European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 05, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 5, 1991 the stars and stripes a a Page 27 sports wire two sport rocket outruns collegiate 55-meter Fiel Birdie putt nabs playoff for mediate by Bob Green Miami apr Rocco mediate s 8-foot Birdie putt on the first playoff Hole beat Curtis strange in the storm delayed finish of the doral open and gave him the first pea tour Victory of his career monday. A mediate one of the few regulars who use an Ultra Long Putter birdied the last two holes of regulation play to match strangers 276 total for 72tioles and Force the playoff. Strange attempting to snap a win less string that began after his 1989 . Open Triumph missed a 15-foot Birdie putt on the playoff Hole moments before mediate dropped the Winner on the Par-5 first at Doralys Blue monster. The Victory Worth $252,000 from the totals purse of $1.4 million capped a remarkable Early v season stretch for the mediate who has been on the tour for six years. He had not been lower than 13th in five previous starts this year and had four top-10 finishes.  a never mind the Long Putter a he a been striking the Ball very Well. He a turned his game around. He a been the most consistent player on our tour a strange said. Strange and mediate were among the 22 players stranded on the course sunday by a late afternoon thunderstorm that caused an overnight delay in the conclusion of the final round. Strange a one stroke loser in Phoenix earlier this year played the final round in 67 a the Best in the Field by three strokes. With six holes to go when play resumed this morning he dropped Birdie putts of about 20 feet on both the 16th and 17th holes. Mediate playing Well behind strange made Birdie-4 on his first Hole of the Day the Par-5 12th, then gained a share of the Lead with a Bir die Birdie finish. Andy bean and lefty Russ Cochran who shared the Lead when play was halted sunday each parred the nine holes he played monday. They missed the playoff by a single stroke at 277, 11 under Par. Bean a three time Winner of title had a closing 74 and Cochran 73.a / Jack Nicklaus 51, seeking his first regular tour Victory since the 1986 masters singly could not get a putt to drop monday and fell Back to a tie for fifth at 279 with Davis love Iii. Nicklaus with a bogey free 70, was the Only other player to break Par in the final round. He armed the five holes he played today missing Irdie putts of 15, 12 and 7 feet on the 15th, 16th and 18th holes. A i had my chances. I just did no to take advantage As much As i should have a Nicklaus said. Love matched Par 72. Strange admitted he was disappointed but was not surprised by mediates playoff Victory. A the Hasni to made Many mistakes All year. Look at his record. So you done to expect him to make any in the playoff a strange said. A but gosh when you get in Contention you want to win. A i wanted to win so Damn bad i could taste it.�?�. From wire reports Princeton . A the rocket already a Star on the football Field Isnit doing too badly in track and Field either. Raghib Ismail the notre  Star ran the 55-meters in 6.16 seconds sunday at the ic4a indoor championships finishing three hundredths of a second off the track record set by Lee Mcrae of Pittsburgh in 1986. Mcrae holds the world record at 6.00 seconds. Before sundays Competition some track experts were sceptical of the reported 6.07 seconds Ismail posted for 55 meters at a meet last month at Purdue. But on Jadwin gyms slow track Ismail dominated a Good sprint Field by 4 feet. A Ismail plans to run in next weeks Mcaa indoor championships in Indianapolis and compete in the full outdoor track season for notre Dame. A i concentrated on coming straight out of the blocks a he said. A was the race went on i tried to accelerate and relax at the same  a George Mason won the team championship for the third year in a Row rolling up 102 Points to 66 for Georgetown the runner up. Third was Penn state with 47, in what was the Kittany Lions last serious ic4a indoor Competition before joining the big ten conference in the 1991-92 school year. Seles Navratilova reach final Palm Springs Calif. A top seeded Monica Seles and no. 2 Martina Navratilova advanced sunday to the final of the Virginia slims of Palm Springs women a Tennis tournament. Seles used precision shots to eliminate eighth ranked Helen Kelesi of Canada 6-0, 6-3 in their hour Long semifinal in this rain plagued tournament. Navratilova the defending Champion moved into the final by defeating seventh ranked Natalie Tauz iat of France 6-3, 7-6 7-3 in a 78-minute match. Both finalist played quarterfinal matches earlier sunday Seles Defeated Patricia by of Canada 7-5, 6-2 and Navratilova beat Julie Halard of France 6-2, 7-5.hawkeyes take big to wrestling Champaign 111. A the Iowa Hawk eyes won their 18th consecutive big ten conference wrestling championship and captured five of 10 weight classes in the finals sunday. Iowa which clinched the team title saturday