Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 266, Greencastle, Putnam County, 19 July 1988 — Page 7
S eve wins Open LYTHAM, England (AP) He is known simply as Seve, one of those first-name-only stars like Ar- : nie or Magic or Reggie. That type of recognition came to Seve Ballesteros as he became one of golf’s dominant figures, winning four majors and taking the top spot in world rankings. ; The ranking slipped a bit and some of the adulation went, too, as I the Spaniard brooded over losses and feuded with officials in recent -years. - - But now, Seve is back, reborn on the very hole of the very course where he started to become a household word nine years ago, and in a match he called his best ever. • “I am the same person I was a • week ago, but this means I will ; have more confidence,” Ballesteros ; said Monday after shooting a ; tournament-low 65 to edge Nick Price by two strokes for his third • championship in the British Open. • Ballesteros won his first major on the same Royal Lytham and SL Annes course in 1979. He won the British Open again in 1984 at St. Andrews, and two Masters titles, in 1980 and 1983. But in more recent years, the headlines of “Seve Wins It” have been replaced by “Seve Blows It.” Ballesteros showed signs of returning to form in recent months. He opened the PGA European Tour with a victory in Majorca, and took the Westchester Classic on the U.S. tour last month. With a third British Open title tucked away, Ballesteros said he could forget those earlier failures. It will be a shot by the shores of the Irish Sea that will spring to mind when Ballesteros looks for inspiration, one that will find a spot in the lore of golf’s oldest tournament and golf itself. It came late in a classic duel, the front-running Price playing well but, in the end, not well enough. The South African-born Price, who has applied for U.S. resident status, opened the day with a twostroke lead over Ballesteros and defending champion Nick Faldo of England. Price, trying to erase memories of a 1982 final round in the Open, when he blew a three-shot lead with six holes to play, was solidly in front through the first six holes, although Ballesteros matched his birdie-eagle on the par-5 sixth and seventh holes. ' Ballesteros kept going and birdied the eighth with an 18-foot putt to tie few first, and stayed even with
Mr. Cub would play two, even under the lights
By HAL BOCK AP Sports Writer Ernie Banks was smiling, an all together normal condition for the Hall of Famer. Besides hitting and fielding, smiling is what Ernie Banks has always done best His enthusiasm is contagious. Banks was walking through the Cincinnati Reds’ dressing room before playing in an oldtimers’ All-Star Game in stifling 100-plus degree temperatures. The thermometer challenged the judgment of any man who chose to spend his afternoon running around, chasing after baseballs in those conditions. Kal Daniels, one of the young Reds’ players, called after him. “Hey, how about it, Ernie?” Daniels said. “Want to play two today?” “Sure,” Banks said, his eyes dancing, his voice full of enthusiasm. “Don’t you?” It is tough to dampen Ernie Banks’ spirits. You could even go so far as to desecrate Wrigley Field by installing lights in that shrine of daytime baseball where he played so brilliantly under the sun for 19 years and Banks would look around, consider what you had done, and smile. But would he mean it? As the Cubs prepare to play the first night games in Wrigley’s 72-year existence next month, it seemed appropriate to seek out the opinion of Banks, Mr. Cub, the ambassador of Chicago sunshine. So, tell us, Ernie, what do. you think about night ball at Wrigley? “It’s exciting, isn’t it?” he said. Well, frankly, no, not for traditionalists, who, like journeyman catcher Crash Davis in the hit movie “Bull Durham,” still wonder why we ever needed the designated hitter and artificial turf. Banks crinkled his nose and lowered his voice, as if he were giving away a state secret. “Truthfully,” he said, “I’m a traditionalist, too. I like to see things stay as they were. Certain things are priceless.” Like maybe day games at Wrigley Field? Banks smiled, looking a little like the Mona Lisa.
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Nick Price led the British Open golf championship by two strokes with 18 holes to play, but was overtaken by Seve Ballesteros and his
birdies at 10 and 11. They got to the 16th hole all even. Faldo had by now fallen away, and the remaining two members of the threesome were in virtual match play, the score now 10under par. Ballesteros teed off with a 1-iron to the middle of the fairway on the par-4, then lofted a 9-iron toward the hole. It hit the flagstick and dropped dead, three inches behind the pin. Ballesteros tapped in for birdie-
“To be there so many years and to see this progress, that’s exciting to me,” he said. “Now the Cubs receive a chance to share the wealth. This will give working people a chance to see games. It’s an opportunity for the All-Star Game to be played there.” Truth be known, the All-Stars will be in Wrigley in 1990 only because of this concession to progress. The game was awarded to the city contingent on the installation of lights, coincidentally on the very day the city fathers voted on the controversial issue. Baseball did, however, manage to play two previous All-Star Games there in 1947 and 1962, before it decided that it was an absolute necessity to conduct these extravaganzas at night.
