ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 8, 1996 TAG: 9611080065
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN SPORTS
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STAFF REPORTS
Hale Irwin, seeking a money title along with the Senior Tour Championship, used on-target irons and steady play to grab the first-round lead Thursday with a 5-under-par 67 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Irwin, the Senior PGA Tour's rookie of the year last season and its money leader heading into the final tournament, had a one-stroke lead over Vincente Fernandez and Bob Charles, who dropped from first with a bogey at No.18.
Mike Hill, the Senior Tour Championship winner in 1990 and 1991, was at 69, along with Jay Sigel. Defending champion Jim Colbert, Lee Trevino, John Bland and Larry Gilbert shot 70s. J.C. Snead of Hot Springs was at 72.(Scores in Scoreboard.)
Irwin steadily moved from tee to green, putting his approach shots inside a 10-foot circle all day.
``I don't want to sit here and say it was boring,'' said Irwin, who has won $1,572,894 this season. ``But it was a very solid round. Not a lot of spectacular holes-in-one, knocking it in for eagles or that kind of stuff. It was just the kind of round I wanted to play.''
BASEBALL Torre's brother goes home
Frank Torre, who underwent a heart transplant in a Frank Capra-esque scenario the day before his brother Joe managed the New York Yankees to their world championship, walked out of a hospital.
``I feel like a new man!'' Frank Torre announced, looking strong - though a little thin - in his warm-up suit and sneakers as he stood behind a podium in the lobby of New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center for his last news conference before departing. ``We got a 28-year-old heart.''
Recovery from surgery and adjustment to his new heart topped Torre's immediate agenda.
On a day his brother was named co-winner of the American League Manager of the Year Award, he also managed to make a trip to Yankee Stadium.
Torre, 64, suffered three heart attacks and spent 41/2 months on the transplant waiting list before receiving his new heart Oct. 25, the Yankees' off day before their 3-2 Series clincher against Atlanta.
FOOTBALL Kuehl dropped by Redskins
Former Virginia defensive tackle Ryan Kuehl was released by the Washington Redskins. The Redskins signed cornerback Tomur Barnes to take Kuehl's place on the roster.
Barnes played in five games for the Houston Oilers before being waived. He was claimed by Minnesota and played in two games for the Vikings before being released Tuesday.
Kuehl, who grew up in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., made one tackle in limited action in two games this season.
* Mike Rozier, the 1983 Heisman Trophy winner, remained hospitalized in Camden, N.J., with gunshot wounds while the search continued for his assailant.
Rozier, 35, of Camden, is in the trauma unit at Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman, at the family's request, declined to release additional information.
Authorities were searching for a suspect and offered no motive for the shooting in the McGuire Gardens housing development, a few blocks from where Rozier lives.
BASKETBALL
* Wake Forest basketball player Steven Goolsby should be ready to play in the Demon Deacons' season opener after undergoing arthroscopic surgery, a team doctor said.
Goolsby underwent surgery Wednesday at North Carolina Baptist Hospital to repair torn cartilage in his left knee. Team orthopedic physician Walt Curl, who performed the surgery, said the damage to Goolsby's knee was somewhat worse than expected. But he said the junior forward should return to the team by Nov. 24, when Wake Forest faces VMI.
Goolsby, a 6-foot-4 junior from Marietta, Ga., is expected to be a key reserve for the Demon Deacons at guard and small forward. He appeared in all 32 games last season, averaging 4.6 points.
* Chris Burgess, a 6-foot-10 post player from Woodbridge High School in Irvine, Calif., became the fourth top-10 basketball prospect to commit to Duke in the past two weeks.
Burgess, rated the nation's No. 2 prospect by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons, joins No. 3 Shane Battier, No. 5 William Avery and No. 9 Elton Brand in committing to the Blue Devils.
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