Love III (78) and Mike Weir (76) but still 10 shots behind Sluman, and not nearly good enough to make Nicklaus feel like celebrating.

“I had a chance to shoot a pretty darn good score,” he said. “I shot 75. That’s about my game. I don’t see anybody being scared by it. It didn’t scare a soul except me.”

But that didn’t stop the admiration and appreciation for the tournament founder and host, now on the last leg of an incomparable career.

Joe Ogilvie shot a 67 and between questions in his interview quietly asked what Nicklaus shot. So did 24-year-old Adam Scott after bogeying the last hole for a 67, and three-time Memorial champion Tiger Woods after his bogey-free 69.

The only unnerving part of Nicklaus’ round came at the ninth, when his tee shot hit a fan in the jaw, and the man wound up going to the hospital to get stitches.

After chatting with the fan, Nicklaus arranged to get his phone number and address so he could check on him.

Twenty-eight players broke 70, and nine players were within two shots of the lead.

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Pepperdine’s Michael Putnam topped the individual leaderboard after the second round of the NCAA Division I tournament at Owings Mills, Md., shooting his second straight 67 for a six-under 134 total. Augusta State’s Major Manning (70) was a stroke back.

Georgia’s Richard Scott shot a one-under 69 and teammate Brendon Todd added a 70 to help the Bulldogs increase their team lead to nine strokes.

Georgia has a two-under 558 after 36 holes. USC is in fourth place at 12 over par.

Pro Football

Baltimore Raven running back Jamal Lewis was released from a Florida prison camp after completing a four-month sentence for using a cell phone to try to set up a cocaine deal.

Lewis was expected to head to a halfway house in Atlanta for a two-month term.

Team spokesman Kevin Byrne said an attorney for Lewis has asked federal prison officials to allow the player to attend the Ravens’ mini-camp from June 13 to June 16.

The Kansas City Chiefs dropped receiver Johnnie Morton two weeks after he was asked to stay away from spring workouts. The Chiefs wanted to cut Morton’s $3-million salary, which he resisted.

Wide receiver Koren Robinson, who was suspended for substance abuse last season and faces drunk driving charges, was released by the Seattle Seahawks.

The team also released veteran cornerback Bobby Taylor, signed as a free agent last season after starring with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Hockey

Negotiators for the NHL and the players’ association continued to work through the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement, making enough progress in a small-group setting to agree to reconvene today in Toronto.

They’re expected to stay in small groups to zero in on a definition of hockey-related revenues before bringing in Commissioner Gary Bettman, NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow and others.

A source said the negotiations were tedious and sometimes contentious but were moving forward.

The NHL will hold a three-day research and development camp in Toronto next week where over-age junior and Canadian college players will test ideas that have been proposed to enhance NHL play.

Among the changes to be tested are a tag-up offside, hurry-up faceoff, no-touch icing, a net with posts that curve outward to provide a bigger target, restrictions against goalies handling the puck, and the removal of the red line.

Television

UCLA’s football opener on Sept. 3 at San Diego State will be televised by ESPN2. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Three other Bruin games have already been selected by ABC -- Sept. 17 vs Oklahoma at the Rose Bowl (12:30 p.m.), Nov. 12 vs Arizona State at the Rose Bowl (4 p.m.) and Dec. 3 at USC (1:30 p.m.).

ESPN has reached a multi-year agreement to serve as worldwide television representative for the U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer team home matches, including World Cup qualifiers and friendlies.

Basketball

Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Larry Brown have agreed to help choose the men’s U.S. Olympic basketball team.

Other former players on the panel include David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson. Other coaches include Dean Smith, Bob Knight, John Thompson and Chuck Daly.

Last week, USA Basketball announced that Jerry West and a handful of NBA team presidents and general managers would be part of the advisory group.

In the WNBA, San Antonio got its first win as reserve rookie center Katie Feenstra scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half, leading the Silver Stars to a 69-62 victory over Charlotte at San Antonio.

Janell Burse scored 21 points to lead the Seattle Storm past the Phoenix Mercury, 78-67, at Phoenix.

Miscellany

NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt acknowledged on a life insurance application shortly before his death that he once had a dizzy spell during a race -- apparently a 1997 event in South Carolina in which he crashed.

The disclosure was contained in 41 previously sealed exhibits in a lawsuit against insurer United of Omaha, which refused to pay millions of dollars to Earnhardt’s widow after he died in a crash at the Daytona 500 in 2001.

College golf star Anna Grzebien, a sophomore at Duke, and lacrosse standout Kristen Kjellman, a sophomore at Northwestern, have been voted the nation’s outstanding athletes in their respective sports, according to results of balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools. It is part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 29th year.