when it advanced six wrestlers into the championships finished the tournament with 164 Points. Michigan s 92tt Points were Good for second place followed by Ohio state with 85-v4  nabs skating title the Hague Netherlands a Gunda Kleeman of Germany beat Yvonne Vangennip of the Netherlands by nearly two seconds at the women a world cup Speed skating final in winning the 1,500 meters and claiming the season title in the event. Kleeman was timed in 2 minutes 7.8 seconds giving her a Point total of 125. It was Kleemann a fifth win in the event which has been held six times in this seasons world cup series. Bonnie Blair of the United states who finished second in the 500 meters saturday fell during sundays race giving her a third place season finish in the 500detroit news writer Dies Detroit Shelby Strother who fought in Vietnam then made a career of watching games and crafting award Vinning prose from them is dead at age 44. The Detroit news sportswriter and four time pulitzer prize nominee died sunday afternoon at Harper Hospital in Detroit about a week after being diagnosed with liver cancer. Besides covering major sporting events including the world series super bowl the olympics and world cup soccer he also earned news assignments including the 1989 dismantling of the Berlin Wail in  prevails in playoff Wailea Hawaii a Deb Richard did no to make Many putts in the women a Kemper open but she Sank the ones that counted most. Richard made a 6-footer for Birdie on the second playoff Hole and made two key birdies Down the stretch saturday to beat Cindy Rarick who had led throughout. Richard finished with a 1-under-Par 70 and Rarick shot a 72 for 9-under 275 totals on the Wailea country club  takes senior tourney Ojai Calif a Chi Chi Rodriguez shot a final round 66 for a 1-stroke margin Over Gary player and. Bruce Crampton in the rain shortened senior pea Tours get West classic on sunday. Rodriguez also had a 66 in saturdays opening round for an 8-under 132 total on the Kiojai Valley inn amp country club course. Fridays scheduled round was postponed by rain. A. A v a. A a a a a. A. A. A a a a a Gibson claims title by a shot Kuala Bumpur Malaysia Rick Gibson of Canada birdied the final Hole for a 1 stroke Victory sunday Over chert Liana Hsi of Taiwan in the malaysian open. Penn St. Women unseat Virginia Quot new York a Penn stale reclaimed the top spot in the associated press women a basketball poll monday after Virginia no. 1 for 14 of the last 15 weeks lost its conference tournament semifinal. The Lions who Start the Atlantic 10 playoffs at Home on wednesday against either Rhode Island or a a Duquesne received 45 first place votes and 1,530 Points from a nationwide panel of 62 women a  repeat Winner Baytown Texas a Kenny Bernstein win less in top fuel Competition last season won for the second time in As Many weeks by beating Gene Snow in the final of the Fram super nationals  run in the final was 4.957 seconds at 291.54 Mph. John Force won the funny car title and Darrell Alderman the pro Stock Competition. Force beat de Mcculloch with a time of 5.216 seconds at 278.46 Mph to Mccullochh a 6.11 at 159.37, and Alderman beat Scott Geoffrion with a time of 7.194 seconds at 189.91 Mph. Standings. Equipment inventor head Dies Baltimore up a How into his life a work Ard head who invented sport fascinated with skiing but ing equipment including the the frustrated by the Clumsy wooden head Metal ski and the Prince equipment of the 1940s,  Tennis Racket to improve his own determined to create skis from toss a Sun Highl weight aircraft materials. Not a olt duals said. He was 76. A pc started his own ski Compa company a Plant in Timonium md., was grossing $25 million a year on the sales of 300,000 pairs of skis in 17 nations. Tennis Racket and eliminate the head died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore As a result  following heart surgery a spokesman said. By with $6,000 in poker winnings and Money borrowed from. Friends and he eventually succeeded with a revolutionary Alu head sold his company to am in 1971 when he retired and decided to take up Tennis. But the retirement did not last Long. He joined the Board of Prince manufacturing co. In Princeton Chines. Head set out to refine the awkward twisting that occurred when he hit the Ball off Center. After two years of experiments head unveiled an oversized Racket that received the broadest Tennis Racket Patent Ever issued. Experts greeted the Chesebrough Ponds bought Prince for $62 million. A. A inventor Howard head a native of Philadelphia head graduated from Harvard a 1936 with a degree in engineering sciences and soon turned the science of recreation Minum Sandwich design. Head skis went on to win medals at the 1964 Innsbruck olympic games and by 1966 the ., a month after purchasing one of the company a balk Rha mention with snickers but later embraced the Racket which provided greater control and four times the effective hitting sur face of Normal rackets. He retired again in 1982 after