In Brief

GOLF

Calcavecchia in three-way tie
for lead at Senior British Open

Mark Calcavecchia defied the afternoon rain Thursday to shoot a bogey-free 68 and take a three-way share of the first-round lead at the Senior British Open in Walton on the Hill, England.

Bidding to become the fourth player to win both the British Open and the senior version, the 51-year-old American had two birdies on both sides of the turn before parring the final five holes.

Calcavecchia, winner of the British Open at Troon in 1989, was joined at 4 under par by Ireland's Mark McNulty and Australia's Mike Harwood, who earlier benefited from still and dry conditions on the parkland course at Walton Heath that hosted the 1981 Ryder Cup.

South Africa's David Frost and Scotland's Albert MacKenzie were a shot behind, with defending champion Bernhard Langer of Germany one of seven players who shot 70. Americans Bob Tway, Mike Goodes and Lee Rinker were among those tied with Langer.

Also: American Kris Blanks shot a 3-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the RBC Canadian Open in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Matt McQuillan was the best of 17 Canadians with a 2-under 68, putting the 30-year-old PGA Tour rookie in a tie with 11 players, including Ernie Els.

Rickie Fowler, Anthony Kim and Lucas Glover -- playing together in softer morning conditions -- all shot 69 to finish among another group of nine players on a day when only 21 players were under par on the tight tree-lined, 7,010-yard Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club.

Blanks played in the morning, after overnight rain softened the course.

Former British Open winner Karen Stupples of England shot a 5-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead with Sweden's Maria Hjorth and South Korea's Ahn Shin-ae at the Evian Masters in Evian-Les-Bains, France.

Stupples, who won her only major in 2004, recovered from a double bogey on the ninth hole to make six birdies on the back nine as heavy rain soaked the course at regular intervals during the day.

Defending champion Jiyai Shin of South Korea made a solid start with a 3-under 69, including three birdies in the first four holes, before bogeys on No. 6 and 8 slowed her.

Swedish amateur Robert Karlsson shot a 5-under 67 to share the lead with countryman Alexander Noren and Jaco Van Zyl of South Africa after the first round of the Nordea Masters in Stockholm.

The 22-year-old Karlsson, one of only three amateurs in the tournament, had seven birdies and a double bogey on the 7,603-yard Bro Hof Slott course -- the longest on the European Tour this year.

Bubba Watson shot a 71, and Dustin Johnson, who shared second place with Phil Mickelson in the British Open on Sunday, finished with a 73.

AJ McInerney of Henderson was beaten by Hank Lebioda of Winter Springs, Fla., 7 and 5 in the field-of-32 match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in Bremerton, Wash.

HORSE RACING

Saratoga opens summer slate
amid extreme heat, humidity

One rite of summer meets another as blistering heat is expected to blanket the 143rd opening of Saratoga Race Course.

Officials at the New York Racing Association said they expect the horses to run today despite temperatures in the mid-90s and oppressive humidity.

They've canceled racing only once because of heat, in 2006, at the historic track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Also: Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., postponed its live thoroughbred racing for today and moved the card to Monday because of concerns for expected excessive heat and extreme humidity.

Track general manager Robert Kulina said the move was made because of concerns for the horses and jockeys.

Star filly Awesome Maria will be out for at least the rest of the year because of a fractured left foreleg.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said the 4-year-old has a promising chance to fully recover and race in 2012.

Awesome Maria had won four straight graded stakes and was among this season's leading older female thoroughbreds. She was to have made her next start July 31 in the Ruffian Invitational Handicap at Saratoga.

Pletcher said the injury was detected after a five-furlong breeze at Saratoga on Monday.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence in San Diego.

Smith was arrested Wednesday night, hours after winning the Oceanside Stakes aboard Mr. Commons on Del Mar's opening day. He was booked into the Central Jail and released at 4 a.m. Thursday on $2,500 bail.

MISCELLANEOUS

Bowling, Voelker to headline
Strikeforce Challengers card

Roger Bowling and Bobby Voelker will meet for the third time in the main event of a Strikeforce Challengers card tonight at the Palms.

Bowling won the first meeting in May 2010 by technical decision, but Voelker evened the score with a second-round knockout in October.

The welterweight bout headlines a card that will air tape-delayed on Showtime (Cox Cable 240) at 11 p.m.

Heavyweight Lavar Johnson was scheduled to meet Devin Cole but was scrapped from the card because of an undisclosed injury. Cole instead will take on Shawn Jordan.

Also, Liz Carmouche will meet former women's welterweight champion Sarah Kaufman.

The first bout is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with the main card beginning live at 8.

Also: The brother of former Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers player Derek Boogaard, who died from a drug overdose in May, was arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal prescription pills on the same night.

Online records showed Aaron Boogaard was arrested on a narcotics charge. He was held without bail at the Hennepin County Jail in Minneapolis. His family said the arrest has "nothing to do with" his brother's death.

The Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported police records list Boogaard as being arrested on suspicion of prescription fraud and possession of prescription pills. He was not immediately charged.

Future NCAA women's basketball tournaments may not have to go head-to-head with the men's tourney.

College athletics' governing body announced the Division I women's basketball committee will study the feasibility of moving the start of the tournament back one week from its typical mid-March start. No deadline has been set for a recommendation, and two additional NCAA committees still need to approve the study.

The proposal will not affect the 2012 tournament and is unlikely to be in place before the 2013 tourney, either.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and former U.S. Open champions Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal head the men's field for the year's last Grand Slam tournament.

Djokovic is 48-1 in singles matches with eight titles in 2011, including at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. He's a two-time runner-up at the U.S. Open, losing to Federer in the 2007 final and to Nadal last year.

The top 101 men in the ATP rankings received direct entry into the provisional field announced by the U.S. Tennis Association. Three players used special protected rankings to get into the draw: Fernando Gonzalez, Tommy Haas and Ivo Karlovic.

The U.S. Open starts Aug. 29 in New York.

Stacy May-Johnson homered, Rhea Taylor had a two-run triple, and the United States beat the Czech Republic 7-2 at the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City.

Playing without an Olympic medalist, the Americans are fielding an inexperienced bunch instead of the group of veterans who once were a dominant force in international softball.

Brigham Young and Utah State will meet on the football field at least through the 2015 season.

The schools announced a three-game series starting in 2012. They already are scheduled to play each other for the 81st time this season when they meet in Provo on Sept. 30. Their rivalry dates to 1922, BYU's first year of intercollegiate football.

BYU is beginning its first season as a football independent.