A Roundup Of The Sports Information Of The Week

BOATING—Ticonderoga, the 72-foot ketch owned, skippered and navigated by Robert Johnson of Portland, Ore., sailed from San Pedro, Calif. to Honolulu in 9 days 13 hours 51 minutes 2 seconds, to finish the Transpacific Yacht Race just 5 minutes 48 seconds ahead of the 73-foot South African ketch Stormvogel. The finish was the closest in the race's 24 years, as Big Ti broke by one hour 14 minutes 8 seconds the elapsed-time record set 10 years ago by Morning Star. The winner on corrected time was PSYCHE, a 40-foot sloop owned and skippered by Don Salisbury of the Los Angeles Yacht Club. Her official time was 8 days 22 hours 44 minutes 30 seconds.

CYCLING—The Tour de France, Europe's annual 23-day, 2,600-mile race through Germany, Belgium, France and Spain, ended in an upset as an Italian novice, 23-year-old FELICE GIMONDI, who turned professional just a few months ago, finished the 22 laps in 194:02:06, almost 3 minutes ahead of France's favored Raymond Poulidor, last year's runner-up.

GOLF—Thirty-five-year-old GENE LITTLER shot a final-round 66 on the par-70 Mississaugua Golf and Country Club course in Toronto to win the Canadian Open with a 273, one stroke ahead of Jack Nicklaus, who closed with a 67. While the rest of the contenders fell back, rookie Homero Blancas came up with a final-round 66 to finish in a five-way tie for third at 278.

Arne Dokka, a 21-year-old student from Studio City, Calif., beat Leo Zampedro of Warren, Ohio 10 and 9 on the North Park course in Pittsburgh, to win the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship by the largest margin in its 40-year history. Dokka's one-under-par 70 in the morning round of the 36-hole final tied the competitive record for the 6,781-yard course.

Kathy Whitworth's five-stroke lead going into the final nine of the Yankee Open in Grand Blanc, Mich. was enough to withstand a rush by Carol Mann, U.S. Women's Open champion. She finished with 213 for 54 holes, leaving Miss Mann two strokes behind after the latter three-putted the 17th hole.

Ramon Sota of Spain took the French Open with a 268 for four rounds on the 6,684-yard Saint Nom-la-Bret�che Club's Blue course, beating Cobie LeGrange of South Africa by one stroke. Peter Thomson, the British Open winner, posted an eight-under-par 65 in the third round that put him into a tie for first, but shot up to a 71 in the fourth for 272 and third place.

HARNESS RACING—In one of the easiest races of his career SPEEDY SCOT ($3.20) won the 1�-mile, $25,000 Challenge Cup at Roosevelt Raceway by three lengths over Italy's Steno. The win did much to erase the disappointment of his fifth-place finish after he broke stride in the International two weeks ago. Quioco of France was third.

Bret Hanover paid only $2.20 (the minimum permitted by law for a $2 bet), as Frank Ervin drove him to his 32nd straight victory in the Adios Pace at Vernon Downs. He won by two lengths over Rivaltime in 1:57.

HORSE RACING—California's leading active money winner, NATIVE DIVER ($4.40), took the 1�-mile, $162,100 Hollywood Gold Cup by five lengths over the Argentine-bred Babington for his longest and richest win (page 43). Hill Rise was third.

Meadow Court (6-5), Bing Crosby's 3-year-old chestnut colt who won the Irish Derby, added $87,379 to his winnings by taking the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, England by two lengths. Soderini was second and Oncidium third, another three lengths back.