Texas Open is marked by Kevin Na’s historic meltdown

J.J. Henry and former British Open champion Stewart Cink are atop the Texas Open leaderboard at TPC San Antonio after shooting five-under 67s, but the spotlight belonged to Kevin Na during a historic meltdown on No. 9.

Na set a PGA Tour low Thursday with a 16 on the par-four ninth, chopping his way through a nightmarish hole during an otherwise solid first round. The South Korean-born American was a combined four under on the other 17 holes to finish at eight-over 80.

Adam Scott, the defending champion, was a stroke back in his first round since his runner-up finish at the Masters. Scott shot a 68 and was tied with Charley Hoffman, Jhonattan Vegas, Vaughn Taylor and Kevin Chappell.

Alexander Noren shot an eight-under 64 Thursday to take a two-stroke lead in the weather-affected first round of the Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur. Masters champion Charl Schwartzel (73) struggled with his game after arriving in the country only a day earlier and Rory McIlroy (69) was five shots behind Noren in a tie for ninth.

NFL and players resume mediation

The NFL and its locked-out players started talking again, and they talked all day.

The only sign of progress or productivity, though, was the nine hours or so both sides spent in the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. Sworn to secrecy about specifics of the court-ordered mediation, neither the league nor the players provided much insight about where they’re at in their dispute over the division of this $9 billion business.

They’ll meet again on Friday.

Commissioner Roger Goodell, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft were among those on hand for the closed-door session with U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan.

Players association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith was joined by attorneys, linebackers Ben Leber and Mike Vrabel, as well as Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller.

Nadal, Federer advance at Monte Carlo

Six-time defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain and Swiss star Roger Federer coasted into the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters with straight-set victories.

Nadal, beat Richard Gasquet of France, 6-2, 6-4, to chalk up his 34th straight win at the clay-court tournament. Federer earned a 6-4, 6-3 victory over 15th-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Third-seeded Andy Murray and fourth-seeded David Ferrer also had easy wins.

Galaxy’s Beckham, Juninho get suspensions

David Beckham’s latest yellow card has resulted in an automatic one-game suspension for the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder.

Beckham received the booking for a reckless tackle during the first half of Wednesday’s scoreless draw against Toronto FC. It was his league-high fifth yellow card through six games.

Beckham must sit out Sunday’s match against the Chicago Fire. Galaxy forward Juninho will also miss the game after earning a pair of yellow cards on Wednesday.

Maya Moore signs with Lynx

The Minnesota Lynx signed Maya Moore, the first pick in this year’s WNBA draft. Terms were not disclosed.

Kawhi Leonard chooses NBA, Klay Thompson may go too

San Diego State says sophomore forward Kawhi Leonard plans to hire an agent and enter the NBA draft…. Washington State’s Klay Thompson is leaning toward entering the NBA draft, said his father, former No.1 draft pick Mychal Thompson. His father said Klay Thompson won’t hire an agent right away so he could still come back to school for his senior year.

UCLA in women’s gymnastics championships

UCLA is seeded second for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships, which begin Thursday and run through Saturday at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland.

The championships begin with two six-team semifinal team sessions. The top three teams from each semifinal advance to Saturday’s team finals. The all-around champion and individual event finalists will also be determined during Friday’s semifinals. The individual event finals are on Sunday.

UCLA is grouped with Arkansas, Illinois, Georgia, Michigan and Oklahoma in the team semifinals. Top-seeded Alabama heads the other group of six.

UCLA won its sixth NCAA women’s gymnastics title last year and earned a chance to defend its title by winning the Athens Regional on April 2. At Athens, UCLA freshman Olivia Courtney won the all-around with a career-high score of 39.5 to edge teammate Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, a junior who was second at 39.475.

Riley to stay as Warriors GM

New Golden State Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber gave Larry Riley a multiyear contract to stay in his current position as the team’s general manager and executive vice president of basketball operations.

Deron Williams wants to stay with Nets

While he cannot comment on any new contract extension due to the pending end of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement in July, Deron Williams would like to remain with the New Jersey Nets.

Williams, who had wrist surgery Monday after playing just 12 games with the Nets, said that he feels comfortable with the Nets and would like to be part of the organization in the long run.

Times sportswriters honored

Times staff writer Lance Pugmire won two first-place awards in the 10th annual Boxing Writers Assn. of America contest. Pugmire was cited for his coverage of Shane Mosley’s victory over Sergio Mora and for his story detailing the attempt by Antonio Margarito and trainer Robert Garcia to explain their mocking gestures toward Manny Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who has Parkinson’s disease.

The Times’ Bill Dwyre and Kevin Baxter shared third place in the feature under 1,750 words category. Dwyre also won honorable mention in the feature over 1,750 words category.