Golf Cart

Jimmie Johnson was "horsing around" on top of a moving golf cart when he fell off and broke his left wrist, his team told the Associated Press yesterday. The version clarifies what happened during the celebrity tournament in Lecanto, Fla., 1 day after the initial account from Hendrick Motorsports implied that the Nextel Cup champion had fallen out of the cart. Although Hendrick officials gave no details of the accident, Johnson released a statement that said he was "in" the cart when he fell out. That account differed from one in yesterday's edition of the Citrus County (Fla.

A New Jersey bank executive was killed Friday night in a freak accident on the Rancocas Country Club Golf Course in Burlington County, police disclosed yesterday. Frank Papotto, a senior vice president at TD Bank, formerly Commerce Bank, was injured when he fell from a moving golf cart about 6 p.m. Willingboro Township police Lt. Joseph Dey said Papotto, 46, of Moorestown, was a passenger in the cart. He was airlifted to Cooper University Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The scene did not look like a country club golf course, but golf carts were the most popular way of getting around the thicket of cables, trucks and trailers outside the First Union Center yesterday. Two, four and six seaters carried workmen, cameramen, reporters and technicians to and from the four media pavilions. Forsaking the golf cart was Bob Covington, a technician for Reuters who zipped through the area on a new high-tech scooter. It's made of aircraft aluminum, weighs six pounds, folds in half, and holds as much as 212 pounds - about 60 pounds more than Covington.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - They chauffeured Joe Paterno into his Penn State media day news conference on a golf cart, then tried to position the cart in such a way where the press, including at least 30 photographers and TV camera people, could get a good look at him. He looked pretty good. Nine days after he was accidentally knocked down by wide receiver Devon Smith while his attention was diverted to a tackle-tight end drill on another practice field, the 84-year-old head coach remained in the cart for Tuesday's entire 20-minute session, admitting at one point, "I feel great except that I'm in a lot of pain.

BATAVIA, N.Y. - A Massachusetts man whose colorful golf attire was briefly mistaken for a clown outfit has been charged in New York with driving a golf cart while drunk. The Genesee County sheriff says authorities got a report that someone dressed as a clown was operating a stolen golf cart in the western New York town of Batavia on Sunday night. Deputies found 37-year-old James Straub, of Stoneham, Mass., driving along a road. He wasn't dressed as a clown - just wearing some colorful clothing after an outing at Terry Hills Golf Course.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for today for a 38-year-old Philadelphia woman accused of fatally shooting her boss at Public Storage Inc. in Upper Darby and escaping with nearly $4,700. Percy Gulley of the first block of North Hirst Street, Philadelphia, was charged Friday with criminal homicide, robbery and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the slaying of Loretta Scherwitzl, the firm's manager. Scherwitzl, 51, who lived in an apartment behind the storage office in the 6300 block of Market Street, was shot once in the back, Upper Darby police said.

West Chester's Sean O'Hair, the lone Philadelphia-area resident in the AT & T National field, is supposed to tee off at 8:37 this morning from the 10th tee, along with Justin Rose and J.B. Holmes, in the opening round at Aronimink. That's assuming his back cooperates. O'Hair, who is coming off a tie for 12th at the U.S. Open, his second-best finish in 18 majors, had to leave the course riding in a golf cart yesterday after playing just a dozen holes in the pro-am. He said he originally injured his back last Thursday while working out. This time . . . "I hurt it pretty bad," he said.

It's raining and pouring injuries at Veterans Stadium. Offensive line coach Juan Castillo suffered a fractured left leg when was hit yesterday afternoon by a small utility truck - as he crossed the ground-level concourse that separates the coaches' offices from the locker room. The team says the vehicle is believed belongs to a Vet contractor or subcontractor and was being driven at an excessive rate of speed. The collision resulted in a fractured tibial plateau, which is top of the bone that leads up to the kneecap.

Delaware County's growing corps of public-links golfers will find membership costs and greens fees up slightly at Springfield and Paxon Hollow Country Clubs with the opening of the spring season. They will also find some lingering clouds of concern about the operation of the two municipally owned courses, both of which went through investigations last season into allegations of mismanagement. Officials of Springfield and Marple Townships will say only that their investigations are continuing, and no criminal charges have been filed to date.

New Orleans quarterback Adrian McPherson left the field early in the third quarter after a golf cart ridden by the Tennessee Titans' mascot hit him at the end of halftime last night. "He got run over by the mascot," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I don't know what to do. " The mascot was riding on a golf cart and throwing items into the stands during halftime. He was heading off the field at the same time the Saints were returning from their locker room for the third quarter.

