Parnevik’s best (61) good for four-shot lead in Texas

Jesper Parnevik shot a career-best nine-under-par 61 on Thursday to take a four-stroke lead after the first round of the Texas Open at San Antonio.

Parnevik’s 61 topped his previous PGA Tour best of 62, set last year in a second-place finish in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Major champions Justin Leonard -- the 2000 and 2001 Texas Open winner -- and Bob Tway were among 10 players at 65.

Mark Wiebe and four others shot three-under 67s to share the lead after the opening round of the Senior Players Championship at Baltimore

R.W. Eaks, Scott Hoch, Loren Roberts and Walter Hall also shot 67s. Five players, including Fred Funk, Nick Price and Dana Quigley, were at 68.

Chris Anderson of West Covina opened with a seven-under 64 to take a one-stroke advantage over Jon Mills, Brenden Pappas, Tim Wilkinson and Richard Johnson at the $525,000 Mark Christopher Charity Classic at Rancho Cucamonga.

Anderson made no bones about his desire to win the Nationwide Tour event at Empire Lakes Golf Course.

“A lot of guys like Jerry Kelly talk about the tournaments which are near their home being their majors,” Anderson said. “It would be really special to win this one. I’ve played here about 50 times.”

Pat Hurst shot a five-under 67 to tie Inbee Park for the first-round lead of the Longs Drugs Challenge at Danville, Calif.

Lorena Ochoa was among seven others two strokes back of the leaders at Blackhawk Country Club.

England’s Steve Webster shot a seven-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead in the Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews, Scotland.

TENNIS

Venus Williams reaches semifinals

Venus Williams advanced to the semifinals of the Japan Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over Alicia Molik at Tokyo.

Virginie Razzano defeated Camille Pin, 6-2, 6-2, and Flavia Pennetta defeated Sania Mirza, 6-4, 6-4.

In the men’s tournament, top-seeded David Ferrer defeated Vincent Spadea, 6-1, 7-6 (0).

Ana Ivanovic was upset by qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.

Stefan Koubek was disqualified from the Open de Moselle for directing an on-court tirade at an official during a match with Sebastien Grosjean in Metz, France.

Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka defeated qualifier Evgeniya Rodina, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan.

A women’s match drew suspicion for unusual betting patterns, and the WTA Tour was investigating -- two months after the men’s tour began a probe into gambling on a match.

Betfair, an online betting site, briefly delayed payment after 120th-ranked Mariya Koryttseva beat No. 96 Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus, 6-4, 6-2, on Sept. 21 in the quarterfinals of the Sunfeast Open in India.

JURISPRUDENCE

Driver in crash involving groom is sentenced

The drunk driver who caused a crash that severed the arm of a groom for Lava Man was sentenced to five years in state prison. Heriberto Castillo pleaded guilty in September to driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and causing great bodily injury to 39-year-old groom Noe Garcia.

Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a property damage accident, a misdemeanor, and failure to report an accident, which is punishable by a fine, and will be under court supervision for a year and must perform 120 hours in community service after crashing his Lamborghini alongside an expressway on Aug. 27.

MISCELLANY

Ueberroth says Chicago bid for Games is trailing

With two years before the vote to select the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games, Chicago is third or fourth on the list of favorites, U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth said.

Ahead of Chicago are Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro, Ueberroth said.

“It’s not a criticism, it’s a reality,” Ueberroth said after meeting with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. “There’s no criticism of Chicago 2016.”

Burton Smith, the owner of Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., threatened to shut down the track and open another one elsewhere after the city council derailed his plans to build a drag-racing strip.

USC and UCLA renew their women’s volleyball rivalry tonight at 7 at Pauley Pavilion.

U.S. national soccer team Coach Bob Bradley said that the team will play a friendly against Sweden on Jan. 19 at the Home Depot Center in Carson. The team will have training camp at the Home Depot Center with a roster consisting mainly of Major Soccer League players, Bradley said.

-- Jaime Cárdenas

Midfielder Ricardo Clark of the Houston Dynamo was suspended nine games by MLS for violently kicking Carlos Ruiz of FC Dallas on Sunday.