Two Shots

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The hottest woman turned out to be the 1991 U.S. Women's Open champion, but it had nothing to do with the extreme temperatures or temperaments of the week.It had everything to do with how Meg Mallon kept putting herself in position to win her second women's major championship in three weeks yesterday at Colonial Country Club.Mallon, the 28-year-old LPGA sensation who hadn't won a tournament until this year, shot a 4-under-par 67 to finish at 1-under 283 and beat Pat Bradley by two shots.

POTOMAC - It's a safe bet that golf-addicted members of the television-viewing public don't know the time or channel of America's Most Wanted, but they still know what to do when they have information on illegal activity. Duffy Waldorf became the latest victim of a zealous TV-watching golf aficionado when a call from a viewer turned into a two-shot penalty for the 17-year PGA Tour veteran during yesterday's final round at the Capital Open. Waldorf was assessed the penalty for repairing a ball mark near his line of play in the 12th fairway, costing him a solo second-place finish and $150,000 in earnings.

SANDWICH, England - No one can say this British Open is dull. Royal St. George's is blooming with story lines, from the improbable to the inconceivable. The leader, Thomas Bjorn, would be further in the clear if not for the two-shot penalty he was assessed Thursday for grounding his club in a sand trap. But Bjorn was lucky. Mark Roe got to within two shots of the lead only to end up disqualified for turning in the wrong scorecard. Tiger Woods, meanwhile, looked as if he were going to pull away from the field on the front nine, only to come sliding down on the back nine.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- He says his claim to fame in golf has been his name, Fred Funk.Until now.The man whose surname courts an assortment of possible nicknames became known as a winner yesterday.Grand Funk fits now."I used to hate my name," the Laurel, Md., resident said yesterday after winning his first PGA Tour title. "Now I like it. I have a lot of fun with it."He had ample frolic yesterday. He hit two pins on the back nine, withstood a brush with water on 18 and shot 70--272, 16-under-par.

This time the teacher's team beat the student's team.Fourth-year Mount Hebron coach Scott Robinson, who spent seven years as Loyola coach Jerry Savage's assistant, learned one more lesson from the master last night at Loyola.After shooting poorly in the first half and falling behind, 38-31, in its low-post offense, Loyola switched to a baseline offense in the second half and caught fire to upset the No. 12 Vikings, 71-66.Loyola shot 15-for-26 in the second half and 8-for-11 in the fourth quarter.

POTOMAC -- He was introduced on the first tee at Avenel before starting yesterday's third round of the Kemper Open as "the leading Wadkins in the tournament."When he tees off this afternoon, Bobby Wadkins will have a new introduction: the tournament leader going into the final round. By tonight, Wadkins hopes to add something even more significant to his resume.A victory.Wadkins shot a spectacular round of 6-under-par 65 for a two-shot lead over Mark Brooks and a 13-under-par total of 200 after the third round.

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- The scoreboard attendant working near the 14th green at Royal Lytham and St. Annes got a good piece of news late yesterday afternoon: Tiger Woods had bogeyed to fall five shots behind Colin Montgomerie. It not only meant that Montgomerie had a little more breathing room, but also that he would not be paired with Woods in today's third round of the 130th British Open. "That would be great for Sunday," the man said. "Give Monty another day to enjoy himself." The star-crossed Scot is having a grand time this week, playing better than he ever has in his national championship and enjoying a virtual lovefest with the fickle fans of his adopted country.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Bill Self had hoped Brandon Rush and his teammates would carry him to his first Final Four. But the Kansas coach will have to keep waiting. UCLA is going to the NCAA tournament's semifinals for the second straight year and 17th overall because junior guard Arron Afflalo took control of a close game early in the second half last night, carrying the second-seeded Bruins to a 68-55 victory over the top-seeded Jayhawks in the West Regional final. It was the fourth loss in four regional final appearances for Self, who also came up one game short of the Final Four with Kansas in 2004, Illinois in 2001 and Tulsa in 2000.

Joe Brown, Saturday night's "un-American," looked like an All-American last night, scoring 20 points in the first half during Coppin State's 85-59 victory over Florida A&M. Brown, a senior from Philadelphia, finished the game with 35 points, besting his career high of 30 set against this same Rattlers team on Dec. 4. It was a far cry from the eight minutes he played against Bethune-Cookman two nights before - which Coppin coach Fang Mitchell called "un-American"...

How appropriate that No. 3 Loch Raven should win the state Class 2A-1A championship with a shutout.Last night's 3-0 victory over Hammond at Dundalk Community College gave the Raiders (17-1) their 15th shutout of the season. They allowed only six goals all season and none in the playoffs."A shutout, to the whole team, meant a lot," said two-time All-Metro sweeper Nicole Froman. "We needed to get the first goal, the last goal and all the goals in between. We were going for the shutout all the way."