Verplank Adjusts and Leads After a 63

Scott Verplank, never known for distance off the tee, had no problem with the newly lengthened course at the FBR Open.

Verplank solved the TPC of Scottsdale with an eight-under-par 63 Thursday and leads the tournament formerly known as the Phoenix Open by one stroke over Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson, four days removed from his victory in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, had six of his eight birdies after the turn and shot a 64.

Verplank breezed through an eight-birdie round on a course many thought favored longer hitters.

Jonathan Kaye shot 65, with Steve Flesch, Scott McCarron, Rod Pampling, Brenden Pappas, Chris Riley and Jeff Sluman at 66.

PGA Tour officials, concerned by Mark Calcavecchia’s 28-under 256 -- a record for a par-71 course -- in 2001 and Vijay Singh’s 23-under last year, ordered the course toughened.

Seven holes were changed, and the course was lengthened by 127 yards to 7,216 without changing par.

Twenty-five players, including Mike Weir at six under after 17 holes, were unable to finish because of a 20-minute frost delay at the start.

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Thomas Bjorn shot an eight-under 64, giving him a one-stroke lead over Nick Faldo after the first round of the European PGA Tour’s Johnnie Walker Classic in Bangkok.

Ian Poulter, Scott Gardiner and Jarrod Moseley are two strokes behind at 66. Ben Curtis is four shots behind at 68. Defending champion Ernie Els and Shaun Micheel each shot 70.

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Colin Montgomerie, who shot a 73 in the Johnnie Walker Classic, said women competing in men’s golf tournaments is good for the sport.

“No objection to lady pros, girls, females, playing in tournaments,” he said. “If they were to make the cut it would be good, not just for the tournament but for the individual and the ladies’ tour in general.”

Baseball

Pitcher Jose Mesa agreed to a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The right-handed Mesa, eighth among active pitchers with 249 saves, probably will compete with another nonroster right-hander, Juan Acevedo, to become the Pirates’ closer.

Outfielder Shane Spencer agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Mets. He batted .271 with eight homers and 26 RBIs in 210 at-bats with Cleveland last season, then was traded to Texas on July 18 and batted .227 with four homers and 23 RBIs in 185 at-bats.

College Sports

The seventh-ranked UCLA men’s tennis team plays host to No. 21 USC today in a Pacific 10 match at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at 1:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the sixth-ranked Trojan women’s team will play host to the No. 11 Bruin women at Marks Tennis Stadium at 1:30 p.m.

Miscellany

Texas Christian is set to join the Mountain West Conference, pending approval by the school’s board of trustees today in Fort Worth.

Mountain West officials confirmed that an invitation had been extended to TCU to become the conference’s ninth member. The affiliation would begin during the 2005-06 academic year.

Former Texas Tech basketball player Jerome “Lenny” Holly has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man outside a nightclub in Alamogordo, N.M., last year.

Holly, 29, who was arrested at an apartment complex near Atlanta, is being held without bail and has waived extradition to New Mexico. He was the Southwest Conference freshman of the year while at Texas Tech.

Passings

Russell “Sox” Walseth, the winningest men’s basketball coach at the University of Colorado, died Wednesday of cancer at his home in Boulder. He was 77.

Walseth took over the program in 1956 and had a 261-245 record. He also coached the women’s team from 1980 to 1983, compiling a 77-21 record.