Neues » a special outing in Halifax as

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Dru Samia Vikings Jersey . -- The Champions Tour players put on long-sleeved pullovers and tried to figure out which way the wind was swirling from hole to hole. They left Shoal Creek with little separation at the top. Jay Haas, Mark Calcavecchia, Olin Browne and Chien Soon Lu shared the first-round lead at 3-under 69 on Thursday in the Regions Tradition, the first of the 50-and-over tours five majors. Nine others were within two strokes of the lead. With windy, unseasonably cool conditions, it was the highest score for first-round leaders at the Tradition since three players tied at 3-under in 1990 at Desert Mountain Club in Arizona. The course absorbed more than an inch of rain heading into Thursday and the players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls. The Tradition hasnt been so tightly bunched in the top spot after the first round since a seven-way tie in 2008 and the average score was about two strokes higher than last years first round. "The winds were very tricky," the 60-year-old Haas said. "I kind of had a handle on it, I thought, on the front nine. And then by the time we got to about 13, 14, 15, I had no idea which way the wind was blowing. "With all the trees and the valley and everything, you get a lot of swirling winds and you just have to be extra careful and think it out and then hit the shot that youre planning to hit, which I did most of the time." Calcavecchia birdied three of the final nine holes and came within a whisker of a fourth and the solo lead on No. 18. "When it was about 10 feet short, I didnt think it could miss," he said. "It was just dead centre the whole way and the last couple of feet, it was still in the middle of the hole and it just dribbled just a shade to the right and singed the right lip. "That would have been nice to walk that one in to end the day. Those are the ones that make the rest of the day go by a little bit better, dinner taste a little better." Haas capped a run of three straight birdies with a 50-foot putt on the 12th hole to move to 5 under. He finished with six birdies and had bogeys on three holes, including two of the next four after the long putt. The sun actually shone much of the day but the wind and wet course did make for some challenges. "There was no roll in the fairways," Calcavecchia said. "We had to play lift and place. The ball was just caked with mud every time you picked it up in the fairway. The wind was very tricky." Lu did manage to birdie the final hole and two of the last three to grab a share of the lead The native of Taiwan has two second-places in the Tradition, 2010 in Oregon and 2012 at Shoal Creek. Calcavecchias history at the scenic course has been up and down, though he says its his favourite stop on the Champions Tour. He lost a six-shot lead in 2011, including a pair of weekend double bogeys on No. 12. This time he avoided a bogey on his most troublesome hole but tweaked a rib on a shot from the fairway bunker. "The 12th hole is not my favourite out here, Ill tell you that right now," Calcavecchia said. Brownes only win on the 50-and-over circuit came in the 2011 U.S. Senior Open Championship. He missed five months of last season with a stress fracture in his back, playing only 14 events. Browne, who tied for second at the ACE Group Classic in February, had a bogey-free round with his final birdie on No. 17. "It was blustery and it was difficult to gauge, but my caddie and I did a decent job," Browne said. Steve Elkington, Willie Wood and Corey Pavin were one stroke off the lead at 70 and six players were two shots back. DIVOTS: Defending champion David Frost had a 72. ... Tom Lehman, the 2011 and 2012 winner, opened with a 73. ... Fred Couples shot 74. ... Bart Bryant withdrew after a death in the family while Craig Stadler and D.A. Weibring dropped out because of back problems. Stadler played nine holes before withdrawing. Rick Fehr replaced Bryant, and Doug Garwood filled Weibrings spot. Cris Carter Womens Jersey . New Zealand brushed aside England 26-7 to win the event and reclaim top spot in the overall standings. The All Blacks, the defending World Series champions, won their third tournament this season in style, running four tries past England to claim their 11th Cup championship in Hong Kong and first since 2011. Paul Krause Youth Jersey . All of 46 seconds into the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 victory over Alex Ovechkins struggling Washington Capitals, Crosby assisted on Chris Kunitzs goal. http://www.thevikingsshoponline.com/Youth-Alan-Page-Vikings-Jersey/ . -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday for observation due to minor complications from cancer treatments, his family said.PINEHURST, N.C. -- The number on the scorecard was the same as Thursday but Graham DeLaet definitely felt as if he played much better at the U.S. Open on Friday than a day earlier. The Canadian, who used 75 strokes to get around Pinehurst No. 2, took 14 of those on just two holes, recording a triple and a double bogey. He also added a penalty shot on a morning that simply didnt go his way. Even with all that adventure and some visits to the newly added native areas, he walked off the course feeling not too badly about his play. "Im not even really disappointed because I felt I was in total control of my game all day," he said. "Three balls in that natural rough and twice I couldnt get a club on it and I made a triple and a double and the other time I went to move some debris next to my ball and my ball moved and that cost me a stroke. Other than that I played well all day." Thats the U.S. Open. So hard to make birdies, so easy to make doubles. DeLaet started his day on the right note, making his first birdie of the competition on the third hole. He cancelled that out with a bogey at six, when his approach shot came up short of the putting surface and he wasnt able to get up and down. On the eighth, however, disaster struck. DeLaets tee shot sailed left and ended up in a troubled lie against some wiregrass. His second to the green also went left and ended up in another almost impossible lie. He hacked it out and the ball ended up behind a tree, so he took an unplayable then chipped it over the green. He lobbed his next shot to 20 feet and, of coursse, dropped the putt for a triple. Randy Moss Womens Jersey. Two holes later, another errant drive led to a double as he scrambled around the green, and a hole after that, he incurred the penalty. "I guess its a little disappointing," said DeLaet. "Coming in, I didnt expect to miss the cut. But at the same time I feel like I played well and a lot better than my score but thats the U.S. Open and Im packing." This was DeLaets first time teeing it up in the American championship and the learning curve is steep. Its also the third straight major in which hes failed to make it to the weekend, something thats frustrating for 32-year-old. "I feel like my game should be suited for tough golf courses," he stated, "but my record hasnt shown that quite yet. "Theres a lot more to [the Majors] than golfing your ball. There are all the outside distractions and the mental pressure and everything that goes along with a major championship. Now Ive got my feet wet in all four and Im looking forward to the next one." DeLaet is planning to play the next two events on the PGA Tour as well as the RBC Canada Cup, a special outing in Halifax as part of the new Web.com Tour event there. Hell then take two weeks off before playing a long stretch of what could be eight tournaments in nine weeks, including the RBC Canadian Open. The schedule will be busy, DeLaet said, but it isnt as if hes moving pianos. "Im playing professional golf and going to a lot of cool places," he said. "Overseas, Montreal . . . you cant really complain." ' ' '