Three Golfers Share Las Vegas Lead

Kirk Triplett and Dan Forsman joined Scott Hoch atop the leader board Friday after three rounds of the $1.5-million Las Vegas Invitational with 10 others within two strokes of the lead in the 90-hole tournament.

Hoch, who held a two-shot lead after 36 holes of the tournament played on three courses, could do no better than a third-round 70 at the TPC at Summerlin and fell into a three-way tie for the lead at 199, 16 under.

Forsman had a 68 at the TPC, and Triplett shot 65 at the Las Vegas Hilton course.

*

Laura Davies teamed with fellow Briton Alison Nicholas to win an alternate-shot match against Donna Andrews and Betsy King, giving defending champion Europe a 3-2 lead over the United States in the Solheim Cup at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Hockey

Tom Reich, the agent for a half-dozen prominent players, met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in an effort to intermediate in the ongoing dispute between the league and the players’ association.

Reich, who attempted to play a similar role in the baseball strike, said his involvement “is to try to contribute ideas and dialogue to encourage the process. . . . The only ones who can resolve it are Bob (Goodenow, head of the NHLPA), and Gary.” He added, “I view this differently from baseball. In baseball, they set out to level a successful union. In hockey, there’s no question (owners) want some things, but I get the feeling hockey owners want to play hockey. I hold out much more hope for a negotiated settlement in hockey. I’m not optimistic about a negotiated settlement in baseball.”

Tennis

Pete Sampras defeated Dutchman Paul Haarhuis, 6-1, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the $763,500 Hong Kong Marlboro Tennis Championships. . . . Third-seeded Andre Agassi, playing in his first tournament since winning the U.S. Open six weeks ago, defeated sixth-seeded Andrea Gaudenzi of Spain, 6-0, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the CA Trophy at Vienna, Austria.

Michael Chang, playing before an enthusiastic crowd of 5,000, overpowered Alexander Mronz of Germany, 6-2, 6-3, to move into the semifinals of the Salem Open at Beijing. . . . Fifth-seeded Marc Rosset of Switzerland defeated third-seeded Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4), in the quarterfinals of the Lyon Open in France, ending Ferreira’s 15-match winning streak. . . . Defending champion Jana Novotna defeated Katerina Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the semifinals of the Brighton International in England.

Miscellany

Ricky Rudd and each of the other 42 drivers who made qualifying attempts in the rain-delayed opening round of time trials for Sunday’s AC Delco 500 beat the previous track record on the repaved 1.016-mile oval at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham. The fast lap of 157.099 m.p.h. gave Rudd his 21st career pole.

Guard Gerald Wilkins of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who will sit out the entire NBA season, had his ruptured right Achilles’ tendon repaired in surgery.

Incredible Abe, a 24-1 shot, caught Hambletonian winner Victory Dream in the final strides to win the $400,000 Breeders Crown trot for 3-year-old colts at Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, N.J. Earlier on the card, Magical Mike won the $400,000 pace for 3-year-old colts and geldings, Hardie Hanover won the $325,000 pace for 3-year-old fillies and Imageofa Clear Day won the $325,000 3-year-old filly trot.

The Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian Football League, which drew only 2,350 to its most recent home game, will play its final home game against the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian city.

The United States defeated Kenya, 15-2, 15-7, 15-4, in the preliminary round of the Women’s World Volleyball Championships at Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Duke basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski underwent back surgery and will sit out about a week of practice, school officials said.

The Florida State Seminole boosters agreed to pay fired athletic director Bob Goin $300,000 over two years as a financial settlement of his contract. Goin, 58, was fired Tuesday by university President Talbot (Sandy) D’Alemberte, who said the embattled athletic director couldn’t perform effectively after he was ruled to have violated state ethics law by illegally accepting a cut-rate roof on his house from a school contractor.

Lynne Cox of Los Alamitos completed a 14-mile goodwill swim from Egypt to Israel to Jordan in the narrow Gulf of Aqaba on Tuesday.