Fred Funk

BETHESDA -- Fred Funk came back this week to the first course he ever played in a PGA Tour event as a local favorite and, at age 51, a sentimental choice to win the inaugural AT&T National. Yesterday, Funk took on another role at Congressional Country Club - that of legitimate contender. With an opening round of 3-under-par 67, the former University of Maryland golf coach who has become the Peter Pan of the PGA Tour is one stroke behind five players: Vijay Singh, former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, Stuart Appleby of Australia, Joe Ogilvie and K.J. Choi of South Korea.

POTOMAC -- When leader Rich Beem birdied two of the first three holes yesterday, the 32nd Kemper Open turned into a fox-and-hounds chase. At the finish, the pursuers simply had not been able to apply any real pressure.Beem confirmed this, though a little nervously, when he said, "I'm just thankful I had a two-stroke lead coming into the last hole."Chief among the challengers were Bradley Hughes and two-time Kemper champion Bill Glasson, who finished one shot back after Beem bogeyed his last hole.

He has won more events on the PGA Tour than another late bloomer named Tom Lehman. But his most recent victory, in last week's Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic, was typical of the first four wins for Fred Funk. It was obscured by something bigger happening in the world of golf.This time, it was Mark O'Meara's playoff win at Royal Birkdale in the 127th British Open."I've won five tournaments, and I've never been on the cover of Golf World," Funk said yesterday.Funk, 42, has never been considered the cover-boy type since coming out on the tour in 1989.

POTOMAC -- Fred Funk has four wins on the PGA Tour, as many as reigning Player of the Year Tom Lehman.Funk earned $1.5 million in prize money over the two previous years, more than one of golf's most recognizable figures, Payne Stewart.And this is a guy who was cut from the University of Maryland golf team and was ready to quit as a playing professional five years ago. It's also not enough for Funk, the straight-hitting grinder who yearns for a loftier status."I've been real hard on myself," Funk said.

ROCKVILLE -- Ted Porter, a 35-year-old PGA Tour rookie from Quincy, Wash., shattered the Woodmont Country Club record for U.S. Open sectional qualifying yesterday when he returned 65-65130, 14 under par, for the North-South courses.Porter had 15 birdies and one bogey in breaking the previous Woodmont qualifying mark of 133, set by Australian Chris Parry in 1991.Larry Tedesco, 25, of Augusta, Ga., who had lost in a playoff here last year, made sure it didn't happen again when he opened with a bogey-free 65 on the South side, then added a 67 on the more difficult North.

When: Thursday through Sunday; pro-am WednesdayWhere: Tournament Players Club at Avenel, PotomacPurse: $1.3 million, first prize of $234,000Who: 156 golfers, including defending champion Grant Waite, reigning U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, 1992 U.S. Open winner and former Kemper champion Tom Kite, 1991 U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart and two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange as well as former PGA champion John Daly, Phil Mickelson and Fred Funk.Tickets:...

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Gary Player has known Fultom Allem a long time."Since he was in diapers," Player said yesterday.One of Allem's earlier memories is watching one of golf's greatest players hitting balls on the farm his father and uncle owned in South Africa."

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A year ago, Lee Janzen prepared for his first Masters by playing three straight practice rounds at Augusta National Golf Club."By the time the tournament started, I was worn out," said Jan- zen, who shot an opening-round 74 and finished tied for 54th.This year, Janzen varied the routine. He came here last week, played Saturday and Sunday and left for a couple of days. Where did he go, and what did he do to relax?"I went to Baltimore for Opening Day," said Janzen."The pressure is all what you make of it," said Janzen, 28, who spent six years of his childhood living in Westminster before his family settled in Lakeland, Fla. "If you put too many have-tos on yourself, you're not going to do well."

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Powering a golf ball to infinity has become almost incumbent for success. Then along comes Fred Funk, who averages "only" 253.8 yards off the tee and therefore is relegated to the short-hitter category by the demanding standards of the professional game.The driving of modern players like John Daly is awesome. They explode the ball into orbit. It's an especially important factor in the Masters tournament and Funk, while not about to surrender, agrees this is a "hitter's course."

Moose Brown, a former Glen Arm resident and now an assistant pro at the Country Club of York, overcame miserable weather and a tough Sharon Golf Club course with rounds of 71-71142 yesterday in sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open.Brown, a former Eagle's Nest member, claimed one of three available places from a 34-man field to advance to the U.S. Open in Springfield, N.J., next week. Brown, 26, who birdied seven of his last 11 holes at Sharon to advance to the sectional three weeks ago, kept his afternoon round alive in wind and rain at the suburban Cleveland course with a curling six-foot par putt at the 32nd hole, and a 35-foot birdie putt on the 34th hole, then finishing par-par.

Fred Funk is nothing if not brutally honest, which is a rarity in his line of work. A lot of professional golfers, over the course of their careers, learn to guard their emotions almost like politicians. They recycle old anecdotes, regurgitate cliches and try to keep the public at arm's length, especially after a bad round. But Funk, who grew up in Takoma Park and was the golf coach at the University of Maryland from 1982 to 1988, is different. He doesn't have a problem acknowledging how badly he wants to win the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, which begins today at Baltimore Country Club.

