Jones Takes Last Hole to Take Canadian Lead

Steve Jones splashed his way to a par on the last hole Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the Canadian Open over an emotional Greg Norman, who wore all black to honor the memory of Princess Diana.

Four golfers were another stroke behind and British Open champion Justin Leonard, who finished the third round with three consecutive bogeys, was three strokes off the lead.

“That was one of the best pars I’ve ever made,” Jones said after he blasted a sand wedge from the high grass at the water’s edge and then got up-and-down from 165 yards for a three-under 67.

Norman awoke at 5:45 a.m. to watch the princess’ funeral and stayed glued to the TV for five hours, then shot a 69. Even though he had never met Diana, Norman, an Australian, called it “the most powerful morning I’ve ever had.”

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Al Geiberger shot a five-under 67 to take the second-round lead in the seniors’ Bank One Classic at Lexington, Ky.

Horse Racing

Jockey Gary Stevens escaped injury after being involved in a spill after the fifth race at Del Mar.

Riding Fly First Class, who crossed under the wire third in the one-mile turf race, Stevens went down after being put in tight along the rail by Pachira, who was ridden by Fernando Valenzuela.

Pachira had begun to tighten things up approaching the wire and was disqualified from second and placed third.

X-rays on Stevens’ right knee and right thumb were negative. He returned to the track later in the afternoon, but took off his two remaining mounts. He is expected to ride today.

Gymnastics

A day after winning the women’s all-around, Russia’s Svetlana Chorkina claimed victory in the uneven bars as the world championships continued in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Fellow Russian Alexei Nemov, who dropped out of the all-around contention when his grip apparently cracked on the rings, redeemed himself with a gold-medal floor routine. And Romania’s Simonar Amanar edged China’s Zhou Duan and teammate Gina Gogean in the vault, meaning that Gogean failed in her second attempt to win an individual title at the worlds before retiring.

Italy’s Yuri Chechi, who arrived as a spectator and was persuaded to compete, won his fifth consecutive rings title. Chechi is now reconsidering the retirement announcement.

Soccer

Tore Andre Flo led Norway into the World Cup finals by scoring the only goal against Azerbaijan in the 43rd minute. The Netherlands virtually assured itself of a place in the final by downing Belgium, 3-1.

Diego Maradona, who had not left his home since testing positive for use of an undisclosed banned substance Aug. 24, unexpectedly showed up for practice with his team, Boca Juniors. He would not discuss his situation.

Oman beat the United States, 4-0, in the under 17 world championship in Alexandria, Egypt. The loss put the United States in third place in Group C, behind Brazil and Oman, with only the top two teams in each of the four groups advancing to the quarterfinals.

Miscellany

Frank Fredericks beat Donovan Bailey again and Merlene Ottey edged Marion Jones in the 100-meter races at the Toto Super International track meet in Tokyo. Federicks won the men’s event in 10.04 seconds, .14 seconds ahead of Bailey, after having already beat the 1996 Olympic gold medalist last month in Europe. In the women’s race, Ottey, who finished a disappointing seventh at the world championships, ran 10.83, .08 ahead of Jones. Inger Miller won the women’s 200 in 22.77, beating world champion Zhanna Pintussevich of Ukraine.

Boris Mironov signed a two-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers. . . . Jean Alesi, in the midst of a disappointing season, returned to one of his favorite auto racing circuits and won the pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, his second such achievement in Monza. The other came in 1994.