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3. Price had an eight-footer to stay even, but two-putted. The match was as good as over. “I think the shot I hit at the 16th was very important,” said Ballesteros, who sealed the victory with a sand wedge to within four inches of the pin on the final hole. Rice, trying for a birdie that would have sent the weatherplagued tournament into a fourhole playoff, drove a 25-foot putt by the 18th hole and two-putted for bogey-5 coming back.
ERNIE BANKS Turn on the lights
tournament-low round of 65 Monday, leaving the South African native as the runner-up. (AP laserphoto)
The over-par nnale by Price could not overshadow a great golf battle, one that Ballesteros called the best he has played “up to now. I hope I get a chance to play better sometime.” “This was one of those rounds that happens every 25 or 30 years,” he said. Faldo, who turned 31 as the Open was finished on a Monday for the first time in history, wound up third at 5-over 279, shooting evenpar for the final round.
Those were the dark ages, in a manner of speaking. Why the Cub teams in those days didn’t even realize how playing in the sun hurt their production, how the quick turnaround from the steady diet of road night games to day games at home played havoc with their metabolisms and affected their ability to win. Banks was quick to point out, however, that old Chicago teams did manage to win 10 pennants playing all day games at home. And, as recently as 1984, the sun did not prevent the Cubs from finishing first in the National League East That stunning development spurred baseball into action. It was suggested that if the Cubs advanced to the World Series that year, Chicago’s home games would be shifted to another stadium, perhaps Comiskey Park, home of the White Sox, perhaps even to another NL East city like St Louis. That’s how important night games have become for the game’s showcase events. The Cubs solved the problem and saved baseball the embarrassment by losing three straight and the NL pennant in San Diego after winning the first two during daytime hours at Wrigley Field. Banks sighed at the thought. “The idea of the Cubs making it to the World Series and then playing home games in the White Sox’ Park,” he said, shaking his head. “Wow!” The lights have made Wrigley safe for the World Series if the Cubs ever conspire to reach that stage again. If the players are happy with the installation of lights, then Banks, the traditionalist, is happy, too. “This is a different era,” he said. “Sometimes I get lost between then and now. Younger players feel differently. I can understand that. There are more games, more pressure. “It’s the times we live in.” Then he looked around the room. Convinced only friendly ears were listening, ears that understood his “Let’s play two” philosophy, Banks’ mischievous smile returned. “I’m working hard,” he said, “to keep up with the times.”
sports
2 down, 1 to go for Lewis at trials
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) two down and one to go for Carl Lewis as he works toward duplicating his 1984 feat of winning three individual Olympic gold medals. Lewis was pressed to come up with one of his best long jumps ever to extend his streak of victories in the event to 55 Monday at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Larry Myricks, the last long jumper to beat Lewis, came up with a personal best of 28 feet, BVi inches on his third of six jumps. Lewis, who had a wind-aided 9.78-second clocking Sunday in running the fastest 100 meters ever in the finals of the event, quickly met the challenge. Jumping minutes after Myricks, Lewis topped his meet record by going 28-9. It matched the fifth-best long jump ever. “Larry jumped within two inches of my personal best and I basically had to pull out that type of a jump in order to win the competition. At that time I simply had to dig down and do what it takes to try to win,” Lewis said. “Larry helped bring out the competition in me and in everybody else. We were dueling for first and second and they were staging a duel for third.” And the winning leap was accomplished on a runway wet from a heavy rain that began falling with Lewis preparing to take a 28-2 Vi jump that gave him the lead on his previous jump. Moments after that jump, a heavy downpour halted the competition. Myricks, who last beat Lewis in the long jump seven years ago, was unable to match the effort on his next three jumps. “I think this was the best competition he and I had together,” Myricks said after making the Olympic team for a fourth time. “My first priority was to make the team. If I had beat him, fine. But it’s no big deal. I’ll be jumping a couple of years from now, so I still have a lot of time.” Myricks and Mike Powell, who fouled four consecutive times before going 27-5 V* on his final attempt to place third, also are heading to the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The trials take a break today, and, after resuming Wednesday, will continue through Saturday. While Lewis was outdueling Myricks, another Lewis Steve ran one of the greatest 400meter races in history. Steve Lewis, a 19-year-old freshman at UCLA, wot his 400meter semifinal heat in 44.11 a half-second quicker than the world junior record of 44.61 he had set one day earlier.
