Kris Blanks has Canadian Open lead

American Kris Blanks shot a three-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round at the Canadian Open at Vancouver.

Matt McQuillan was the best of 17 Canadians with a two-under 68, putting the 30-year-old PGA Tour rookie in a tie with 11 players, including Ernie Els.

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Mark Calcavecchia defied the afternoon rain to shoot a bogey-free 68 and take a three-way share of the first-round lead at the Senior British Open at Walton on the Hill, England.

Bidding to become the fourth player to win both the British Open and the senior version, the 51-year-old American fired two birdies on each side of the turn before parring the final five holes.

Earlier, Ireland’s Mark McNulty and Australia’s Mike Harwood also shot four under in still, dry conditions on the parkland course at Walton Heath that hosted the 1981 Ryder Cup. South Africa’s David Frost and Scotland’s Albert MacKenzie were a shot behind, with defending champion Bernhard Langer of Germany one of seven players at two under.

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Swedish amateur Robert Karlsson shot a five-under 67 to share the first-round lead with countryman Alexander Noren and Jaco Van Zyl of South Africa at the Nordea Masters in Stockholm.

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Former British Open champion Karen Stupples of England shot a five-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead with Sweden’s Maria Hjorth and South Korea’s Ahn Shin-ae at the Evian Masters in Evian-Les-Bains, France.

Cristie Kerr, the 2007 U.S. Open champion, had six birdies and two bogeys for a 68, tied with 2009 champion Ai Miyazato of Japan.

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Chelso Barrett defeated defending champion Jim Liu in the second round of match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championships at Bremerton, Wash.

U.S. Open qualifier Beau Hossler of Mission Viejo also advanced to the third round, beating Austin Smotherman of Loomis, Calif., 1 up. Jordan Spieth of Dallas, the 2009 winner, advanced with a 2-and-1 victory over Wesley Gosselin of Knoxville, Tenn.

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Lisa McCloskey, a USC senior, birdied three straight holes down the stretch in her afternoon match to defeat Madison Pressel, younger sister of LPGA star Morgan Pressel, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Women’s North and South Amateur Championship at Pinehurst, N.C.

Danielle Kang, the nation’s second-ranked amateur, appears to be on a collision course in the upper bracket with McCloskey.

Kang, the 2010 U.S. Amateur champion from Thousand Oaks, went up early in both of her matches, recording four birdies in her opening seven holes in her afternoon match en route to a 4 and 3 win over Maribel Lopez Porras of Bogota, Colombia.

With one more victory, McCloskey and Kang would meet in one semifinal match Friday.

ETC.

Mardy Fish opens with win in Atlanta

Top-seeded Mardy Fish opened up defense of his title in the Atlanta Tennis Championships with a 6-3, 6-3 third-round victory over Nicolas Mahut of France.

Top-seeded Gael Monfils of France defeated Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals of the German Open at Hamburg.

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The Detroit Pistons will offer Lawrence Frank their coaching position within two days, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Frank finished 225-241 in 61/2 seasons as coach of the New Jersey Nets. He was fired by New Jersey in November 2009 after the team started that season 0-16. He was an assistant for the Boston Celtics last season.

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Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Marion Jones has been cut by the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock, casting doubt over her basketball future.

The Shock announced they had waived Jones to make room for Abi Olajuwon, the daughter of former NBA All-Star Hakeem Olajuwon.

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Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was arrested on drunk-driving charges Wednesday night by San Diego police and posted bond overnight. He rode Mr. Commons to victory in the opening-day Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar.

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Lauren Wenger of Long Beach and Annika Dries of Laguna Beach each scored three goals as the United States’ women’s water polo team qualified for the quarterfinals with a 14-4 victory over Kazakhstan in the FINA world championships in Shanghai. The U.S. will play either Russia or Cuba in the quarterfinals.