Stupples Is First With a 65

Annika Sorenstam’s strong start at the Women’s British Open was not quite as good as Karen Stupples’ opening round.

Stupples made seven birdies in a bogey-free, seven-under-par 65 Thursday at Sunningdale, England. She is three shots ahead of defending champion Sorenstam, who was in a group of five players at four-under 68.

Jung Yeon Lee is alone in second place after a 67. Natalie Gulbis, Catriona Matthew, Minea Blomqvist and Bettina Hauert are tied with Sorenstam.

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Peter Jacobsen, still recovering from arthroscopic hip surgery, shot a six-under 65 to take the first-round lead at the U.S. Senior Open in St. Louis.

Craig Stadler had a bogey-free round and was second at five-under 66. Jay Haas birdied the final two holes to cap a 67.

Jacobsen, at 50 a Champions Tour rookie, had to withdraw from his last two events because of continuing pain from the surgery in April.

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Vijay Singh shot a nine-under 63 to take the first-round lead at the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Mich. He is one shot ahead of Olin Browne and two in front of Mike Grob. Jim Furyk shot a 66, and is tied for fourth with four others.

Tiger Woods got off to a slow start with only one birdie through eight holes before closing with four birdies in an eight-hole stretch to finish with a 67.

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Rory Hie of Lakewood shot a two-over 74 in the third round of the HP Boys Junior Championship at Orlando, Fla., and is in fourth place at one-over 217, three strokes behind leader Samuel Saunders of Windemere, Fla.

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Amanda Blumenherst of Scottsdale, Ariz., shot a one-under 70 to win the McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Girls Championship at Malvern, Pa., to finish at one-over 214. Julieta Granada of Paraguay was second at 215. The top Southland finisher was Angela Park of Torrance at 222 (eighth).

Tennis

Andre Agassi was upset by Jurgen Melzer, 6-3, 6-3, in the second round of the Tennis Masters Canada tournament at Toronto. Melzer, ranked No. 61, dominated the 10th-seeded Agassi from the start. He had 10 service aces to Agassi’s three.

Top-ranked Roger Federer reached the quarterfinals by winning twice in the rain-delayed tournament. He beat Robin Soderling, 7-5, 6-1, in his second-round match, and defeated Max Mirnyi, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4). Mirnyi earlier defeated No. 14 Paradorn Srichaphan, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Second-seeded Andy Roddick defeated Feliciano Lopez, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Soccer

The U.S. women’s under-21 team won its sixth consecutive Nordic Cup with a 3-0 victory over Sweden in the championship game at Akureyri, Iceland. Lori Chalupny, Kelly Wilson and Carli Lloyd scored the goals.... Former Dutch star Marco van Basten was named to coach the Netherlands national team. Van Basten, a three-time European player of the year, succeeds Dick Advocaat, who stepped down after leading the team to the semifinals of European Championship.

Miscellany

Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden reinstated offensive lineman Bobby Meeks after a county court dropped felony charges stemming from a scuffle outside a nightclub this month in Tallahassee, Fla.

The Dallas Mavericks signed Pavel Podkolzin, a 7-foot-5 center acquired from the Utah Jazz after being selected 21st in the NBA draft.

Shaun Ward, Bobby Martinez, Tim Reyes and Pat O’Connell won their heats and advanced to today’s round of 64 at the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach. Former world champion Sunny Garcia entered the event as an alternate and also advanced.