IN BRIEF

GOLF

Villegas grabs Phoenix lead with record-tying round of 62

Camilo Villegas tied the Phoenix Open first-round record with a 9-under-par 62 Thursday to take a one-shot lead over former Florida teammate Matt Every in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Villegas regrouped with a bogey-free round after making the semifinals of the Match Play Championship last weekend, but missing a 3-foot putt that would have put him in the final. The 28-year-old Colombian beat Sergio Garcia in the third-place match.

Justin Rose, Mark Wilson, Ryuji Imada, Rickie Fowler and Pat Perez were three strokes back at 65 in perfect conditions at TPC Scottsdale.

Phil Mickelson and defending champion Kenny Perry were in a large group at 68. Match Play champion Ian Poulter struggled to a 72.

Also: Nike will continue to support Tiger Woods even though the world's best player has taken an indefinite leave from golf to deal with personal issues.

Nike brand president Charlie Denson said he does not want Woods back on the course until he sorts out his private life.

"Under the circumstances, the more he deals with the issues and the better he deals with them, the better off he'll be when he does return," Denson said.

Woods said last week he spent 45 days in treatment and he planned to seek additional therapy.

"We've been in touch with his camp," Denson said. "We're very comfortable with where he's at, how he's dealing with it, and we're looking forward to his return."

Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa birdied two of the final three holes for a 4-under 68 and a share of the first-round lead in the HSBC Champions at Singapore.

Cristie Kerr, Angela Stanford and Hee Young Park also shot 68s. Kerr birdied five of the final six holes on Tanah Merah's Garden Course, Stanford had a bogey-free round, and Park overcame three bogeys with seven birdies.

Ochoa won the 2008 tournament by 11 strokes, finishing at 20-under 268.

HOCKEY

Wranglers goaltender Ouzas will return for Stockton series

The Wranglers (22-24-6) will host the Stockton Thunder (24-20-8) at 7:05 p.m. today and Saturday and at 2:05 p.m. Sunday at the Orleans Arena.

Goalie Michael Ouzas is expected to start for Las Vegas after missing the last five games with a concussion. Ouzas is 16-18-4 this season with a 3.23 goals-against average.

With 20 games remaining in the regular season, Las Vegas (50 points) leads the Ontario Reign (21-25-7, 49 points) by one point in the battle for the final playoff berth in the National Conference. The Wranglers play three games at Ontario from March 5 to 7 and host the Reign in a season-ending three-game series April 1 to 3.

Also: The Minnesota Wild signed popular winger Cal Clutterbuck to a three-year extension.

Clutterbuck, 22, would have become a restricted free agent after the season.

Forward Rene Bourque signed a $20 million, six-year contract extension with the Calgary Flames. Bourque will receive $8 million from 2010 to 2012.

St. Louis Blues forward Cam Janssen has been suspended five games without pay for a hit to the head on Washington's Matt Bradley, the league announced.

Janssen was assessed a five-minute major after the blind hit on the Capitals forward during the first period of the Blues' 4-3 shootout victory Feb. 13.

MISCELLANEOUS

Orthodox Jewish school forfeits game so team can observe fast

A small Orthodox Jewish school forfeited a consolation game in a Washington state high school basketball tournament so players could safely observe a religious fast.

Northwest Yeshivam elected to forfeit the game Thursday rather than break the "Fast of Esther," one of five fasts on the Jewish calendar that prohibits eating or drinking anything until nightfall.

School officials said the risk to players not able to rehydrate during the game was unacceptable.

Also: J.C. Elder, known as "Suitcase Jake" during his long tenure as a NASCAR crew chief with the likes of star drivers David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip, has died. He was 73.

Elder died Wednesday of natural causes in Statesville, N.C. He was the crew chief for Pearson's 1968 and 1969 series champions and directed Earnhardt to his first Cup victory in 1979 at Bristol.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic rallied past Ivan Ljubicic 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 to advance in the Dubai Championships at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Jurgen Melzer overcame Marin Cilic 7-6 (8), 7-5 to reach the semifinals. Melzer will face seventh-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, who beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, 6-3, 6-4.

Top-seeded Fernando Verdasco was knocked out of the quarterfinals of the Mexican Open by Juan Monaco, and women's No. 1 seed Venus Williams fought back from 1-5 down in the final set to survive.

Monaco of Argentina beat top-seeded Verdasco of Spain, 7-5, 6-3.

Williams had a harder-than-expected struggle against Spanish qualifier Laura Pous Tio, finally winning, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Pous Tio is ranked No. 399 and Williams No. 5.

Jurors in the first-degree murder trial of a man accused of killing an Iowa high school football coach say they've reached a stalemate.

The jury gave Iowa District Court Judge Stephen Carroll a note saying it couldn't reach a verdict and requesting one night to "sleep on our discussion."

Mark Becker is accused of gunning down Aplington-Parkersburg High School coach Ed Thomas on June 24. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Jurors will resume their deliberations today.

UNLV's baseball series with Temple has been changed due to the chance of inclement weather Saturday. The Rebels and Owls will play a doubleheader today, with game times at 3 p.m. and 7 at Wilson Stadium.

Steven Nelms' 50-yard freestyle victory propelled the UNLV men's team into first place after the second day of the Mountain West Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in Oklahoma City.

The Rebels won three events to jump from third to first.

Nelms won the 50 free in 20.02 seconds, as UNLV took the top seven spots in the event.

The Rebels' Kier Maitland retained his title in the 500 free with a MWC record time of 4:19.82. UNLV also won the 200 free relay.

The UNLV women went from eighth to sixth place.