The Battalion
PORTS
Wednesday • June 17,
U.S. Open course promises high scores
Els’ back problems provide obstacle for defending champion; Woods poised for run
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ernie Els shifted
in his chair and gently rubbed the lower part of
his back with his left hand, as if he were trying to
push something into place.
Suddenly, the question for the man who has
won two U.S. Opens in four years was not
whether he could win for the second year in a row,
but whether he was physically fit to play at all.
"It is not the way you really want to feel like
playing in a major tournament," Els said Tues
day at The Olympic Club. "But I am defending
here this week."
Els, who withdrew from the Buick Classic last
week because of his back, is working with the
same therapist who helps Fred Couples and
Davis Love Ill.
"It is still a day-to-day thing," Els said. "1
can't, for one thing, sit down too long."
He also cannot practice as much as he would
like and the kind of standing around that is com
mon in the usually slow first two roundsof a U.S.
Open tends to make the back stiffen.
There is, however, reason to believe that Els
might be fit by the time he has to tee it up in
Thursday's first round.
A week ago Els could barely swing through
the ball. That's not a problem now, but if there is
any kind of layout that it not good for someone
with a bad back, it is a U.S. Open venue.
He will have to play a golf course with typi
cal U.S. Open rough that is not only more than 6-
inches high but also very thick because of the un
usually heavy El Nino rain this year.
"This rough is the worst rough, most diffi
cult rough, that I have seen in the U.S. Open, I
think ever," Tom Watson said, who has played
in the Open 26 times.
Els is one of several players coming into the
Open with back problems.
Couples, who has won twice this year and has
to be considered a favorite, has had a problem
with his back for years but seems to have stabi
lized the situation with exercises and a reduced
travel schedule.
Love, the PGA Championship winner and an
other top contender here, had his back problem
flare up about six weeks ago and, as with most
players, it bothers him most when he has to sit
for a long time, like in an airplane.
Woods, who knows the Olympic course
very well from his days at Stanford Universi
ty, withdrew from the Kemper Open two
weeks ago because of a sore back and at the
time it was feared that it might be the begin
ning of a chronic situation. But now he thinks
it was more from running too much.
"It's fine —100 percent," Woods said Tuesday
after he played a practice round with Casey Mar
tin and Joel Kribel, two guys who also played col
lege golf at Stanford.
While Woods' back was fine on Tuesday, his
wallet experienced a little pain.
"1 was taken for some cash," he said with a
smile. "Casey played well. He made some birdies
and got in my pocket."
Martin, who successfully sued the PGA Tour
for the right to ride in a cart because of a circula
tory problem in his right leg, won another cart-
related fight on Tuesday.
The USGA changed its mind and decided to
let Martin use a regular cart in the Open instead
of the one-man cart it required him to use in the
qualifier and in practice rounds here.
Martin felt the cart wasn't safe.
While Martin will be able to cruise the fair
ways in the cart of his choice, it will be keeping
the ball in the fairway that will likely be the de
ciding factor when the Open starts on Thursday.
Hitting the ball straight will count for a lot this
week and playing the wise shot when a fairway
is missed will also be a key.
"You better use your head coming out of the
rough," Watson said, who finished second here
in the 1987 U.S. Open.
"You better be thinking of your shot after the
shot that comes out of the rough," Watson said.
"You better be playing that shot as precisely as you
would any shot that you really needed to make."
Watson said he likes Colin Montgomerie's
chances at Olympic, both because he hits a lot of
fairways and because his left-to-right game
works well on this course.
He also thinks Woods' length will work to his
advantage at Olympic, even though he will be
hitting almost no drivers off the tee because of
the many dogleg holes.
"He can lay up with a 2-iron on a lot of holes
here and still hit it out here with me with my dri
ver," Watson said.
Shula forms buyers alii
in order to invest in Broi
CLEVELAND (AP) — Don
Shula remembers cheering from
the frozen end zone seats in Cleve
land Stadium as Lou Groza kicked
a field goal to give the Browns
their first NFL title.
Now, nearly a half-century later,
the league's winningest coach wants
to build the organization that brings
the Browns back to his hometown.
"When Cleveland lost its franchise
I felt like I was losing part of my own
personal history," Shula said Tuesday.
"I want to use my expertise and
experience in the NFL to help put a
winning team together in Cleveland."
Shula was in town for a news
conference to announce his alliance
with two brothers — local lawyer
Larry Dolan and Cablevision Sys
tems Corp. Chief Charles Dolan —
and Bill Cosby in their effort to buy
the expansion Browns.
Shula, who compiled a 347-173-6
record and won two Super Bowls as
coach of the Miami Dolphins and
Baltimore Colts, would own 5 per
cent of the team.
He also has signed a five-year
deal with the Dolans to be executive
vice president of the team, if the
group's bid to buy the franchise
from the NFL succeeds.
Shula would give up his post as
vice chairman of the Dolp
of directors to becomer
for hiring the Brownsg.
ager, head coach andofe
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ga said he was happy fm;
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plaud his desire to help
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Larry Dolan said Shula E
a huge asset as Clevelawl
build a decent team in the*
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ownership question buth
first game in 1999.
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curve," Larry Dolan du
brothers first contacted Sr ^
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English violence in
France dominates
exciting World Cup
PARIS (AP) — In the wake of what
the French are calling the nightmare
in Marseille, the off-field focus at the
World Cup has switched to Toulouse.
That's where England plays its next
game, facing Romania on Monday.
About 1,000 English fans were already
reported in France's fourth-largest city,
prompting officials to postpone a
weekend music festival until July 11.
Thousands more are expected before
the match, and French authorities are
considering closing bars early and for
going setting up large TV screens like
the one on a Marseille beach where
ticketless English fans and local youths
fought Monday.
"The security measures will be
upgraded and strengthened wher
ever it is a matter of public order, and
the other matches of England will
lead to beefed-up security measures
there," Jacques Lambert said, man
aging director of the World Cup or
ganizing committee.
France Interior Minister Jean-
Pierre Chevenement signed an order
Tuesday to immediately deport five
English fans and a Tunisian. Fie
threatened more expulsions if soccer
violence returns.
"It's a message of firmness toward
the troublemakers," Chevenement
said, who defended police actions.
"No excesses will be tolerated."
Things were far more peaceful on
the field, thankfully, where Brazil
beat Morocco 3-0, becoming the
first team to advance to the second
round — for the second straight
tournament — and Scotland stayed
alive by rallying to tie Norway 1 -1.
The U.S. team, reeling from its
decisive opening defeat against Ger
many and facing the politically
charged match with Iran on Sunday,
planned some lineup changes.
Frankie Hejduk, the only Ameri
can who came close to scoring, will
start in midfield, as will playmaker
Tab Ramos. Coach Steve Sampson
might make some other moves, too,
as he seeks more offense.
Ramos criticized Sampson's de
ployment of players against Ger
many, saying there wasn't enough
experience on the field.
"It's hard to believe when you
look down the bench and see Alexi
Lalas and Marcelo Balboa and Jeff
Agoos, who's played just about
every qualifier," Ramos said.
Brazil struck quickly as Ronaldo,
the two-time FIFA player of the year,
scored nine minutes in. Rivaldo made
it 2-0 in the final seconds of the half,
and the defending and four-time
champions coasted, with veteran Be-
beto getting the final goal in the rout.
"We played joyful, sparkling and ef
ficient soccer," Coach Mario Zagallo
said. "Tm happy with everything: the
defense, the midfield and the attack."
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