Hoch Increases Lead in World Open to Four

Scott Hoch shot a two-under-par 70 to expand his lead to four shots Saturday after three rounds at the $1.9-million Sarazen World Open golf championship at Braselton, Ga.

Hoch had a 54-hole total of 14-under 202 on the hilly 6,967-yard The Legends course at Chateau Elan, a resort 50 miles north of Atlanta.

“I’m pleased with where I am, but it’s a long hard day,” Hoch said. “It’s a struggle out there. You have to fight to survive. It’s very easy for your mind to stray.”

Defending champion Frank Nobilo of New Zealand remained second after a 72.

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Dave Eichelberger and Larry Gilbert shot even-par 70s to share the lead after the second round of the chilly, wind-swept Emerald Coast Classic at Milton, Fla.

Gilbert and Eichelberger were at four-under-par 136 after 36 holes, one stroke ahead of Jay Sigel and Dave Stockton at the 54-hole Senior PGA Tour event.

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The wind and rain didn’t bother Maggie Will at the Japan Queens Cup, where she shot a one-under-par 71 to tie Mayumi Hirase for the second-round lead at four-under 140.

Tennis

Jana Novotna fought off three set points in the first set and rallied from three games down in the second to overcome Martina Hingis, 7-5, 6-4, in the Ameritech Cup semifinals at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion.

With Hingis ahead, 2-1, in the second set, Novotna took two three-minute injury timeouts, one to tape a blister on the toe of her left foot and the other to bandage her right knee because her thigh had tightened up.

Hingis, who had lost to Novotna in the finals of the European Indoors two weeks ago, went ahead, 4-1. But Novotna regrouped to win the final five games, scoring the last 13 points.

French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov rallied to beat a tiring Petr Korda, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals of the Paris Open.

In the other semifinal, Thomas Enqvist easily defeated injured fellow Swede Magnus Gustafsson, 6-3, 6-2.

Top-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain beat Austrian Barbara Paulus, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, to win the Kremlin Cup at Moscow.

Baseball

Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo received a loud ovation from Japanese fans and then led a U.S. major-league all-star team to a 6-1 victory in an exhibition against the top players from Japan’s Central and Pacific leagues in Tokyo.

“For me the important thing was letting the people of Japan see me pitch,” Nomo said after pitching three shutout innings. “I wanted them to get a taste of what major league baseball is all about.”

Andres Galarraga of the Colorado Rockies, Julio Franco of the Cleveland Indians and Texas’ Juan Gonzalez homered for the American team, which lost the first game of the eight-game tour, 6-5, on Friday. Game 3 will be played today.

The Cleveland Indians will not make an offer to free-agent outfielder Albert Belle until after a vote by major league owners on a new labor agreement, according to general manager John Hart.

Auto Racing

Bruno Saby of France won the Marlboro Desert Challenge in a Mitsubishi Pajero after defending champion Jean Louis Schlesser, also of France, lost his lead when he slammed into a sand dune. Saby covered the 1,240 miles in the United Arab Emirates over four days in 18:31:28.

Miscellany

New Mexico State police will recommend that charges be filed against a high school football player expelled for wearing a sharpened buckle on his helmet that injured several players on an opposing team.

State Police Deputy Chief John Cordova said Mike Cito may be charged with aggravated battery, and his father, Stephen Cito, with conspiracy for allegedly sharpening the buckle.

The NCAA will send Arkansas a letter of inquiry alleging that school administrators don’t maintain sufficient control over the basketball program, CBS television reported.

The daughter of the university’s chancellor quit an academic counselor’s position in September after acknowledging she typed correspondence course papers for a basketball player, and last season the school let two players play before certifying their junior college transcripts.

Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles said the report was premature and that the university didn’t have any indication a letter of inquiry would be sent.