Meyer says passing game needs work
ANDERSON (AP) - ndianapolis must stretch the field more with its passing game if it expects to repeat as AFC East champion, Colts coach Ron Meyer says. “With Eric Dickerson and Albert Bentley in our backfield, we feel we have been very effective in the running area,” Meyer said at the Colts’ training camp Monday. “But there’s no question, we need to take some pressure off of them to enhance the run game. We need to loosen things up around the line of scrimmage.” Meanwhile, the Colts Monday announced the signing of punter Dan Stryzinski. The Vincennes Lincoln High School product averaged 38.8 yards as a senior at Indiana last season. Meyer and the Colts have made the passing attack a priority at camp on the Anderson University practice fields. The Colts averaged only 6.8 yards per pass attempt in their 9-6 season in 1987. During the offseason, the Colts acquired veteran receivers Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, Charlie Brown and Clarence Verdin with an eye on adding outside speed. The Colts also drafted Aatron Kenney, a former track sprinter. Last year, the Colts finished with
JULY 19,1988 THE BANNERGRAPHIC
Athletes to be tested for drugs INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A urine sample from each athlete who betters a world record at the U.S. Olympic track and field Trials will be sent to Montreal for testing. And samples from the top three finishers in each event, unless they set world records, will go to Los Angeles. Until the results are confirmed, all records and all places on the U.S. team at Seoul are considered tentative. Mandatory, random drug testing is not done to moralize against the use of certain banned substances, an official of The Athletics Congress said Monday. “We want fairer competiton,” said TAC’s Bemy Wagner, a member of a drug testing panel which met in conjunction with the track and field trials this week. It also was the second-fastest time run at sea level, behind only the 44.10 by Butch Reynolds of the United States last year. Kim Gallagher, the 1984 Olympic silver medalist who had been struggling the past three years because of physical ailments, won the women’s 800 meters in 1:58.01, the fifth-fastest time ever by an American. It made her the No. 3 U.S. performer, behind only Mary Decker Slaney and 1968 Olympic champion Madeline Manning. Johnny Gray, the American record-holder in the men’s 800, broke the Indiana University Track and Field Stadium record in winning in 1:43.96. National champion Mark Everett finished second in 1:44.46, with Tracy Baskin third in 1:44.91. Both ran personal bests. Diane Dixon, a gold medalist in the women’s 1,600-meter relay at the 1984 Olympics, won the women’s 400 in 50.38, the fastest by an American this year. Denean Howard finished second in 50.40, with Valerie Brisco, the triple gold medal winner at the ’B4 Games, third in 50.53. Bruce Bickford won the men’s 10,000 meters in 29:07.35. National champion Ken Rax won the hammer throw with a meet-record throw of 253-6 with Lance Deal edging American record-holder Jud Logan for second place, 248-2 to 248-0. National champion Donna Mayhew won the women’s javelin at 208-10, the best throw by an American this year.
the sixth-rated rushing attack in the NFL but only the 19th-ranked passing game. Opposing defenses often played the Colts to run the ball. “We don’t want to emphasize the passing too much (in camp) that we drop off in control of the line of scrimmage in terms of our running game,” Meyer said. “We feel we have adequate numbers to work with. But we’re always exploring all possibilities to make our club better. We’re pleased with the people we have and we’re not necessarily looking for more receivers, but you never rule anything out” Meyer said the Colts will look into the availability of Ricky Hunley, a starting inside linebacker for the Denver Broncos. Hunley, a free agent, has received permission to shop around the league. The Colts are satisfied with the their starting linebacking crew of Duane Bickett, Johnie Cooks, Cliff Odom and Barry Krauss. But both Meyer and General Manager Jim Irsay have talked about shoring up their backup group. Meyer said he expects no major cutbacks before the Colts’ veterans arrive Wednesday. Mike Moffitt, a tight end from Fresno State, voluntarily left camp Monday.
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