Eight Birdies Give Hulbert Phoenix Lead

Mike Hulbert did nothing outlandish Thursday in the first round of the Phoenix Open at Scottsdale, Ariz. Merely spectacular play was good enough.

He birdied eight holes and shot a 63, eight under par, while taking a one-shot lead over Steve Stricker and Brent Geiberger.

“It’s probably one of the best rounds I’ve ever played,� Hulbert said about the third 63 of his career. “You know, regardless of what year or what month or what day, that was one of the best rounds I’ve played, as far as hitting the ball, putting and managing.�

Stricker matched his best score, and Geiberger, who earned $395,452 last year in a strong rookie season, set his career standard.

Defending champion Steve Jones, Larry Rinker and David Duval were two strokes behind, and Joe Durant shot a 66.

Play was halted by darkness with five players still on the course.

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The second round of the LPGA Office Depot Pro-Am at West Palm Beach, Fla., was postponed when heavy overnight rain made both courses at Ibis Country Club unplayable.

The last three rounds will be delayed one day, and the final round will be played Sunday. The 72-hole, $600,000 tournament originally had been scheduled to end Saturday so it wouldn’t conflict with the Super Bowl.

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Tiger Woods shot an even-par 72 and trailed four leaders by five strokes after one round of the Johnnie Walker Classic at Phuket, Thailand.

South Africa’s Ernie Els, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng and Germany’s Alexander Cejka shot 67s to share the lead in the $1.3-million tournament.

Baseball

The Boston Red Sox have agreed to a reported four-year deal with infielder John Valentin worth between $25 million and $28 million, but the deal has snagged over other details, General Manager Dan Duquette said.

Six Cuban baseball players, including Orlando “El Duque� Hernandez, the half-brother of World Series MVP Livan Hernandez, were cleared for free agency by major league baseball, according to the players’ agent.

Bobby Jones, the New York Mets’ most consistent starter the last four years, was rewarded with a $13.35-million, three-year contract. Jones, a right-hander who will turn 28 next month, has won 10 or more games in each of the last four seasons. . . . Outfielder Rickey Henderson agreed to a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics. This will be his fourth stint with the A’s. . . . Jim Leyland, who said two months ago he probably couldn’t wait for the Florida Marlins to rebuild, said he is leaning toward finishing the final four years on his contract. Leyland said enough offense remains in Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson and Cliff Floyd for the Marlins to be competitive again as soon as their pitching develops. . . . First baseman Lee Stevens agreed to a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers. He batted .300 with 21 home runs and 74 RBIs in 137 games with the Rangers in 1997. . . . The San Francisco Giants, who lost shortstop Jose Vizcaino to the Dodgers as a free agent and cut backup infielder Mark Lewis, signed Rey Sanchez to a one-year deal.

Major league baseball will consider making deceased Chicago White Sox outfielder “Shoeless� Joe Jackson eligible for election into the Hall of Fame, acting Commissioner Bud Selig said.

Winter Sports

Isolde Kostner of Italy and American Picabo Street have put themselves squarely in the Alpine skiing picture for the Nagano Olympics.

Kostner scored her first victory in a year in a World Cup downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, brightening a mediocre season and serving notice that she will be a force in Nagano next month.

Street, the 1994 Olympic downhill silver medalist and 1996 world champion, finished fourth, her best showing since coming back last month from a knee injury that kept her off the slopes almost all of last season.

Mostly young skiers were named to fill the U.S. Olympic Nordic combined and ski jumping teams for next month’s Winter Olympics.

The Nordic combined team, which mixes ski jumping and cross-country skiing, is led by Todd Lodwick, 21, and Tim Tetreault, 27. Lodwick, a ’94 Olympian, won the second World Cup event of his career earlier this month.

The rest of the combined squad: Bill Demong, 17; Dave Jarrett, 27; Kristoffer Erichsen, 18; and Johnny Spillane, 17.

The Olympic jumping squad is made up of Alan Alborn, 17; Casey Colby, 23; Mike Keuler, 19; Randy Weber, 20; and Brendan Doran, 18.

Swimming

Michael Klim of Australia set his second 100-meter short-course butterfly world record within eight hours at a World Cup meet at Sydney.

Klim broke the world short-course (25-meter pool) mark with a clocking of 51.07 seconds. The time was .09 of a second faster than his first record in the heats.

Barely a week after he lost his job as coach at Rose Bowl Aquatics, Terry Stoddard said he is starting the Pasadena Aquatic Club and will hold workouts at Blair High. Five of the region’s best high school swimmers--Jennifer Parmenter of Granada Hills, Heather Boylan of Saugus, Kenny Carpenter of Crescenta Valley, Craig Taylor of San Marino and Joel Everman of Notre Dame--have said they will join Stoddard and his new club. All four had swum for Rose Bowl Aquatics.

Stoddard’s position at Rose Bowl Aquatics was eliminated Jan 13 in a cost-cutting move.

Soccer

Peace and quiet were restored in Guatemala City on Thursday after a riot the previous night that left Mateo Flores stadium a shambles.

A police report said the 72 persons listed as injured in the riot after Comunicaciones’ 3-0 victory over archrival Municipal were given first aid and sent home. Most of them--players, fans and officials alike--suffered superficial cuts and bruises. Around 50 were treated for tear gas inhalation.