Appleby Drives Way to Lead

Stuart Appleby, looking for his first victory since January, unleashed big drive after big drive Friday during his sixth consecutive round in the 60s at the 84 Lumber Classic to open a one-shot lead at Farmington, Pa., over an equally long hitter, Chris Smith, and a very accurate Cameron Beckman.

Appleby’s six-under-par 66 on the long but not especially trouble-filled 7,416-yard Mystic Rock course put him at 11-under 133. Beckman’s 65 and Smith’s 66 put them at 134, two shots better than Craig Barlow (66), Joey Sindelar (68) and Carl Pettersson (70).

Defending champion Vijay Singh (68) is seven shots behind.

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Top-seeded Retief Goosen tied his World Match Play record with a 12-and-11 victory over Mark Hensby and will play U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell for a place in the final at Virginia Water, England.

Campbell drew even with Steve Elkington at the 35th hole, winning at the 37th with a par to reach today’s semifinals.

In the other semifinal, Paul McGinley will play Angel Cabrera. McGinley beat Luke Donald, 9 and 8, and Cabrera defeated Jose Maria Olazabal, 4 and 3.

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Maria Hjorth shot a course-record, seven-under 64 to take a three-stroke lead after the opening round of the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic, an LPGA event at Broken Arrow, Okla.

Hjorth had an eagle and seven birdies at Cedar Ridge Country Club to beat the course record of 65, set in the first round last year by Christina Kim and matched in the third round by Dorothy Delasin.

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Bob Gilder tied the tournament and course record with an eight-under 64 for a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the Champions Tour’s Constellation Energy Classic at Hunt Valley, Md. Gilder needed only eight putts on the front nine at Hayfields Country Club for his lowest round since 2003.

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Matthew Goggin shot an eight-under 63 to tie for the lead with Tom Scherrer in the Nationwide Tour’s Mark Christopher Charity Classic at Rancho Cucamonga. First-round leader Camilo Villegas fell into a tie for third after shooting a 72 at Empire Lakes Golf Course.