BRIEFLY : BALLESTEROS: LEAVE ST. ANDREWS ALONE, IT'S `HOLY GROUND'.

Seve Ballesteros says the readjusting of the Old Course at St. Andrews should halt.

Ballesteros, the three-time British Open champion and European Ryder Cup captain, said Wednesday he opposed work underway to lengthen the venerable Scottish course.

``The Old Course is the home and history of golf and it should be treated as a national monument that should not be changed or altered by anyone at anytime . . .'' Ballesteros said.

``It was designed to be defended by the elements in Scotland, which have done their job well over the years. The fact that an American (John Daly) who hits the ball 300 yards comes along, does not matter. Leave this beautiful golf course, the `holy ground' of golf, as it was and as it always should be.''

Daly overpowered St. Andrews in 1995 and won the British Open. Ballesteros won one of his three British Open titles at St. Andrews in 1984.

Work began in November to push the tees back on six holes, a move to bring bunkers back into play on the third, sixth, 10th, 13th, 15th and 16th holes. The new design will add about 200 yards to the course, bringing the distance to about 7,100 yards.

FOOTBALL

Doug Flutie hasn't given up on playing in the NFL.

The Toronto Argonauts say the star quarterback's agent is trying to find an NFL club willing to sign his high-profile client.

``He's trying to find employment for Doug in the NFL, and I'm not going to get all bent out of shape about this,'' Argos president Bob Nicholson said.

Flutie's agent, Jack Mula, said his client has a ``mitigation clause'' in his contract with Toronto which allows Flutie to jump to the NFL. Flutie has a year left on a contract that calls for him to be paid $1.1 million this year.

Flutie had brief stints with the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears before heading north.

HORSE RACING

Royal Commando sprinted to the lead and never looked back en route to a one-length victory over Canyon Crest in the $57,000 feature at Santa Anita.

Alex Solis, who rode three winners on the eight-race card, guided Royal Commando over 1 1/16 miles on a sloppy track in 1:42 4-5. The winner paid $19.40, $5.40 and $3.80.

Canyon Crest returned $3.40 and $2.80, while Windy's Halo was another 4-1/2 lengths back in third and paid $4.

The Argentine-bred Royal Commando won his first start since shipping from his native country last year. The victory, worth $34,200, increased the 5-year-old's career earnings to $108,409, with four wins in 18 starts.

WINTER SPORTS

Alberto Tomba, out of the giant slalom Top 15 rankings for the first time in a decade, says that the flu could force him out of Sunday's World Cup slalom at Wengen, Switzerland.

He will decide whether to compete after three days of training.

The three-time Olympic and two-time world champion skipped Tuesday's giant slalom at Adelboden, Switzerland, because of the flu.