Austin Shoots 67, Leads Phoenix Open by a Shot

Woody Austin, rookie of the year last season on the PGA Tour, shot a four-under-par 67 Thursday and took a one-stroke lead halfway through the Phoenix Open golf tournament.

Austin finished with a two-round total of 132, 10 under and a shot ahead of Jesper Parnevik, who had a 66. Steve Jones and Justin Leonard were third at 134, with Don Pooley and Scott Verplank at 135 and Barry Lane at 136.

Defending champion Vijay Singh was one of 40 players who failed to finish the second round because morning frost had delayed the start. That left the cut to be determined today before the third round.

Baseball

The New York Mets traded outfielder Damon Buford to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Terrell Lowery.

Free-agent pitcher Steve Ontiveros, a 1995 American League all-star with Oakland, is expected to sign with the Angels today.

Baltimore infielder Jeff Manto signed a one-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese Central League.

Chicago Cub infielder Rey Sanchez and St. Louis reliever Tony Fossas agreed to contracts, leaving 47 players in salary arbitration.

Sanchez, who made $675,000 last season, got a one-year contract for $1.25 million. Fossas got a contract worth a guaranteed $725,000.

The trial of baseball owners on unfair labor practices was postponed for the ninth time. It had been scheduled to start next Monday but was postponed until March 4, said Daniel Silverman, the New York regional director of the National Labor Relations Board.

Until the trial is completed, owners remain under a federal injunction that forces them to maintain the rules of the collective bargaining agreement that expired in December 1993.

Football

Oklahoma Coach John Blake strongly denied that anyone on the Dallas Cowboys was helping to recruit players. He said Barry Switzer’s appearance at a recruiting function in Norman last weekend was coincidental.

“Coach Switzer did not make any recruiting or other presentation during the brief time he was there,” Blake said in a statement.

Bob Oliver, director of NCAA Legislative Services, said information about the visit was received on the Internet.

Owner Jim Speros of the Baltimore Stallions is close to moving the Canadian Football League franchise to Montreal for next season. Speros has been seeking a new home for the CFL champions since Art Modell announced Nov. 6 that he planned to move the NFL’s Cleveland Browns to Baltimore.

Steve Malonson, a New Mexico defensive tackle, remained in serious condition in a New Mexico hospital two days after suffering a stroke.

Winter Sports

Viacheslav Zagorodniuk of Ukraine used a military theme to take his first major international title, the men’s event, at the European Figure Skating Championships at Sofia, Bulgaria.

Zagorodniuk, 23, had taken a bronze and silver the two previous years in the European meet and skated often in the shadow of 1992 Olympic champion Viktor Petrenko when both competed for the Soviet Union and later Ukraine.

The World Alpine ski championships will be held at Sierra Nevada in Spain, Feb. 11-25, said Geronimo Paez, the president of the organizing committee, who added that there was plenty of snow. The competition was originally scheduled in the Spanish resort in 1995, but was postponed to this year because of warm temperatures and a snow shortage.

Kerrin Petty made cross-country skiing history as she became the first American to win a Swedish championship title. Petty, from Townshend, Vt., won the 30-kilometer classical technique race in 1 hour 33 minutes 48 seconds, beating several Swedish national team racers.

Gunther Hujara, chief race director of the International Ski Federation, said Saturday’s men’s downhill in Sestriere, Italy, was canceled because of worsening weather conditions. Today’s women’s downhill remained uncertain because of difficult track conditions.

Ricardo Punsalan, 22, the brother of Olympic ice dancer Elizabeth Punsalan Swallow, admitted killing their father but was found not guilty by reason of insanity in Ohio.

Auto Racing

Patrick Bernardini, of France, won the Monte Carlo rally in a Ford Escort in a total time of 5 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds.

Soccer

Abedi “Pele” Ayew scored a goal and his younger brother, Kwane Ayew, assisted on another in leading Ghana to a 2-0 victory over Mozambique.

Ghana advanced to the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations as the only team to win all its preliminary games.

Zaire beat Liberia, 2-0, and Tunisia upset Ivory Coast, 3-1.

Names in News

Vince Dooley, Georgia athletic director, was released from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta two days after undergoing heart surgery.

Richard Petty, winner of a record 200 NASCAR Winston Cup races, announced that he will run for secretary of state in North Carolina.

Noel Johnson, who at 80 was the oldest New York City marathon finisher, died of heart failure in San Diego of 96.

Frank Stewart, a former captain of the UCLA tennis team who worked for 30 years in the university’s athletic news bureau, died at 83.