Gary Player

The state of Maryland has supposedly been in a drought this spring, but Allen Doyle said Hayfields Country Club shows no signs of thirst. "This course played hard and fast last year," said Doyle, who won the 2001 State Farm Senior Classic, held at Hayfields, in a three-hole playoff over Bruce Fleisher. "This year it looks a little softer and slower." Heavy rains last weekcultivated the conditions Doyle and the rest of the early arrivals experienced yesterday as they explored the campus in preparation for this weekend's Greater Baltimore Classic.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The 13th annual U.S. Senior Open looked for all the world like a typical U.S. Open -- give the field two days to weed out the weak and the faint-hearted, then drill the remaining players.It happened at the recent U.S. Open, where early leader Gil Morgan ran into third-round disaster and it happened to Dave Stockton yesterday.Of the top nine players on the leader board at the start of the third round at the Saucon Valley Country Club, only Al Geiberger was able to improve his second-round position.

Reading time, two minutes:Poor Don Buford. When it was announced Monday that Miami and Denver would in all likelihood be getting National League expansion teams, thoughts jumped back 20 years and spring training with the Orioles. Buford, employed in the O's minor-league operation now but the leftfielder then, came by the information that the Miami franchise in the Florida State League was for sale. He was all for buying. His fellow players scoffed at the idea and "Buf" backed down. Just think if he had gotten into the ownership end of baseball and endured, something he was expert at, what great position he'd be in today.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - By the time the U.S. Open returns to the Pebble Beach Golf Links, Tiger Woods likely will have played another tournament - or five - with the same kind of domination he showed in winning this year's Open by a record-shattering 15 strokes. Given that it could be another decade before the Open comes back to the Monterey Peninsula, and the fact that he has won three majors at age 24, Woods might be looking to surpass what many figured would be an unbreakable record - the 18 professional majors belonging to Jack Nicklaus.

The 78 players who will tee off today in the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship at Baltimore Country Club in Timonium are going to be facing one of the most challenging tests on the Champions Tour, on one of the more historic venues in the country while playing for the tour's biggest overall purse. But what exactly are they going after in the golf season's final major championship? Is it the satisfaction that comes from conquering the 7,003-yard course, the longest on the Champions Tour?

The leaders ... Rodger Davis 34-31--65 Jim Ahern 32-33--65 John Mahaffey 33-32--65 ... and selected followers Bruce Fleisher 33-34--67 Bobby Wadkins 32-36--68 Dale Douglass 33-35--68 Chi Chi Rodriguez 36-33--69 Allen Doyle 35-35--70 Clyde Hughey 38-33--71 Jim Thorpe 35-36--71 Gary Player 37-35--72 Complete scores. [Page 3c]

In the off-season, when the Baltimore Ravens' Torrey Smith isn't trying to refinish his floors, he's lobbying Congress. The wide-receiver headed to Washington Wednesday with the hopes of convicing lawmakers to help America stop being so fat and sluggish. Smith was there, with a contigent of other star athletes, seeking support for the "Get America Moving" program. Leading the charge was the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, a group that apparently hopes America, as it "gets moving," buys a lot of balls, bats and cup protectors to do it. On Twitter Wednesday morning Smith, immediately after asking for recommendations for someone who can refinish wood floors at a good price, said the idea of Washington made him "feel important haha.

What: 55th Masters championship, today through Sunday.Site: Augusta National Golf Club.Yardage: 6,905.Par: 36-3672.Format: 72 holes (18 daily) stroke play.Playoff (if necessary): Sudden death.Probable starting field: 88 -- 66 American pros, 3 American amateurs, 17 foreign pros, 2 foreign amateurs.Defending champion: Nick Faldo.Former champions in field: Tommy Aaron, George Archer, Seve Ballesteros, Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Faldo, Ray Floyd, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller.

Basketball NBA: Suspended Nets F Kenyon Martin one game and fined him $7,500 for actions in game Saturday against Jazz. Named SuperSonics G Gary Payton Player of Week in Western Conference and Pacers C Jermaine O'Neal Player of Week in Eastern Conference. Football BRONCOS: Waived WR Keith Poole. Signed CB Delvin Hughley and G Michael Moore. Hockey NHL: Named Red Wings G Dominik Hasek Player of Week.