Three Tied for World Series of Golf Lead

Hidemichi Tanaka, a long hitter despite weighing 128 pounds, three-putted for a bogey on the last hole to fall into a three-way tie for the lead in Thursday’s first round of the World Series of Golf at Akron, Ohio.

Tanaka, Billy Mayfair and Paul Goydos finished at four-under-par 66. They were two strokes better than Steve Stricker and three ahead of Justin Leonard and PGA champion Mark Brooks.

Defending champion Greg Norman, Masters champ Nick Faldo and U.S. Open winner Steve Jones were at 70.

Only six players in the elite 43-player international field broke par in the high heat and humidity at Firestone Country Club.

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Mike Brisky and rookie Mike Swartz shot four-under-par 67s to lead the first round of the Greater Vancouver Open by one stroke at Cloverdale, Canada.

Tennis

Daniel Nestor, one day after beating top-seeded Thomas Muster, was eliminated from the du Maurier Open at Toronto, losing, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4), to Australian doubles star Todd Woodbridge in the third round.

Also ousted in the third round was No. 6 MaliVai Washington, who was beaten, 6-2, 6-1, by Pat Rafter of Australia. Alex O’Brien ran his winning streak to nine matches with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Sweden’s Mikael Tillstrom.

Washington’s loss means No. 4 Marcelo Rios of Chile is the only seeded player still competing in the top half of the draw. Rios beat Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-3.

Conchita Martinez of Spain defeated Nathalie Tauziat of France, 6-3, 6-4, to become the first semifinalist at the Toshiba Classic at Carlsbad. Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina defeated Sweden’s Asa Carlsson, 6-1, 7-5, in the second round. . . . Fifth-seeded Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine reached the quarterfinals of the Hamlet Cup at Commack, N.Y., by beating Jan Kroslak of Slovakia, 6-3, 6-2.

Baseball

Craig Stinson homered and Brett Bell struck out seven as Cranston, R.I., beat Panama City, Fla., 6-3, to advance to the championship game of the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa.

Cranston will play Taiwan, a 7-1 winner over the Dominican Republic, in Saturday afternoon’s final.

“We can beat them,” Stinson said. “I know we can beat them.”

Basketball

Free agent Reggie Miller said he might be willing to sit out the 1996-97 season if the Indiana Pacers don’t offer him enough money. In an interview with ESPN, Miller said his price is $10 million and that the Pacers have yet to make a satisfactory offer.

“I don’t think anyone wants to sit out,” he said. “If that’s going to be my only option, I would probably have to.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed rookie guard Reggie Geary and gave up rights to guard Darryl Johnson. Geary, selected in the second round of the NBA draft as the 56th overall pick, averaged 9.8 points and seven assists as a senior at Arizona.

Jurisprudence

An Alameda County judge has ordered California basketball Coach Todd Bozeman to stay away from a former student who alleges Bozeman threatened her and made a number of telephone calls with sexual overtones.

The temporary restraining order was issued for Suzanne M. Wilson, 22, of Albany. Bozeman was ordered to appear in court on Aug. 30 for a hearing on the allegations.

The complaint says Wilson was introduced to Bozeman in 1991 by former player Jelani Gardner, who has transferred to Pepperdine.

An attorney says Michael Irvin dropped off a $50,000 sport-utility vehicle lent by car dealers now suing the troubled Dallas Cowboys’ All-Pro receiver.

Larry Friedman, who represents the dealers, confirmed that the Toyota Land Cruiser was dropped off Wednesday night behind his law office. A deadline for the return of the vehicle, lent to Irvin as part of an endorsement contract, passed at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday without word from the player.

Former Nebraska football player Christian Peter is in jail in Kearney, Neb., serving a 10-day sentence for grabbing a woman at a bar last March. He began serving his sentence Tuesday night, after an appeal was dismissed this week in Buffalo County District Court.

Names in the News

Rudy Washington, who recently resigned as the men’s basketball coach at Drake, has been hired as the athletic director and interim basketball coach at Compton College. Washington previously coached at Compton in 1983-84. . . . Eugenio George Laffita was fired as coach of the women’s national volleyball team of Cuba, which won the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics. The National Sports Institute, the state body which runs sports in Cuba, said in a statement it was removing Laffita because of “conduct incompatible with his educational role.” . . . Andrea Anderson of UCLA won the 100 meters in a personal-best 11.43 seconds at the World Junior Track Championships in Sydney, Australia.

Miscellany

The National Outdoors Masters Diving Championship begins today and continues through Sunday at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. More than 100 divers between the ages of 21 and 94 will compete. . . . The U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team lost to Australia, 63-57, in the semifinals of the Paralympic Games in Atlanta.