Norman Grabs Share of Lead

Greg Norman shot a six-under-par 64 in the second round of the Greater Hartford Open Friday in Cromwell, Conn., to move into a tie with Kirk Triplett, who remained atop the leaderboard with a 67.

Norman, who started the day at three-under, had eight birdies and two bogeys to finish at nine-under-par 131 with Triplett.

Norman and Triplett were two strokes ahead of a group of eight golfers, including Fuzzy Zoeller, whose 63 set a course record and put him at 133 after 36 holes.

U.S. Open champion Corey Pavin, who started at even-70, is at 137. Defending champion David Frost failed to make the cut.

*

Bruce Summerhays, a 50-year-old winless senior rookie, shot a nine-under-par 63 to build a three-shot lead in the opening round of the Nationwide Seniors Championship at Alpharetta, Ga. . . . Because of two rain delays, only 70 in a field of 144 were able to finish the opening round of an LPGA tournament in Somers Point, N.J.

There will be no repeat champion in the 84th annual California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship after Steve Woods of Upland lost to Santa Barbara’s John Pate at Pebble Beach. Pate downed Woods, 1-up, in the morning quarterfinals before ousting Craig Steinberg of Van Nuys, 4 and 3, in the semifinals. He will face South Pasadena’s Jeff Sanday in today’s 36-hole finale. Sanday downed 1994 runner-up Ed Cuff of Temecula, 6 and 5, and Bob Niger of Cool, 6 and 4.

Tennis

Jimmy Connors lost in his first ATP quarterfinals in four years, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, to Marc Rosset in a tournament at Halle, Germany. Defending champion Michael Stich of Germany defeated Richey Reneberg of Houston, 6-3, 6-4, and Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands upset top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

Steffi Graf and Boris Becker are both ready to play at Wimbledon after making quick trips to Germany to receive treatment for minor injuries. Graf’s agent, Phil de Picciotto, said the top-seeded player was treated for a sprained right wrist and will not withdraw from Wimbledon. Becker, a three-time champion, has a strained calf muscle.

American Chanda Rubin, a former Wimbledon junior champion, prepared for this year’s tournament with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Germany’s Christina Singer in the semifinals of the Eastbourne grass-court championship in England.

French Open champion Thomas Muster extended his clay-court winning streak to 38 matches with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Rodolphe Gilbert in the quarterfinals of a tournament in St. Poelten, Austria.

Basketball

Chuck Daly, who appeared to be the front-runner for the vacant New York Knicks coaching job, withdrew from consideration, saying he doesn’t want to deal with the stress of coaching and replacing Pat Riley, who quit last week. The Knicks are expected to focus on former Golden State coach Don Nelson.

Kentucky forward Rodrick Rhodes’ future is uncertain after he removed his name from the NBA’s draft. Rhodes, a junior, withdrew after a poor effort during a pre-draft camp amid speculation that he would transfer to another school or play overseas. Neither Rhodes or Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino could be reached for comment.

Most pretrial motions were denied, and a former Atlanta Hawk dancer’s lawsuit against San Antonio Spur forward Dennis Rodman will go to trial Monday in Atlanta. Lisa Beth Judd, 23, claims Rodman infected her with the herpes virus during unprotected sex.

The athletic directors from the Big West Conference’s 10 member schools voted in Irvine to recommend that the 1996 conference basketball tournament be played in Reno. A vote on the recommendation is expected next week, according to a press release.

Guard Arijan Komazec, who may join the Phoenix Suns, scored 11 of his 30 points in overtime to give Croatia a 100-94 victory over Russia in the European basketball championships at Athens.

Football

The four-year contract extension signed by New Orleans Saints quarterback Jim Everett will make him the highest-paid player in team history with an average salary of $3.31 million, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. . . . Football free agent Deion Sanders, now playing baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, could end up playing for the Philadelphia Eagles the second half of the NFL season if the Eagles are contending for the playoffs, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Sanders is seeking $4 million for half a season, which may put him out of reach for the San Francisco 49ers, his most recent team. The 49ers are having salary-cap problems. . . . Former University of Michigan coach Gary Moeller has joined the Cincinnati Bengals as tight ends coach. Moeller, 54, resigned on May 4 after a controversial arrest stemming from a drunken altercation at a restaurant.

Miscellany

Russian heavyweight Alexander Zolkin wore down Bert Cooper to score a technical knockout at 2:50 of the ninth round at Atlantic City, N.J. Cooper stopped the scheduled 12-round bout himself by indicating he was finished after Zolkin sent him reeling with a left to the chin. . . . Oliver McCall’s hand injury has caused the postponement of the defense July 22 of his WBC heavyweight title against Frank Bruno, British promoter Frank Warren said in London. The fight will be rescheduled for September. . . . Starting this fall, the Rainbow Coalition will rank colleges by the number of the black athletes they graduate, and the number of black coaches and administrators they hire, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said in Washington. . . . Terry Labonte shattered the Watkins Glen International track qualifying record with a 115.309 m.p.h. run in winning the pole for Sunday’s Lysol 200 in New York. The old record was 114.632, set by Ernie Irvan in 1993. . . . British soccer Coach Barry Bennell agreed to plead guilty to six counts of custodial sexual battery against a boy in exchange for four years in prison, a prosecutor said in Jacksonville, Fla. . . . Anatoly Tarasov, one of the founders of the Soviet Union’s medal-winning hockey machine, died at 76 in Moscow. Cause of death was not disclosed.