PEOPLE

Nigel Denham of Leeds, England has perfected the bar shot—which may now be added to the golfer's glossary along with the shank, slice, hook and sundry others. On the 18th hole of the Moortown course, Den-ham's drive flew into the clubhouse through an open door, scattering patrons in the barroom. Denham coolly entered the bar, asked for silence and chipped flawlessly through an open window onto the green. His shot was ruled legal because the clubhouse is officially part of the course. A happy ending for the story of the club face on the barroom floor.

Frank Linzy, 33 years old and a veteran Phillie reliever, has never held out and never asked for a raise in 10 major league seasons. Strange but true. "Maybe it's hard to believe, but I just don't think a man should ask for more money than he is worth," Linzy says. The pitcher also feels that no general manager has ever taken advantage of him. "I never had to send a contract back," he says. "The only time I didn't sign, it was sort of an accident. After the 1969 season with San Francisco, they sent me a contract and I put it away in a drawer. I meant to sign it but it just slipped my mind. About three weeks later I got a telephone call from Mr. [Horace] Stoneham. He said, 'Didn't you get the contract we sent you?' I said, 'Yes, I did, but...." He said, 'Well, how much do you want then? Would you sign if I added another $2,000?' I said, 'Sure.' And, sure enough, he sent me another contract for $2,000 more. I felt real bad about that."

Howard Twilley, wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, apparently had an itch to return to Tulsa, where he played college football. He soon will open a store in town specializing in shoes. Twilley will call his place of business The Athlete's Foot.

When Hawaii Islander Outfielder Gene Locklear failed to run out a pop fly for the second time in four days, Manager Roy Hartsfield suspended him, and Locklear spent three days on the bench without pay. In his first at bat following the suspension Locklear bounced an easy grounder to the infield and ran like fury for first base. Whereat he tripped on the bag, spraining his left ankle and twisting his right ankle. Result: the disabled list for 10 days.

Raymond Roberts failed to return to the Oregon Correctional Institute in Salem after having been given a pass to umpire a Little League baseball game. A description of the fugitive was routinely issued. In part it read, "Wears glasses and has one artificial eye."

Here is the start of a Russian motor-sports rally. A clutch of Ferraris seems somehow un-proletarian, so the Soviet annual Jubilee Cross-Country Run is for trucks only. This year's event, at Ryazan in the S.F.S.R., drew nearly 100 contestants and was won by O. Pyall, a truck driver from Estonia—although one wonders how he would have fared at speeds on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Next week: the Minsk-to-Pinsk Tractor Race.

Lella Lombardi of Turin, Italy became the first woman accepted as a driver for the British Grand Prix. She will drive a Brabham BT 42½ in the race at Brands Hatch in July. Sometimes winning isn't the only thing; entering can be important, too.

After asking the Supreme Court to rule directly on whether President Nixon must submit 64 tapes, Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski took time off to relax at Pimlico Race Course. Spies report that he only went to the betting windows once, before the sixth race. Jaworski's choice remains secret, but the winner of that race was Around the Court.

Your impression that you are seeing more and more jocks on television commercials is quite correct. Nominees for the annual Clio awards for best commercials this year include no fewer than 38 sports spots, a record. Finalists range from Ezzard Charles in an affecting muscular dystrophy appeal to the scene in which Victoria Medlin invades the Reds' locker room and whacks Pete Rose in the gut. Also, a talking Secretariat, Bill Russell lofting the round ball into a hoop mounted over his fireplace and a woman apparently establishing a one-hand chinning record for females. The silliness gets waist-deep in the apparel category. There Howard Cosell interviews a wrestler named Golden George on the merits of Fruit of the Loom underwear, and Yogi Berra and his sons depict the generation gap. Yogi appears in short hair and white underwear, his sons in long hair and brightly colored underwear. "Where did I go wrong?" Yogi moans.

Walter A. Williams felt mixed delight and regret when he received word that he had won eight box seats to future Phillies games in a newspaper contest. Williams asked that the tickets be mailed to his wife in West Philadelphia, because he has served only 15 months of a 3-to 10-year sentence for aggravated robbery and is unable to conveniently arrange a day off from Graterford Prison.

TWO PHOTOS