Sutherland Takes Canadian Open Lead

Kevin Sutherland and Tiger Woods were not sure whether to come to the Canadian Open at Oakville. Only one of them was glad he did Thursday.

Sutherland, whose wife gave birth to their first child 10 days ago, committed to play at the last minute and responded with his best opening round of the year, a seven-under-par 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Cameron Beckman.

“If my wife didn’t say, ‘Why don’t you go play?’ I probably wouldn’t have come,” he said. “I may be a little rusty, but I felt I was ready to play. I just stayed within myself, hitting good shots and making good putts and didn’t get too far ahead of myself.”

Woods, meanwhile, was in unfamiliar territory--in the trees, in the water, behind a television tower, next to a hospitality tent, and far removed from the leaders. A two-putt birdie on the 18th gave him a 72, and barely kept alive his streak of 36 rounds at par or better.

Sergio Garcia, still charged by his 1-up victory over Woods in their made-for-TV exhibition last week, was tied with Sutherland at seven under until a couple of sloppy bogeys down the stretch dropped him to 67. He was joined by Canadian-born Brian Watts, J.L. Lewis and Jesper Parnevik, who made birdies on four of the last five holes.

Hockey

The NHL board of governors has approved a rules change limiting the situations under which linesmen can make penalty calls and award penalty shots.

With the move to a two-referee system for every game this season, linesmen no longer will call double-minor, instigator or checking-from-behind penalties. Linesmen will continue to call stick fouls that result in a major penalty. Linesmen will only be allowed to call penalty shots when they observe a stick being thrown at the puck or the puck carrier.

The Edmonton Oilers agreed with leading scorer Doug Weight on a one-year contract worth at least $4.3 million. . . . Right wing Dainius Zubrus signed a two-year, $2-million contract with the Montreal Canadiens. . . . Unrestricted free agent Vladimir Tsyplakov signed a one-year contract that will keep him with the Buffalo Sabres. . . . Scott Hartnell, the sixth pick in this year’s NHL draft, signed a three-year contract with the Nashville Predators. . . . The New York Islanders signed free-agent defenseman Roman Hamrlik to a four- year contract.

Dave Ellett, who played 16 seasons with Toronto, Winnipeg, New Jersey, Boston and St. Louis, has retired.

Miscellany

Center Brad Miller has signed a three-year, $12-million offer sheet with the Chicago Bulls.

Jerry Krause, the Bulls’ executive vice president, said the Charlotte Hornets have 15 days to match the offer but that the salary cap would keep them from doing so.

In his second year in the NBA last season, Miller averaged 7.7 points and 5.3 rebounds playing 17.5 minutes a game for the Hornets.

The Seattle SuperSonics signed 6-foot-10, 270-pound forward Ruben Wolkowyski, who played in Argentina the last seven seasons, to a two-year contract.

Al McGuire, the former Marquette basketball coach who retired as a CBS broadcaster earlier this year, is living in a Milwaukee managed care facility and being treated for an unspecified illness, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The newspaper said McGuire, who turned 72 Thursday, entered a hospital July 27 and some days later was transferred to the managed care facility.

Jan Gangelhoff, the tutor who reported academic fraud in the University of Minnesota’s men’s basketball program, might plead guilty to her role in helping students cheat and become a key federal witness, according to KSTP-TV in Minneapolis.

Junior forward Jules Camara is leaning toward transferring from Kentucky after his weekend arrest on a drunk-driving charge, his former high school coach said.

Camara, who was expected to start for the Wildcats next season, was arrested early Sunday at Lexington, Ky., and charged with driving under the influence.

Oak Hill Academy Coach Steve Smith said Camara had not attended class and had rarely left his room since the arrest.

Rick Carelli passed Kurt Busch for the lead with 21 laps to go and held off late challenges by Busch and Greg Biffle to win the Kroger 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck race at Richmond, Va.

Alessandro Petacchi of Italy took the lead in the final sprint and won the 12th stage of cycling’s Tour of Spain at Zaragoza. Spain’s Angel Casero kept his lead in the overall standings.

Jerome Davis, a former Ball State basketball player, was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison after having pleaded guilty to drug charges earlier this year.