LOCAL

LOCAL
Golf
CONCORD -- After the first round Monday of the PGA of American Northern Ohio 83rd Ohio Open Championships, Andrew Santor shot 34-36--70 and was four strokes off the pace at Little Mountain and Acacia Country Clubs.
Brad Apple of Sylvania, Richard Blakeman of Canton, Rod Spittle of Columbus, Danny Sahl of Aurora and Matt Creech of Chardon were tied for first place at 66.
Frank Garrett of Youngstown, Dennis Miller of Canfield and Scott Karabin of Warren shot 72, while Scooter Burns of East Palestine, Josh Zarlenga of Youngstown, Jonah Karzmer of Boardman and Colin Clemente of Hubbard carded 73s.
John Talbor of East Liverpool and Larry Manski of Salem finished at 74. Donald Fowler and Jeffrey Myers shot 78, Jon Jones of Warren 80 and John Diana of Girard 81.
REGION
Browns owner may bid on English soccer club
CLEVELAND -- Browns owner Randy Lerner is exploring investments in the United Kingdom that could include the purchase of English soccer club Aston Villa.
Bill Bonsiewicz, a Browns spokesman, would not comment on British news reports on Monday that say Lerner is one of several businessman bidding for Birmingham-based Aston Villa.
Lerner, a billionaire and former chairman of credit card giant MBNA, assumed ownership of the Browns in 2002 following the death of his father, Al.
Sportscaster Drennangets five months
CLEVELAND -- A sportscaster known for his gruff voice and strong opinions was sentenced Monday to five months in prison for failing to pay between $12,500 and $30,000 in taxes on gambling winnings.
Bruce Drennan, 56, of suburban Strongsville, apologized for his actions. He also must serve five months of house arrest after his prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent said.
Drennan pleaded guilty May 16 to two counts of filing false income tax returns. From 2000 to 2004, Drennan placed bets on baseball games with five or six bookmakers daily with some bets up to $5,400, according to the plea agreement he signed.
Drennan was a TV commentator on Cleveland Indians broadcasts from 1980 to 1982 and is a member of the Ohio Radio/Television Hall of Fame. He has worked for various Cleveland radio stations.
Miami to play Buffs
BOULDER, Colo. -- Miami (Ohio) will play Colorado in 2007 and 2009 in the Buffaloes' second and third games against a Mid-American Conference team, Colorado announced Monday.
The RedHawks visit Boulder on Sept. 22, 2007, in the schools' first meeting. The Buffs will play in Oxford, Ohio, on Sept. 12, 2009.
Colorado beat Kent State 42-0 in 1977 in its only game against a MAC team.
TV rights for the 2007 contest belong to ABC, with Fox Sports Net and TBS having secondary options, while ESPN will televise the second game.
NATION
World Series of Poker
LAS VEGAS -- A week after becoming the youngest player to win a World Series of Poker event, 21-year-old Jeff Madsen proved it was no fluke.
The University of California, Santa Barbara film student who scraped together $9,500 for buy-ins from his parents and a college fund has now cashed in for a cool $1.4 million. And he's still playing.
"It feels amazing," said Madsen, who just turned the legal gambling age in Nevada on June 7. "It's surreal."
A week ago, Madsen turned heads by beating a field of 1,578 players over three days to earn $660,948.
On Saturday evening, he was raking in chips again, this time at a final table from renowned pro Erick Lindgren, despite having a stack about half of Lindgren's.
On the final hand, Madsen was holding a queen and nine. The flop gave him a pair of queens and he pushed all-in. Lindgren called, holding a suited ace and jack. The board showed king, queen, two, five and three, giving Madsen the winning pair, victory over 506 players and $643,381.
Madsen, who honed his game since age 18 at an Indian casino in California, earlier placed third in an Omaha high-low event to collect $97,552.
The World Series of Poker, the game's largest tournament, began June 25 and wraps up Aug. 10.
Tournament media director Nolan Dalla called Madsen's cool performance stunning.
Vindicator staff/wire reports