Katie Holmes is again in the arms of the Catholic Church she left to join the Scientology of husband Tom Cruise. Now that TomKat are splitting up, Kat has signed up at the Parish of St. Francis Xavier in Manhattan. This tends to corroborate, though not prove, that religion was involved in the split, specifically the faith in which daughter Suri, 6, will be raised. Tom tends to marry Catholics: think of his second wife, Nicole Kidman. He learned about Scientology from his first wife, Mimi Rogers.

ELTON BRAND strode through the corridors of TD Garden dressed like a stockbroker, as amiable as a preacher. A security guard congratulated Brand on his exceptional effort in a losing cause. "Thanks," said Brand. "See you Saturday. " It was Monday. The Sixers had just lost Game 5. Brand was, in effect, assuring a Sixers win in Game 6 on Wednesday night. A return to Boston for a Game 7. Which meant that he would be a Sixer for one more game. Maybe more.

ORLANDO - Charlie Wi felt a lot better walking off the golf course compared with his previous round in Florida. So did Tiger Woods. Coming off a final round at Palm Harbor's Innisbrook in which he made a 13 on one hole, Wi hit an 8-iron over the water to six feet for birdie on the 18th for a 6-under-par 66, giving him a share of the lead with Jason Dufner on Thursday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. It's the fourth time Dufner has been atop the leader board after a round during the Florida swing - except that none of those rounds has been on a Sunday.

A JUDGE RULED yesterday that suspended Vikings cornerback Chris Cook will remain free on supervised release and is allowed to travel outside Minnesota with his team while he faces a felony domestic assault charge. The Vikings didn't say when Cook will be allowed to return to play in a game. He is suspended without pay and was put on the reserve/suspended list yesterday, which means he can be replaced on the active roster. "The fact that he will be suspended from our team really lets you know how concerned we are about what happened," coach Leslie Frazier said.

LINWOOD - The coach wanted things to be normal. Typical. Routine. He talked strategy in the pregame meeting. He told his players to stick to their habits. He told them to do what high school football players do on opening night - run on the field and pound each other on the shoulder pads, then line up and collide with the other kids in the different-colored uniforms. "It was all about football," Mainland coach Bob Coffey said of the team's season opener. Mainland lined up and played a tough, physical game against Hammonton in the Cape-Atlantic National Division game on a cool, clear Friday night before a huge crowd on the Mustangs' home field off Route 9. Hammonton won, 23-7, using a sturdy defense and its signature powerful ground game.

A man whose contagious passion for farming led to a landmark agricultural destination in Burlington County died Saturday, Sept. 3, of complications from pneumonia. William Edward Johnson, 84, was the genial patriarch of Johnson's Corner Farm, a Medford Township attraction for more than five decades. Mr. Johnson continued a family tradition started by his grandfather, said his son, Eric, who now runs the business with his brother, Peter. Eric Johnson said his parents married on Valentine's Day in 1953, after his father finished his second military stint.

BATAVIA, N.Y. - A Massachusetts man whose colorful golf attire was briefly mistaken for a clown outfit has been charged in New York with driving a golf cart while drunk. The Genesee County sheriff says authorities got a report that someone dressed as a clown was operating a stolen golf cart in the western New York town of Batavia on Sunday night. Deputies found 37-year-old James Straub, of Stoneham, Mass., driving along a road. He wasn't dressed as a clown - just wearing some colorful clothing after an outing at Terry Hills Golf Course.

Myra J. Rossner Hyland, 100, of Medford, a secretary on Wall Street who became a community volunteer and avid sportswoman, died Saturday, Aug. 20, of an aortic dissection - a tear in the blood vessel - at Virtua Hospital in Marlton. Mrs. Hyland and her husband, William Hyland, were newlyweds in 1955, when they moved to Lake Pine, a residential community in Medford. She became active with the Lake Pine Colony Club, a residential association, and served as treasurer. When her children were growing up, she helped run the club's summer-recreation program.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - They chauffeured Joe Paterno into his Penn State media day news conference on a golf cart, then tried to position the cart in such a way where the press, including at least 30 photographers and TV camera people, could get a good look at him. He looked pretty good. Nine days after he was accidentally knocked down by wide receiver Devon Smith while his attention was diverted to a tackle-tight end drill on another practice field, the 84-year-old head coach remained in the cart for Tuesday's entire 20-minute session, admitting at one point, "I feel great except that I'm in a lot of pain.

STATE COLLEGE - Like presidential candidates stumping in Iowa the past few weeks, Penn State quarterbacks Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin stated their cases for being the starter to the media yesterday. Perhaps they were hoping some favorable coverage would aid their respective candidacies and sway the electorate - that would be head coach Joe Paterno, offensive coordinator Galen Hall and QBs coach Jay Paterno - into casting ballots for the more persuasive of the co-incumbents.