Football Coaches Will Make Final Ballot Public

California football Coach Jeff Tedford got what he wanted: From now on, balloting in the final regular-season coaches poll will be made public.

Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Assn., said Thursday the decision was best for the game. The change comes after a public outcry last season, when the Golden Bears lost a shot at a bowl championship series game, in part because they got dropped in the final coaches’ poll.

Tedford and Pacific 10 Conference Commissioner Tom Hansen have said voting should be made public. Tedford was on vacation Thursday and unavailable for comment.

Though most coaches didn’t want to release the votes because of the scrutiny it would bring, Teaff said they decided to vote for the change to quell any “uncalled-for controversy.”

Teaff added there were no circumstances in which the group would allow its in-season voting to be made public.

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Golf

Graham Marsh and Raymond Floyd, in their 60s, and Hale Irwin, the defending champion who has a week left in his 50s, upstaged the younger and supposedly stronger members of golf’s 50-and-up club during the first round of the Senior PGA Championship at Ligonier, Pa.

Marsh, 61, shot a four-under 68 and has a one-shot lead over Irwin, R.W. Eaks, Dave Barr and Tom McKnight.

Among those in a large group two shots behind were Floyd, 62, who hasn’t won a tournament in five years; Curtis Strange, playing in his first senior major; and Texas club pro Perry Arthur.

Justin Leonard shot an eight-under 62 in unusually calm conditions at TPC at Southwind to take a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the St. Jude Classic at Memphis.

After Leonard entered the clubhouse early with a five-stroke lead, Kirk Triplett (64) and Davis Love III (65) did their best to catch up during the afternoon. Jason Bohn birdied his final hole and tied Love with a 65.

Annika Sorenstam opened with a three-under 69, before Sherri Turner opened with a six-under 66 to tie Sophie Gustafson for the lead after the first round of the LPGA’s Corning Classic at Corning, N.Y.

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Pro Football

Kellen Winslow Jr. apologized to Cleveland Brown fans for his reckless use of a motorcycle and confirmed that he would miss the upcoming season because of injuries sustained in the crash.

“To those members of the Cleveland Browns family who I have disappointed by my decision to ride a motorcycle, I humbly apologize,” Winslow said in the statement.

“In hindsight it was unwise to attempt to learn to ride a motorcycle without a professional instructor in a controlled environment.”

San Diego Charger defensive tackle Jamal Williams agreed to a five-year contract extension through the 2010 season.

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Tennis

Unseeded UCLA freshman Riza Zalameda upset second-seeded Julie Coin of Clemson, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA women’s tennis championships at Athens, Ga.

Joining Zalameda in the semifinals are fifth-seeded Jennifer Magley of Florida, unseeded Zuzana Zemenova of Baylor and third-seeded Audra Cohen of Northwestern.

In the second round of the men’s championships at College Station, Texas, USC’s Jamil Al-Agba was eliminated by Benedikt Dorsch of Baylor, 6-4, 6-0; Benjamin Kohlloeffel of UCLA defeated Rylan Rizza of Virginia, 6-7 (0), 6-2, 6-3; and Benjamin Becker of Baylor beat Scott Doerner of Pepperdine, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

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Miscellany

Figure skater Michelle Kwan says she wants to compete at the 2006 Games in Turin.

“I don’t think I’m too old to try for another,” said Kwan, 24.

Natalie Coughlin, winner of five medals at the 2004 Olympic Games last summer, heads a list of world-class swimmers competing in the 2005 Speedo Grand Challenge swim meet in Irvine beginning today.

The meet, which continues through Sunday, will be held at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Complex. The preliminaries start around 9 each morning, with the finals at 5 p.m.

World surfing champion Sofia Mulanovich defeated Chelsea Georgeson in the final of the Roxy Jam UK at Perranporth, Cornwall, posting her third win in five events on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ World Championship Tour.

Two days of meetings between the NHL and representatives of the players’ association resulted in some progress, with the sides drawing close to agreeing what constitutes revenue, a league source said.

The same source said that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has told some league executives that the stalemate could be resolved in three to four weeks.