Herron Opens With a 63 to Lead at Buick Challenge

Tim Herron figured he was on the verge of a great round. He just didn’t know it would be his lowest score in three years, a nine-under-par 63, or that it would come Thursday in the first round of the Buick Challenge at Pine Mountain, Ga.

After warming up in the rain, Herron got on a roll by taking only 23 putts on the soft greens of Callaway Gardens for a two-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson and six others.

Mickelson, playing the Buick Challenge for the first time in 10 years, also had a good day on the greens, but most of the focus was on the club in his hands -- a new putter that looked like a branding iron.

It was designed to get the ball rolling immediately, and it helped Mickelson to a 65. He was tied with Rocco Mediate, Bob May, David Gossett, Ben Crane and Michael Long, an alternate who didn’t know he was playing until 20 minutes before he teed off.

David Toms was among those at 66.

Herron started on No. 10 and played the back nine in only two under, but an eagle on the 508-yard second hole -- he hit a six-iron to four feet -- got him going. He played his last nine holes in 29, tying the record on the Mountain View Course.

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Rain, temperatures in the low 40s and winds of 10-15 mph led to the first round of the season-ending Senior Tour Championship being suspended at Oklahoma City. Play was scheduled to resume this morning and tournament officials hope to complete the first two rounds.... As expected, Hal Sutton was introduced as the 2004 Ryder Cup captain for the United States.

Tennis

Andre Agassi’s bid to win the ATP Champions Race was dealt a blow when he was upset by Karol Kucera, 6-4, 6-4, in the second round of the St. Petersburg Open at Russia.

Agassi led, 4-1, at the start before losing six consecutive games.

Agassi remains 43 points behind No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, who lost in the second round of the Stockholm Open on Tuesday.

In another upset, two-time defending champion Marat Safin lost to wild-card entry Vladimir Voltchkov, 6-4, 6-4. Elsewhere, Dominik Hrbaty beat fifth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 7-6 (1), 7-5, and Nikolas Kiefer defeated eighth-seeded Max Mirnyi, 6-3, 7-5.

Marcelo Rios advanced to the quarterfinals of the Stockholm Open when American Jan-Michael Gambill was forced to retire because of a knee injury after losing the first set, 6-2.

Rios’ Chilean countryman, Nicolas Massu, also advanced after defeating eighth-seeded Rainer Shuettler, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

In other matches, Morocco’s Hicham Arazi beat hard-serving Taylor Dent, 6-4, 6-2, and Tommy Robredo of Spain scored a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) win over Todd Martin.

Andy Roddick eliminated U.S. Davis Cup teammate James Blake, 7-6 (6), 6-3, in the second round of the Swiss Indoors at Basel.

Roddick next plays home favorite Roger Federer, the No. 3-seeded player, who beat qualifier Alexander Waske of Germany, 6-3, 7-6 (1).

In another match, defending champion Tim Henman came back to defeat Nicolas Escude, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Unseeded Alexandra Stevenson beat sixth-seeded Anastasia Myskina, 6-3, 7-6 (5), to advance to the quarterfinals of the Generali Open at Linz, Austria.

In other matches, fourth-seeded Justine Henin defeated Russia’s Tatiana Panova, 6-2, 6-1, fifth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova beat Barbara Schett, 6-1, 7-5, and American Chanda Rubin beat Russia’s Nadia Petrova, 6-2, 6-4.

Third-seeded Amanda Coetzer lost to qualifier Virginie Razzano, 6-3, 6-0, in the second round of the Seat Open at Luxembourg. In other matches, American Laura Granville beat sixth-seeded Anne Kremer, 6-2, 7-6 (2), and seventh-seeded Elena Bovina beat American Amy Frazier, 7-6 (5) 7-5.

Roscoe Tanner is to face extradition to Florida to answer allegations of fraud. The Florida State Attorney’s Office announced that it would ask German authorities to take Tanner into custody to begin proceedings to bring him to Tampa, where he is alleged to have swindled a broker out of $36,000 over the purchase of a yacht.

Sailing

Racing was called off today in the America’s Cup challenger series in New Zealand after gale warnings were issued for Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf. Principal race officer Peter Reggio called off racing on the third day of the second challenger round when winds of 35 to 40 knots were forecast to sweep across the Auckland region.

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T.J. Simers’ column is on Page U2 in the World Series special section.