Watson, Floyd Are Among Five in Lead

Defending champion Ray Floyd, Larry Nelson, Tom Watson, Allen Doyle and Ed Dougherty shot five-under-par 67s and shared the first-round lead in the Senior Players Championship at Dearborn, Mich.

Jay Sigel opened with a 68 on the TPC of Michigan. Japan’s Isao Aoki, playing his 1,000th pro tournament, and U.S. Senior Open champion Bruce Fleisher were among the group of five at three under.

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Skip Kendall fulfilled his father’s deathbed wish, playing in the Greater Milwaukee Open on his home course less than 24 hours after Ralph Kendall died at 77 of complications of a stroke. Acknowledging condolences on every hole, Kendall shot a two-over 73 on what he called the hardest day of his life. Jay Haas, 47, who won the tournament 20 years ago at Tuckaway Country Club, took the first-round lead with a seven-under 64, a stroke ahead of D.A. Weibring, Marco Dawson and Brent Geiberger. . . . Retief Goosen, playing in his second tournament since winning the U.S. Open, shot a nine-under 62 and took a three-stroke lead in the rain-delayed Scottish Open at Luss.

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Greg Puga of Los Angeles advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship with a 2-and-1 victory over Australian Jason Moon at San Antonio.

Soccer

Teenagers Bobby Convey, Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley were among the 22 starters voted to play in Major League Soccer’s All-Star game July 28 in San Jose, although Convey is injured and will be sidelined. Mauricio Cienfuegos was the only Galaxy player voted to the West team.

Mexico kept Brazil winless in six games with a 1-0 first-round victory in the Copa America at Cali, Colombia. Silvio Garay fired in a loose ball in injury time to salvage a 3-3 tie for Paraguay against underdog Peru. . . . In the WUSA: Bay Area goalie LaKeysia Beene’s shutout streak ended at 624 minutes, but the visiting CyberRays’ unbeaten streak stretched to seven in a 3-2 victory over the Washington Freedom. . . . Briana Scurry earned her league-leading sixth shutout and Charmaine Hooper scored twice as the Atlanta Beat defeated the New York Power, 3-0, at Uniondale, N.Y. . . . Maren Meinert, in her first game back from German national team duty, had two assists at Boston in the Breakers’ 2-1 victory over the Carolina Courage.

Juan Sebastian Veron of Argentina broke the English transfer record, signing a five-year deal with Manchester United worth $39.34 million.

Miscellany

In the WNBA: Nykesha Sales scored 18 points and tied her career high with 10 rebounds to lead the Orlando Miracle to a 72-69 victory at Charlotte, N.C., snapping the Sting’s six-game winning streak. . . . The Houston Comets outscored the Portland Fire by 20 points in the second half en route to a 71-57 victory at Portland, Ore. . . . Tangela Smith scored 27 points and Yolanda Griffith had 20 in the Sacramento Monarchs’ 69-67 victory over the visiting Utah Starzz.

Irida Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan upset top-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (3), in the Uniqa Grand Prix tennis tournament at Vienna. Second-seeded Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia lost to Croatia’s Jelena Kostanic, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0. . . . Top-seeded Magui Serna advanced to the quarterfinals of the Palermo International in Sicily, defeating Bulgaria’s Lubomira Bacheva, 6-2, 7-5.

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Coach Bill Cowher through the 2005 season, agreeing to a three-year contract extension worth about $7 million.

Dominik Hasek, the NHL’s top goalie, remained hospitalized in his hometown, Pardubice in the Czech Republic, eight days after he was admitted with a possible viral infection. . . . St. Louis Blues’ left wing Keith Tkachuk signed a one-year, $8.3-million qualifying offer to remain with the team. . . . The Mighty Ducks signed left wing Tim Parssinen, their fourth-round draft pick, to a one-year entry-level contract.

Pete Arbogast will be USC’s new football play-by-play announcer on radio, Athletic Director Mike Garrett announced. USC has switched flagship stations, going from XTRA (690) to KMPC (1540). Arbogast replaces Lee Hamilton.

David A. Jacobs, athletic director at Whittier College since 1974, died July 7 of lung cancer. He was 58.