In Brief

GOLF

With U.S. Open on horizon, Westwood seizes St. Jude lead

Lee Westwood prefers competition the week before a major to tune up his play. The Englishman looks quite ready now for the U.S. Open based on his first round at the St. Jude Classic at Memphis, Tenn.

Westwood took advantage of no wind and a rain-softened course to shoot a 7-under-par 63 Thursday that equaled his best on the PGA Tour and gave him a one-stroke lead in the suspended first round. The world's No. 3-ranked player tied the course record for the back nine with a 29 with four of his five birdies and an eagle. He parred out his final eight holes.

"Pleased with the start, 63 is always a good start," Westwood said. "I couldn't be disappointed with that. Could have been better, but I'm not going to cry too much about missing from 4 feet on the last."

Not bad for someone who flew from London to San Francisco to play 27 holes Sunday at Pebble Beach with another 18 Monday before heading to Memphis. Westwood played nine holes Tuesday and a practice round Wednesday in his first visit to this course, but wound up with near-perfect scoring conditions in the eighth group off the 10th tee.

Casey Wittenberg shot a 64, Padraig Harrington had a 65 and Tim Petrovic, John Senden and Bob Estes were among eight tied at 66 before a severe thunderstorm stopped play for nearly an hour. The round was suspended with 20 golfers on the course.

Also: Shanshan Feng made five early birdies and shot an 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster and Na Yeon Choi at the State Farm LPGA Classic at Springfield, Ill.

Meena Lee, Alena Sharp, Anna Nordqvist, M.J. Hur and Song-Hee Kim were two shots back on a crowded leaderboard at Panther Creek Country Club. Seven other players were within three shots of the lead, including Cristie Kerr and Sophie Gustafson.

Damien McGrane of Ireland and Luke Goddard of England shot 8-under 64s to share the lead after the first round of the Estoril Open at Estoril, Portugal.

Football

Top pick Bradford impresses Rams as things start to 'sink in'

Slowly but surely, Sam Bradford is getting acclimated to life in the NFL.

The No. 1 overall pick of the April draft joined veterans Thursday at the first day of the St. Louis Rams' minicamp. The former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Oklahoma said that after organized team activities and the first day of minicamp, things are starting to sink in.

"The more I'm out there and the more reps I get, the more comfortable I feel," Bradford said. "From Day One to now, it's night and day how much more comfortable I feel just calling the plays in the huddle, getting to the line of scrimmage and making the reads."

Coach Steve Spagnuolo felt good about that progress, too.

"We threw a couple of things at the quarterbacks from the standpoint of pressures. I thought all of them did a nice job, and Sam stuck out on a couple of them," Spagnuolo said.

"He looked real good on them. That's important."

Also: All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis said he will attend the New York Jets' mandatory minicamp next week despite his frustration over the slow nature of his contract negotiations.

Revis said he is being patient, but still wants to be the highest-paid player at his position. The two-time Pro Bowl selection sat out a voluntary workout last week, but returned for both practices this week.

Meanwhile, All-Pro center Nick Mangold said he's "displeased" with how his negotiations are going and is unsure if he'll sit out minicamp. He is entering the final season of a five-year deal.

Phil Dawson avoided kicking up any controversy.

Cleveland's longtime, steady kicker reported to the Browns' mandatory minicamp after skipping the club's voluntary workouts in a contract dispute.

Dawson, the only player left from Cleveland's 1999 expansion team, has been seeking a new long-term deal from the Browns for several seasons. He's in the final year of a contract with a base salary of $1 million -- at the bottom end of the pay scale for NFL kickers.

After the morning workout, Dawson politely declined to address his contract status. "I'm just not going to open that can," he said.

A cocky Muhsin Muhammad joined a Carolina franchise in 1996 that was beginning its second season, and over the next two decades the Panthers and Muhammad effectively grew up and matured together.

Carolina's career leader in catches and yards receiving walked away from the game after 14 seasons, 11 of which were spent in Charlotte, where Muhammad made a transformation on and off the field.

"I've done everything I could possibly do in an NFL career for 14 years, outside of actually winning a championship ring," said Muhammad, 37. "I've played in two Super Bowls, I have Super Bowl records and I've done a lot of good things throughout my career. I'm full, I'm fulfilled. I'm at peace with my decision."

Two men who refused to testify in the trial of a man convicted in the death of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams have been sentenced to 12 months each in jail for contempt of court.

Kataina "Markie" Jackson-Keeling, 21, and Mario Anderson, 22, were also sentenced to 90 days in jail and four years' probation for being accessories to perjury.

miscellaneous

Roddick, Djokovic ousted from Queen's Club championships

Andy Roddick made his earliest exit in nine years from the Queen's Club grass-court championships when he lost in the third round to 14th-seeded Dudi Sela of Israel in London.

Roddick, a four-time champion at Queen's, lost, 6-4, 7-6 (8).

Three of the top five seeds failed to survive, with No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 5 Marin Cilic joining No. 4 Roddick as third-round losers.

Djokovic fell 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to Xavier Malisse of Belgium, and Cilic was beaten 7-6 (2), 6-2 by 12th-seeded Michael Llodra of France.

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced after a challenge from Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, reaching the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 victory. Nadal needed a trainer after the second set to work on his upper right leg.

Also: Maria Sharapova won two matches to reach the quarterfinals of the rain-delayed Aegon Classic at Birmingham, England.

Sharapova needed three days to complete her first win on grass this year, a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of U.S. Fed Cup player Bethanie Mattek-Sands. She then returned to the court for a 6-3, 6-1 win against Alla Kudryavtseva, the fellow Russian who upset her at Wimbledon two years ago.

Top-seeded Roger Federer eased into the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open, beating Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-1, 6-2 at Halle, Germany.

French Open semifinalist Jurgen Melzer was upset by Mischa Zverev of Germany, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3). Benjamin Becker upset second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3, 6-4.

Guy Boucher was hired as the coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, taking over a team that hasn't made it beyond the first round of the NHL playoffs since winning the franchise's only Stanley Cup six years ago.

He replaces Rick Tocchet, who was fired April 12 after a 34-36-12 finish left the Lightning out of the playoffs for the third straight time.

Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins will retire next year, ending a highly successful but sometimes stormy 43-year career in sports administration.

Perkins, 65, made the announcement in a statement released through the school, one day after he was cleared of accepting free use of gym equipment in exchange for favors.

Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson's voice cracked as a prosecutor showed her a knife found in the car of a man accused of stalking her.

Johnson, however, was mostly composed as she testified in Los Angeles against Robert O'Ryan, who is accused of breaking onto a studio lot to meet the gold medalist as she competed on "Dancing With the Stars."

O'Ryan has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to felony stalking and burglary charges.

Reigning Professional Bowlers Association Senior Player of the Year Ron Mohr took his turn as tournament leader after the first round of match play in the PBA Senior U.S. Open at the Suncoast.

After bowling 35 games the past three days, Mohr leads with a 7,852 pinfall and a 6-2 match-play record.

Mohr, 54, leads Hall of Famer and two-time Senior U.S. Open champion Tom Baker, who managed to score well enough to hold onto second with a 7,794 pinfall despite going 3-5 in match play.