Rookie Should Make First Cut After 64 to Lead Phoenix Open

For a rookie who missed the cut in his first two tournaments, Franklin Langham likes his chances of finishing in the money at the Phoenix Open.

A one-shot lead doesn’t hurt.

On Wednesday, Langham warmed up the Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale stadium course with a seven-under-par 64 in the first round.

Gene Sauers and Woody Austin were a shot off the lead at 65, with Dan Pohl, Bob Tway and Howard Twitty at 66.

“I’m not even thinking about the cut,” Langham said. “It’ll be nice to make one, but I’m out here to play well and finish on top.”

The start of the 72-hole event, moved up a day because of the Super Bowl in another Phoenix suburb, was delayed 45 minutes because of frost on the greens.

That led to a suspension of play at dusk, leaving 30 of the 132 players still on the course. One of them was Joey Gullion, another rookie who was five under but must play 23 holes today.

Soccer

Police were called to a high school game in Concord, Calif, after members of one team attacked the opposing coach and punched an official on Tuesday.

The incident began with about five minutes left in a Mountain Bay Athletic League match between Concord High and Mt. Diablo High.

Concord, the visiting team, was leading, 3-0. A Concord player tackled a Mt. Diablo player, who responded by pushing and swinging at the tackler.

Among the attacked was Concord Coach Ed Butler, who was trying to break up a fight.

U.S. national team veteran Dominic Kinnear has been allocated by Major League Soccer to the Colorado Rapids for the upcoming season.

Jurisprudence

Josh Gimelstob, a member of Tulane’s tennis team and a former nationally ranked junior, has been charged with negligent homicide in connection with the death of a campus police officer in New Orleans.

Gimelstob, whose younger brother, Justin, is a member of the U.S. National Junior team, surrendered to police in New Orleans. Police say Josh Gimelstob ignored a warning to slow his Jeep Cherokee and struck an officer early Saturday morning. The officer was dragged about 30 feet and was pronounced dead at Charity Hospital.

Gimelstob, 20, and two brothers all achieved national rankings as juniors growing up in New Vernon, N.J. Justin Gimelstob, 19, is one of the top young players in the country, and plays for UCLA. He earned a wild-card berth into the U.S. Open last year. Russell Gimelstob, 17, is a star high school player in Newark, N.J.

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Derrick Stewart, a former University of Arizona defensive back, has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. Stewart, 23, was accused of breaking the jaw of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base airman Terrence McIntosh during a fight at a party in May.

Names in the News

Shortstop Alan Trammell said he will return for his 20th season with the Detroit Tigers as a utility infielder. . . . Dave Nilsson and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a one-year, $1.05-million contract. Nilsson batted a career-best .278 last year, but was limited to 81 games after contracting Ross River Fever, a rare mosquito-born virus indigenous to his native Australia.

Olga Appell, the leading qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Olympic marathon trials, broke her foot and withdrew from the Feb. 10 race. . . . Middle-distance running great Sandor Iharos of Hungary died in Budapest. He was 65. From May 1955 to July 1956, the slightly built Hungarian rewrote the record book for the middle distances with 11 world records in seven events. . . . Funeral services were scheduled today for Albert Bloemker, director of publicity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 42 years. Bloemker, 89, died in an Indianapolis nursing home on Monday.

The NCAA is investigating whether Oklahoma Coach John Blake improperly used his ties to the Dallas Cowboys to recruit players for the Sooners, the Austin American-Statesman reported. . . . New Mexico defensive tackle Steve Malonson, 22, has suffered a stroke. The 6-foot-1, 265-pound junior from Houston was listed in serious condition at University Hospital at Albuquerque. . . . Steffi Graf has not recovered sufficiently from a foot operation to compete in next week’s Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. . . . Georgia Athletic Director Vince Dooley was in stable condition one day after surgery to clear an artery.

Figure Skating

Russia’s Artur Dmitriev, a former world and Olympic figure skating champion, became a European pairs champion again with a new partner, Oksana Kazakova, at Sofia, Bulgaria. Defending champions Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steuer of Germany, who led after the short program, were second. Third went to France’s Sarah Abitol and Stephane Bernadis, the best French placement in that event since 1932.