In Brief

Golf

Three Americans tied for lead after 69s in U.S. Women's Open

Americans Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome and Lizette Salas each shot 3-under-par 69 on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the U.S. Women's Open at Kohler, Wis.

Seventeen-year-old Lexi Thompson, Ai Miyazato, Jennie Lee and Beatriz Recari were one stroke behind. Seven players shot 71 in the nearly 100-degree heat and high humidity that turned Blackwolf Run, a challenging 6,944-yard course in central Wisconsin, into a boiler. Defending champion So Yeon Ryu and top-ranked Yani Tseng had 74s.

Salas, 22, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants from Azusa, Calif., a city outside Los Angeles with a history of gang issues. With help from her family, she used golf to earn a scholarship to Southern California - and now, a spot on the LPGA Tour and a share of the Open lead.

Salas began playing at age 7 thanks in large part to her father, Ramon, who is the head mechanic at a golf course and offered to do odd jobs for a local pro if he was willing to teach Salas how to play.

Also: Vijay Singh shot 7-under 63, his best round in six months, to claim a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Greenbrier Classic in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Jeff Maggert, Jonathan Byrd and Martin Flores shot 64.

Tiger Woods, coming off a victory in the AT&T National, struggled with his putter - he needed 31 putts - and shot 71. Phil Mickelson also shot 71.

Christian Nilsson of Sweden shot 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the European Tour's French Open in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.

Basketball

Guard Lin, Rockets reach terms on four-year, $28.8 million pact

New York Knicks restricted free-agent point guard Jeremy Lin and the Houston Rockets agreed to terms on a four-year contract offer.

Lin can sign the offer sheet Wednesday, and New York will have three days to match it. The Knicks have said they plan to keep Lin.

The contract is worth $10.2 million over the first two seasons and $9.3 million in each of the last two years. The fourth season is a team option.

The Rockets also traded Kyle Lowry to Toronto for a future first-round draft pick with lottery protection and forward Gary Forbes.

Also: Free-agent guard Jason Terry agreed to a three-year deal worth $15 million with the Boston Celtics. The 34-year-old Terry, one of the NBA's top 3-point shooters, has a career average of 16.1 points in 13 seasons, the past eight with the Dallas Mavericks.

Forward Brandon Bass also agreed to a three-year deal to return to the Celtics.

Portland Trail Blazers restricted free-agent swingman Nicolas Batum agreed to terms on an offer sheet with the Minnesota Timberwolves for four years and $45 million, with bonuses that could push it past $50 million.

The Timberwolves also agreed to terms on a two-year, $10.4 million deal with former All-Star guard Brandon Roy, who retired before last season because of chronic knee issues.

Guard Jameer Nelson and the Orlando Magic agreed to a new three-year deal, one week after the 30-year-old opted out of the final season and almost $8 million of his contract to test free agency.

Guard-forward Rodney Hood has transferred from Mississippi State to Duke. He averaged 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds last season as one of the Southeastern Conference's top freshmen.

Miscellaneous

German cyclist wins another stage; report cites Armstrong

Andre Greipel of Germany led a frenzied sprint to the finish to win the fifth stage of the Tour de France in Saint-Quentin, France, for his second straight victory.

Fabian Cancellara retained the overall leader's yellow jersey for a sixth straight day after the mostly flat 122-mile trek from Rouen to Saint-Quentin.

The stage was overshadowed by a Dutch newspaper report that said former teammates of Lance Armstrong - including five involved in this year's race - cut a deal with U.S. Anti-Doping Agency officials for their testimony in a case against the former cycling star.

Citing "well-informed sources," the newspaper said USADA has given six-month bans to former Armstrong teammates Jonathan Vaughters, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde. Vaughters called the report "completely untrue." The four others declined to comment.

Also: Former UNLV All-America outfielder Eric Nielsen has joined the Rebels' baseball staff as a volunteer assistant coach. The former Silverado High School star was a 12th-round draft pick by Toronto in 2004 and spent five years in the Blue Jays' organization, making it to Triple A.

Joe Spahn and Lisa Childers have been named assistant coaches for the UNLV men's and women's swimming and diving teams. Spahn spent the past two years as an assistant at Georgia, and Childers was with the Florida Lauderdale Aquatics for the past eight years.