Purtzer, Mickelson Share Tucson Lead

Tom Purtzer and Phil Mickelson, former Arizona State golfers who live in Scottsdale, turned the Northern Telecom Open into a college reunion Thursday in Tucson, shooting seven-under-par 65s and sharing the first-round lead.

Howard Twitty was alone in third at 66.

The tournament is being played over two courses--Tucson National and Starr Pass. Of the top 24 finishers, only seven played at more demanding Starr Pass.

Mickelson and Purtzer played at Tucson National. Twitty played at Starr Pass and said he was glad to get his round out of the way.

So was John Daly, who took a quadruple-bogey eight on the 427-yard 11th hole at Starr Pass and finished at eight-over 79.

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Greg Norman shot a 64 and led Fred Couples by a stroke after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic, the first event on the PGA European Tour.

College Football

Auburn Coach Terry Bowden denied a Miami Herald report that he had interviewed to become the coach at Miami, adding, “I wouldn’t interview with the Dallas Cowboys. I have no desire to interview for a job.”

Paul Dee, Miami’s athletic director, said he has interviewed seven candidates, among them Miami Dolphin assistant Gary Stevens, Youngstown State Coach Jim Tressel and Colorado State Coach Sonny Lubick.

Tressel and Lubick have withdrawn from consideration.

Elliot Uzelac, who directed Colorado’s high-powered offense the last two seasons, was hired as offensive coordinator at Kentucky.

Pro Football

Detroit Lion running back Barry Sanders and Miami Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino were chosen by their peers as the most valuable NFL players, based on voting conducted by the National Football League Players Assn.

Baseball

Major league umpires have withdrawn the unfair labor practice charges they filed against owners with the National Labor Relations Board in Philadelphia and refiled them in New York.

The NCAA has accepted Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s self-imposed penalties for rule violations in its baseball program, and the school will forfeit its 1989 Division II championship.

Miscellany

Young America and Kevin Mahaney rallied to beat America’s Cup favorite Stars & Stripes by five minutes in a defender trial race of the America’s Cup regatta in San Diego. Dennis Conner’s boat originally protested, accusing Young America’s 17th sailor of taking photographs or video of its yacht, but the protest was withdrawn.

The 17th sailor position is reserved for guests. Young America confirmed that its 17th man, the president of one of its major sponsors, had taken photographs for personal use.

On the challenger course, Chris Dickson’s New Zealand sloop NZL-39 defeated Sydney ‘95’s Chris Law by 1 minute 29 seconds, and Japan’s Nippon Challenge beat Spain’s Rioja de Espana by 4:03.

Ickey Woods, the former Cincinnati Bengal running back, reportedly was arrested in suburban Cincinnati for allegedly carrying a concealed handgun and a marijuana cigarette in his car.

In light of recent criticism over Chinese swimmers testing positive for drugs, the international swimming federation will increase its out-of-competition testing. It has notified U.S. Swimming that all Americans ranked in the top 20 in the world will be on call within 24 hours for random testing.

Lennart Johansson, the head of European soccer, said he was concerned FIFA President Joao Havelange and General Secretary Sepp Blatter have turned running world soccer into a two-man show after Blatter fired press office head Guido Tognoni and competitions head Miguel Galan.