Golf Capsules
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Shawn Stefani, Tom Hoge and Seung-yul Noh shared the FedEx St. Jude Classic lead at 5-under 65 on Thursday.
Little wind and perfect though fast greens created near perfect scoring conditions at the TPC Southwind. Some extra rough requiring tight shots also provided a good test for players preparing for the U.S. Open next week at Oakmont in Pennsylvania.
Hoge had a bogey-free round in the morning group. This is only the second time Hoge has played the event, but he has qualified for the U.S. Open twice in Memphis and tied for 12th at Southwind last year.
Dustin Johnson, the 2012 winner, was in the group at 66 with Steve Stricker, Jamie Donaldson, Colt Knost, Brian Gay and Miguel Angel Carballo. Retief Goosen, Scott Stallings and Justin Leonard - a two-time winner in the event - all shot 67s.
Henrik Norlander of Sweden had a share of the lead with two holes to play among the final players on the course. But he three-putted from 4 feet on the par-3 eighth and finished with a 67.
Phil Mickelson matched defending champion Fabian Gomez of Argentina at 70.
CONSTELLATION SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
FLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Jay Don Blake birdied three of the last five holes at windy Philadelphia Cricket Club for a 2-under 70 and the first-round lead in the Constellation Senior Players Championship.
The 57-year-old Blake had five birdies and three bogeys on the A.W. Tillinghast-designed Wissahickon Course. He won the last of his three senior titles in 2012, and won at Torrey Pines in 1991 for his lone PGA Tour victory.
Vijay Singh bogeyed the par-4 18th to fall a stroke back along with Jeff Sluman, Brandt Jobe and Bart Bryant. Colin Montgomerie topped the group at 70.
Two-time defending champion Bernhard Langer bogeyed three of his last four holes for a 71. The German star won in 2014 at Fox Chapel in Pittsburgh and last year at Belmont in Massachusetts.
Tom Watson, at age 66, also opened with a 71. John Daly had a 76.
LYONESS OPEN
ATZENBRUGG, Austria (AP) - Spain's Adrian Otaegui shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead in the Lyoness Open.
The 23-year-old Otaegui birdied four of the last five holes at Diamond Country Club. Sweden's Bjorn Akesson was second after a 66, and France's Gary Stal and South Africa's Zander Lombard shot 67.