YEAR IN REVIEW 1996: SPORTS-AND-GAMES: GOLF

GOLF: Senior Golf One of sports' biggest recent success stories was the Professional Golfers' Association's (PGA's) Senior Tour. Beginning in 1980 with two tournaments and $250,000 in prize money, this competition for golfers over 50 years old had grown into a $33.3 million tour with 38 official stops in 1995. A record six seniors earned more than $1 million in 1994, and players on the regular PGA tour began to look forward to turning 50. The foundation for the Senior Tour was laid in 1978 at the first Legends of Golf tournament. In January 1980 a meeting between PGA Commissioner Deane Beman and six of the tour's all-time leading money winners, all over 50 (Julius Boros, Gardner Dickinson, Don January, Bob Goalby, Dan Sikes, and Sam Snead), led to the official start of the Senior Tour. Vital to the tour's early survival was its professional-amateur (pro-am) component, which allowed fans to play a round with the pros for a fee. Initially, one of those rounds was part of the competition, but by 1987 the tour had established a standard format: a two-day pro-am followed by a three-day 54-hole competition. As the year 2000 approached, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population was 45-54 years old. Many in this age group and above not only were fans of the senior players and could afford pro-am fees but also were in positions of power with potential corporate sponsors. Moreover, many who followed the senior game were part of the affluent target group that sponsors sought to reach. (Cadillac attributed $90 million in sales to tour sponsorship in one three-year period.) Yet the tour's appeal was more than just nostalgic. Unlike "old-timers" baseball, senior golf was not a half-speed imitation of a game once played but the game itself (albeit with favourable tee and pin placements). Equipment innovations helped seniors to maintain the distance and accuracy of their games; however, their play had more in common with the golf played by the average fan than did the mechanical precision of the regular tour. Seniors had quirkier personalities than the businesslike "flat bellies" (Lee Trevino's name for regular tour players). They seemed to like each other and love what they were doing, and they knew how to play to the crowd. Each year the ranks of longtime favourites grew, and the participation of the PGA's Big Four (Trevino, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player) lent a special magic. Although career victories and position on the all-time money-winning list were the criteria for eligibility, eight players could also join the tour each year by way of a qualifying tournament. As a result, some of golf's biggest names, such as the 1995 senior championship winner Raymond Floyd, competed with late bloomers such as Jim Albus, winner of only $3,750 on the regular tour but more than $3 million as a senior. As the first generation of seniors contemplated retirement, fans looked forward to the approaching 50th birthdays of the likes of Johnny Miller and Tom Watson. (JEFF WALLENFELDT) GYMNASTICS A record number of 56 nations participated in the gymnastics world championships in Sabae, Japan, on Oct. 1-10, 1995. China won the men's team title on the basis of strong performances in the optional exercises. It was the second straight team championship for China. In addition, Li Xiaoshuang of China won the men's all-around title by defeating Vitaly Sherbo of Belarus, the reigning Olympic champion and 1993 world champion, 57.998 to 57.499. Romania won the women's team title, with China second and the United States third. In the all-around competition, Lilia Podkopayeva of Ukraine outscored Svetlana Khorkina of Russia 39.248 to 39.130. The best U.S. finishes in this event were by Dominique Moceanu, 5th, Kerri Strug, 7th, and former world champion Shannon Miller, 12th. Both compulsory and optional exercises were part of the team competition. However, only optionals were used in the event finals. China won 10 medals in the men's and women's competitions, including three golds. Romania and Ukraine also won a trio of gold medals. Sherbo had the best individual performances, winning gold medals in the floor exercise and the parallel bars and a bronze in the vault. Other winners in the men's competition included Yuri Chechi of Italy on the rings, for the third straight year; Li Donghua, born in China but competing for Switzerland, on the pommel horse; and Andreas Wecker of Germany on the horizontal bar. Grigory Misutin of Ukraine and Russia's Aleksey Nemov shared the vaulting crown. In addition to her all-around title, Podkopayeva tied for first in the vault with Simona Amanar of Romania. The most exciting routine was the original exercise presented by Khorkina on her way to the gold medal on the uneven bars. Other individual winners in the women's competition were Mo Huilan of China on the balance beam and Gina Gogean of Romania in the floor exercise. (CHARLES ROBERT PAUL, JR.) ICE HOCKEY A 103-day lockout by club owners delayed