Golf: Karsten Solheim, founder of PING and one of the most influential figures in the history of the golf industry, died on Wednesday at his home in Phoenix, Arizona writes Dermot Gilleece. He was 88 and had been suffering from Parkinson's disease.
Born in Bergen, Norway, in 1911, Solheim was only a child when his parents emigrated to the US and settled in Seattle. Having trained as an engineer, he worked with General Electric, but went on to form his own company and designed the PING Anser putter in 1966.
"We are saddened by the news of his passing," said Trey Holland, president of the USGA with which PING fought a lengthy and successful legal battle over square grooves. "Mr Solheim helped usher in the modern age of golf club development and his force and contribution to the game will be greatly missed."
Golf: Young Swede Eric Carlberg blitzed the Golf del Guardiana course in a record eight-under-par 64 as the 2000 European Challenge Tour got underway with the Challenge de Espana in Spain.
Five players share second spot on 68. Irishman Peter Lawrie is also in the running after a 70 yesterday.
Athletics: Mark Carroll continued his impressive indoor form last night with a secondplace finish over 1,500 metres in the Stockholm Indoor Grand Prix.
The Corkman's time of three minutes 36.96 seconds represented a lifetime best indoors, and was less than a second behind the winner, Rui Silva of Portugal - whose 3:36.46 was the fastest in the world this year.
Also maintaining his strong form was James Nolan, who came in fourth in 3:37.90, also an indoor best.
This was the final outing for both athletes before they head to Ghent for the European Indoor Championships at the end of the month.
Rowing: The executive of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union may appoint a new national director of coaching tomorrow to succeed Thor Nilsen. Men's convenor Michael O'Callaghan will report to the meeting on his visit to Britain, where he interviewed a number of candidates for the post.
Athletics: Athletics' world governing body, the IAAF, has said their new ranking system will be in the interests of athletes, sponsors and the public.
IAAF general secretary Istvan Gyulai said yesterday: "In the future there will be a ranking list of the 34 disciplines. The names of 57,382 athletes were put into a computer at the end of November, which will have more complex criteria than for the rankings of tennis and golf.
"The best five performances of the athletes will be taken into account," said Gyulai, adding that the performances would then be turned into points.
