The Michigan Daily-Saturday, July 19, 1980-Page 15
A..iairnu - -o' . Sportsm
Dingman leader in Michigan Open
Ted Kondratko (from Plymouth) The Wolverines' Big .Ten medalist,
'dand Bob Proben (Redford) both have John Morse, joins four others at 146,
A m ater s ea sm a stroked rounds of 74 and 70 to remain still not out of the hunt. Defending
five shots off the pace, while John champion Randy Erskine, with 74-73-
Molenda (West Bloomfield), Gary 147 is eight behind the leader.
over veteran le Norman (Battle Creek), and Rock- So the 1980 Michigan Open is still a
ford's Thom Rosely (who yesterday wide open tournament, and probably no
played the best 18 holes of the tour- one is more aware of that fact than a
By MARK MIHANOVIC can't complain about my putting, but nament thus far, a 67), are another young man who could turn this event in-
Marc Dingman, a 20-year-old junior that (slow greens) is not what I prefer." stroke behind at 145. to a Cinderella story, Marc Dingman.
I
at Eastern micnigan, putted his way to
a round of 69 yesterday and took the
lead after two rounds of the $20,000
Michigan Open at the par-71 Michigan
Golf Course.
Coupled with his Thursday score of
70, Dingman's 69 gives him a total of
three-under-par 139 and a surprising
one-stroke edge over Lynn Janson, 1979
Michigan PGA Player of the Year, who
has chalked up two rounds of 70. First-
round leader Steve Groves finished his
second 18-holes in 72 strokes, dropping
him into a tie for third with Bill
Grooms.
Dingman, entered as an amateur,
bogeyed only the par-three fifth hole
yesterday, citing his deftness on the
greens as the major reason. "I didn't
hit it (the ball) that good, but some of
the shots I missed turned out all right,"
he laughed. "But I've never putted that
well. I didn't think about the first round.
I just kept playing."
Janson, who finished seventh in the
Open last year, echoed the sentiments
of many of his peers when he expressed
a preference for faster greens than the
ones played on thus far in the tour-
nament. "The greens were slow, but
hard," the 32-year-old veteral said. "I
Groves, from Orchard Lake, played
the still rain-drenched greens well in
Thursday's round of 69, avoiding any
three-putts, but he did just that twice
yesterday for bogeys, and it cost him
the lead.
"You're gonna three-putt out here,"
he said with no hint of discouragement.
"I don't care who you are or wvhere
you're at. You're gonna do it, so you
just gotta accept it and go on. N
"I actually probably played, from tee
to green, better today than yesterday. I
like my position. I don't like leading
especially."
Unlike some of the others, Groves
was satisfied with the course's con-
dition. "The fairways are real good,"
he said, "and the greens are still
holding. They're not the swiftest greens
in the world, but they're not the worst
greens I've ever putted on, either."
Detroiter Grooms returned to the
clubhouse with one of the better rounds
of the day, a two-under 69, to move up
into a deadlock with Groves.
Nobody completed the first two days
of play at even-par 142, but Belmont's
Buddy Whitten and Warren's Reynold
Gutzi sit four strokes back of Dingman
with 143.
PHILY DOWNS BRAVES IN ATLANTA:
Reds 'Cruz' by Mets
CINCINNATI (AP) - Hector Cruz
rapped his first home run of the season,
a three-run shot in the sixth inning, and
Mario Soto pitched four innings of one-
run relief as the Cincinnati Reds beat
the New York Mets 5-3 in the first game
of Friday's twi-night doubleheader.
Cruz hit the first pitch from Mets'
starter Pete Falcone, 5-6, deep into the
left field seats to erase a 3-2 New York
lead. The homer followed two-out walks
to Johnny Bench and Dan Driessen.
Soto, 3-4, making his 35th appearance
of the season, surrendered a solo homer
to Claudell Washington leading off the
top of the sixth to break a 2-2 tie. He
then retired the last 12 New York bat-
ters.
FALCONE ALSO fell into a costly
streak of wildness in the second inning
when he walked Ray Knight and Bench
with one out and gave up an RBI double
to Driessen. Bench then scored from
third on a two-out wild pitch.
Phillies 7, Braves 2
ATLANTA - Bake McBride and Pete
Rose drove in three runs each while
Nino Espinosa and Dickie Noles com-
bined on a three-hitter Friday night, lif-
ting the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-2
victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Espinosa, 1-1, continued, his
comeback from season-long shoulder
woes by pitching the first seven innings
and allowed only two hits - home runs
by Bob Horner in the second and Chris
Chambliss in the seventh. He left in the
eighth after issuing his only walk, a
leadoff pass to Jeff Burroughs.
NOLES TOOK over from there and
surrendered a pinch single by Biff
Pocoroba in the eighth.
Mike Schmidt belted his 23rd homer
in the sixth, a solo shot off Phil Niekro,
7-12. It was Schmidt's seventh career
home run off Niekro.
The Phillies scored three runs in the
third: Ramon Aviles singled but was
forced out on Espinosa's bunt. Lonnie
Smith walked and Rose singled to right,
scoring Espinosa. McBride then hit a
two-run double to center.
McBride also drove in a run in seven-
th with a bases-loaded infield grounder
that scored Aviles. Rose added a two-
run single in the ninth.
Ali in rare form for
Holmes fight promo
NEW YORK (AP) - Thump! thump!
thump!
Muhamemad Ali pounded his fist on
the table for emphasis and attention.
He was talking, but in the milling crush
of bodies that routinely reports for
boxing press conferences these days,
very few people were listening.
Ali was selling tickets Thursday for
his Oct. 2 date in Las Vegas against
Larry Holmes, a $14 million closed cir-
cuit extravaganza which has moved
from Taiwan to Rio de Janeiro to Cairo
before finding a home and settling in
Caesars Palace.
PROMOTER DON King put the
package together with Ali getting a
reported $8 million and Holmes getting
$6 million. Clifford Perlman, chairman
of the board of Caesars Palace, made a
$1 million down payment for the fight
on the spot in one of the few serious
moments of the press conference which
Ali dominated.
"Two years away ... 38 years
old ... I'll eat Holmes up ... I'm gon-
na mess Holmes up ... I'm gonna take
this sucker ... I'll wipe him up."
Ali was talking in fragmented sen-
tences, rattling his sabers at the World
Boxing Council heavyweight champion.
Holmes kept his cool through much of
the barrage.
"YOU ARE shaking hands with
Father Time," Holmes said, taunting
the former champion, much in the
manner that Ali has goaded him. He
even dipped into some Ali-style poetry.
"They say you float like a butterfly,
sting like a bee, but I'll tell you now; I'm
gonna end it in three," said Holmes,
chuckling over his doggerel.
But if this was a needling contest,
then Ali won ina walk.
Egged on by his entourage which now
wears warmup jackets proclaiming
themselves "Ali's Wrecking Crew," the
former champion opened with the
popular "Ballad of Ali." The verse, in-
cluding a section which goes: "Ali's got
a left; Ali's got a right; He hits you and
you're asleep for the night;" was longer
and more original than Holmes' effort.
"I KNOW I'm great, but I want to be
immortal," Ali explained. "Four times
world champion. Can you imagine
that? I want a record that can't be
broken."
Now warmed up, Ali began speaking
in machine gun bursts.
"I'm making a prediction," he said,
"not only will Holmes lose, but I will
knock him out. I've got his num-
ber . . . He loses his cool ... I'm gonna
psyche him out."