Eaks Shoots 64 to Take Lead at U.S. Senior Open

Twelve holes into his first U.S. Senior Open, R.W. Eaks was thinking about shooting a 59.

Eaks, who has never won a PGA event of any kind, settled for a seven-under-par 64, which tied the tournament record and gave him a three-shot lead over Tom Watson after Thursday’s opening round at Owings Mills, Md.

“I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t shoot a 63, actually,” said Eaks, who had an eagle, eight birdies and three bogeys on a difficult Caves Valley course that yielded only nine sub-par rounds on a sweltering day.

Play was suspended for the day by lightning with 33 players left on the course.

Watson shot a bogey-free 67, one shot better than James Mason and Jose Maria Carnizares. Isao Aoki, Fred Gibson and Jim Ahern carded 69s.

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Glen Hnatiuk and Tim Petrovic shot six-under 65s and took a one-stroke lead over a tightly bunched leaderboard in the suspended first round of the St. Jude Classic at Memphis, Tenn.

Afternoon thunderstorms delayed play for more than three hours, and darkness stopped play at 8:39 p.m. EDT, with 78 players still on the TPC at Southwind course.

Justin Leonard, Matt Kuchar, Garrett Willis, Notah Begay and David Howser were a stroke back, while Deane Pappas, Doug Barron and Steve Pete had 67s.

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Seve Ballesteros was disqualified from the Irish Open at Cork after taking 12 shots at the par-five 18th hole and signing for an incorrect score.

The 45-year-old Ballesteros, returning after an eight-week break, signed for a 10 on No. 18 and a total of 87.

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Seung Su Han of Chino Hills set a tournament scoring record with rounds of 66-67-69--202 en route to a four-stroke victory in the American Junior Golf Assn. ClubCorp Junior at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. Jennie Lee of Huntington Beach defeated Allison Martin of Bakersfield in a playoff to win the girls’ division, shooting 68-73-74--215.

Hockey

The Montreal Canadiens hired former Mighty Duck head coach Guy Charron as an assistant. The 53-year-old Charron replaces Guy Carbonneau, who left the Canadiens at the end of the season to become assistant general manager of the Dallas Stars.

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The Chicago Blackhawks re-signed left wing Bob Probert, a 17-year veteran, and goaltending consultant Vladislav Tretiak....The Dallas Stars signed left wing Manny Malhotra to a two-year deal that will take him through the 2003-2004 season.... The Buffalo Sabres picked up one-year contract options on defenseman Jay McKee and center Curtis Brown.... Defenseman Steve Duchesne has exercised his option with the Detroit Red Wings for next season. Duchesne will earn $1 million in the 2002-03 season, which will be his fourth with Detroit....The Columbus Blue Jackets re-signed goaltender Marc Denis to a multiyear contract

Miscellany

Bill Bradshaw, athletic director at DePaul the last 16 years, will take over the same position at Temple.... Alabama Birmingham football Coach Watson Brown was appointed interim athletic director.

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A probable record number of entries and some celebrity sailors will contest the 18th edition of North Sails Race Week at Long Beach, the West Coast’s largest inshore regatta.

Dennis Conner, Dave Ullman, Paul Cayard and Dee Smith will be calling tactics on some of the larger boats competing today, Saturday and Sunday, along with Olympic medalists Jeff Madrigali, Steve Benjamin and Ross Macdonald and America’s Cup veteran Ed Baird.

The entry list--all keelboats from 20 feet up--is expected to surpass the record of 170 boats that sailed in 2000.