ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 4, 1997 TAG: 9704040074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN SPORTS
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
It took John Jacobs, Isao Aoki, Gil Morgan and Hot Springs native J.C. Snead a while to shake off the record-breaking chill in the air Thursday during the first round of The Tradition in Scottsdale, Ariz.
When they did, they heated up the year's first senior major.
All were 1-under-par at the turn, and each birdied five of the last nine holes to finish at 6-under-par 66.
Simon Hobday, with a later start, took a different route - he was 7-under by the 10th hole, then lost ground and had to birdie No.18 for his 66 and a share of the five-way tie for the lead.
It was 58 degrees just after midnight and kept cooling off. The highest it got during the day was 54. The National Weather Service said the previous April 3 record for a cool high temperature in Phoenix was 63, set in 1945.
The temperature at Desert Mountain, which is about 1,700 feet higher than Phoenix and 35 miles northeast, couldn't have been above 50.
The co-leaders could feel the presence of Jack Nicklaus, who has won the last two Traditions and four of seven since making his senior debut in 1990 on the 6,954-yard Cochise Course he designed at Desert Mountain.
Nicklaus, troubled by an arthritic hip, was even more affected by the overcast skies and sweater weather, and made an even-bigger turnaround on the back nine.
He had four bogeys in the first 10 holes and seemed out of contention until he matched his personal best by reeling off six consecutive birdies on Nos. 11 through 16. Another birdie on the final hole - Nicklaus' ninth of the round - left him a shot off the lead.
Terry Dill matched Nicklaus' 67, and George Archer, Graham Marsh, John Schroeder, Tony Jacklin and Bob Charles carded 68s. (Scores in Scoreboard. B3)
In other golf:
PGA: Scott McCarron has only one tournament victory to his name, last year's Freeport-McDermott Classic in New Orleans. He found the 7,116-yard course just as friendly, shooting a 65 for a share of the lead after one round in defense of his championship.
McCarron wasn't the only one off to a good start. David Toms and Larry Rinker, who lost his card and had to go back to qualifying school in 1996, also shot 7-under-par 65s.
Greg Norman, who is using this tournament to tune his game before the Masters, shot 67.
Roanoker Chip Sullivan opened with a 70 that left him tied for 21st. (Scores in Scoreboard. B3)
LPGA: Noelle Daghe, a non-winner in her seven-year LPGA career, played her way through pain to shoot a 5-under-par 67 for a three-shot lead after the opening round of the Longs Drugs Challenge in Lincoln, Calif.
Daghe has visited an on-course tour chiropractor several times this week - including prior to the opening round.
High school freshman Natalie Gulbis, 14, of Citrus Heights, Calif. - the second-youngest golfer to ever compete in an LPGA tournament - shot an 81.
Tammie Green and Sharon Barrett shot 70 to share second place. (Scores in Scoreboard. B3)
BASKETBALL|
Marquette coach suspended|
Marquette's Mike Deane became the first coach ever suspended from the NCAA tournament when he was banned for one game for his behavior during a first-round matchup with Providence.
The NCAA Division I Basketball Committee barred Deane from coaching in the first-round of next year's tournament for what committee chairman Terry Holland, athletic director at the University of Virginia, called conduct that was unacceptable and would not be tolerated.
The suspension would expire after the first round of next year's tournament even if Marquette does not qualify for it.
Deane was given two technicals with about 4:20 left in the game last month against Providence after a Marquette player was accidentally scratched in the eye, and another Marquette player was given his fifth foul.
Two technicals means an automatic ejection from the game and coaches are supposed to leave the court immediately. But Deane charged at the official and argued with him at the scorer's table as the play was being discussed.
Francis Marion: Furman basketball assistant Ed Conroy will take over as head coach at Francis Marion, school officials say. Conroy, 30, who has been at Furman three years, also has worked as an assistant coach at North Carolina State and VMI.
Conroy, first cousin of novelist Pat Conroy, replaces Lewis Hill, who announced in December he would leave the Patriots after 21 years and a 339-276 record.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Co-leader Simon Hobday reacts as hisby CNBbirdie putt falls at the ninth hole of The Tradition.