the start of the National Hockey League's (NHL's) 1994-95 season and shortened the regular season, normally 84 games for each team, to 48 games each. When the season was over, the New Jersey Devils had won their first Stanley Cup. The 1994-95 competition had loomed as a breakthrough season for major league hockey in the United States and Canada. There were new teams in the Sun Belt, more good European players, increased television coverage, and wider visibility because a New York team (the Rangers) had won the Stanley Cup during the previous season. The 1994-95 competition was scheduled to start October 1. Because there was no collective bargaining agreement, the club owners feared the players would allow the season to start and then strike. The players promised they would not strike while negotiating. Still, on October 1, after collective bargaining had broken down, the owners locked them out. The owners wanted a heavy payroll tax to control salaries, which averaged $560,000. They also sought a rookie salary cap and restrictions on arbitration and free agency. On January 13 the owners and players agreed on a six-year contact and saved what had almost become the first entire professional sports season to be lost to a labour dispute. The players accepted the owners' demands except for a payroll tax and a team salary cap. The season began January 20 and was extended to May 3. All games were played only against conference opponents, however, with the result that such traditional rivals as the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs did not meet. Still, the lockout had minimal impact on attendance. Eight of the 26 clubs sold out every game, and 11 others played to more than 90% of capacity. The Detroit Red Wings won the Western Conference title with the league's best record--33 victories, 11 defeats, and 4 ties for 70 points. In the Eastern Conference, the Quebec Nordiques led with 65 points, and New Jersey finished fifth with 52. The Rangers barely won the last play-off berth in the East, and Montreal was shut out of the 16-team play-offs after its worst season in 47 years. In the first three rounds of the play-offs, New Jersey eliminated the Boston Bruins (4 games to 1), the Pittsburgh Penguins (4-1), and the Philadelphia Flyers (4-2). Detroit overran the Dallas Stars (4-1), the San Jose Sharks (4-0), and the Chicago Blackhawks (4-1). Detroit, with great offensive talent, was a strong favourite in the final. It had not won the cup in 40 years, and New Jersey had never won it. However, New Jersey had disrupted its first three play-off victims with a neutral-zone trap, a defense in the middle third of the rink that broke up plays before they formed. New Jersey did the same to Detroit and swept the best-of-seven finals in four games, 2-1, 4-2, 5-2, and 5-2. Forward Claude Lemieux of New Jersey won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the play-offs. Eric Lindros, Philadelphia's 22-year-old centre, was named the NHL's most valuable player in two separate polls. He won the Hart Trophy in a vote of writers and broadcasters and the Lester Pearson Award in a poll of players. Lindros and Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh's Czech-born forward, tied for the scoring title with 70 points each, but Jagr became the champion because he had more goals (32 to Lindros' 29). Lindros missed the last game of the season when an errant puck left him with a six-stitch cut under his left eye. In voting by writers and broadcasters, Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres won his second consecutive Vezina Trophy for goaltending. He had allowed only 2.11 goals per game. For the third time in 11 years, Paul Coffey of Detroit won the Norris Trophy as the outstanding defenseman. Ron Francis of Pittsburgh won the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward and the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship. Peter Forsberg, a Quebec forward, earned the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, and Marc Crawford of Quebec won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year. Mario Lemieux, the Pittsburgh centre, had been one of the NHL's best players when healthy. He was worn down from treatment for Hodgkin's disease and from a chronic back condition, and he took a one-year sabbatical. He returned for the 1995-96 season. After the season New Jersey, Quebec, and the Winnipeg Jets seemed likely to move to new cities, but only Quebec did so. The corporation that owned the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association bought the Nordiques for $75 million and moved them to Denver, where they were renamed the Avalanche. Before its Stanley Cup victory, New Jersey received a stunning offer to relocate to Nashville, Tenn., a package that included a $20 million relocation fee. Instead, the Devils renegotiated their lease at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., and stayed there. The Winnipeg owners sold their team, which seemed likely to move for the 1996-97 season. (FRANK LITSKY)