In wire-to-wire fashion, Turnesa wins Vegas event golf Marc Turnesa completed a wire-to-wire victory for his first PGA Tour title, closing with a 4-under-par 68 yesterday to hold off Matt Kuchar by a stroke in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. The fourth rookie to win on the tour this season, Turnesa, a former North Carolina State star, opened with rounds of 62, 64 and 69 at TPC Summerlin en route to a 24-under 263 total. Turnesa, 30, birdied Nos. 9, 11, 12 and 14. Kuchar finished with a 64. Kapalua LPGA Classic:: Morgan Pressel birdied the final hole in the inaugural tournament in Hawaii for her first victory of the season.

leader board Leader ... Ben Crenshaw 67-66 - 133 ... and selected followers Fred Funk 66-68 - 134 Gene Jones 69-66 - 135 Tom Jenkins 67-68 - 135 Mark O'Meara 69-67 - 136 John Morse 68-68 - 136 Bernhard Langer 66-70 - 136 Nick Price 70-66 - 136 D.A. Weibring 67-70 - 137 Andy Bean 68-69 - 137 Jay Haas 67-70 - 137 Scott Hoch 66-71 - 137 Scott Simpson 70-67 - 137 Loren Roberts 68-71 - 139 Tom Kite 71-69 - 140 Jim Thorpe ...

FIVE TO WATCH AT FIVE FARMS Loren Roberts: The tournament's defending champion went on to win the Schwab Cup while finishing second for Player of the Year honors. The so-called "Boss of the Moss" because of his putting prowess, Roberts is having a good year (fifth in earnings) but has won only once. Eduardo Romero: In his second full season on the Champions Tour, "El Gato" is the hottest player coming into the tournament. He has won three times in his past five events, including the U.S. Senior Open and most recently at the SAS Championship two weeks ago. Romero is second on tour in driving distance (293.

Lorena Ochoa dominated the LPGA Safeway International in Superstition Mountain, Ariz., winning by seven strokes. She shot a 6-under-par 66 yesterday to finish at 22-under 266 and win her second straight title there. South Korea's Jee Young Lee, who began the day one shot back, shot an even-par 72 to finish at 15-under. Lee was paired with Ochoa, a match of two of the biggest hitters on tour. Through her interpreter, Lee said she watched the way Ochoa handled the pressure. "She's a great player," Lee said.

JAMISON HENSLEY Ravens, 20 - 6 When it comes to the Ravens, Trent Dilfer always leaves with heartache. Edward Lee Ravens, 19-16 The Ravens haven't inspired much confidence, but they can't possibly lose to the 49ers, can they? Rick Maese Ravens, 20-6 I'm glad I'm not Dilfer. The Ravens' defense will be running around Sunday trying to make a statement on every play. Don Markus 49ers, 17-7 Dilfer finally gets his revenge. Mike Preston Ravens, 17-10 The Ravens will reject Dilfer for a second time Peter Schmuck Ravens, 20-6 Strange time for a must-win game, but that's exactly what this is for the Ravens.

BETHESDA -- Fred Funk came back this week to the first course he ever played in a PGA Tour event as a local favorite and, at age 51, a sentimental choice to win the inaugural AT&T National. Yesterday, Funk took on another role at Congressional Country Club - that of legitimate contender. With an opening round of 3-under-par 67, the former University of Maryland golf coach who has become the Peter Pan of the PGA Tour is one stroke behind five players: Vijay Singh, former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, Stuart Appleby of Australia, Joe Ogilvie and K.J. Choi of South Korea.

POTOMAC -- After going to Congressional Country Club in 1980, the Kemper Open became a must-play event on the PGA Tour schedule. Though the move seven years later to the nearby Tournament Players Club at Avenel lessened its popularity among the players, it still seemed to be one of the tour's more stable events. Now it's teetering on extinction. Uncertainty is the dominant theme going into today's opening round of the Booz Allen Classic, the third year under that corporate logo after one year as the short-lived FBR Capital Open.

During his early years on the PGA Tour, Fred Funk often wondered if he belonged among the world's best players. As he approaches his 50th birthday, the former University of Maryland coach is trying to figure out which segment of that population best fits his decidedly old school game. Should he remain where he is, trying to hang with Tiger and Phil and Ernie as well as the even younger guns who will be at the TPC at Sawgrass for this year's Players Championship, in which starting today Funk will defend the biggest of his eight career titles?

NATIONAL Troops in for long stay in Iraq President Bush said that U.S. troops would remain in Iraq beyond his presidency, a message that could complicate his efforts to reassure an increasingly skittish public that the U.S. military deployment there is not open-ended. pg 1a Guilty on Abu Ghraib charges A military jury at Fort Meade convicted an Army dog handler of six counts of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, including a charge that he used his dog as part of a game to make prisoners soil themselves.