Green shoots 8-under for 2-stroke lead at Texas Open

SAN ANTONIO — Australia's Nathan Green shot an 8-under 62 to take a two-stroke lead over Olin Browne and Paul Claxton after the Thursday's opening round of the Texas Open golf tournament.

Green, winless in three seasons on the PGA Tour, birdied nine of the first 16 holes before dropping a stroke on the par-3 17th and closing with a par.

Claxton and Browne, a three-time tour winner, had bogey-free 64s in sunny and warm conditions at La Cantera Golf Club.

Tim Herron, Greg Kraft, Patrick Sheehan, Jason Gore, Nick O'Hern and Chad Collins opened with 65s, and Paul Goydos and Bob Tway topped a group at 66.

Defending champion Justin Leonard, the former University of Texas star seeking a record fourth victory in the event, shot a 70.

LPGA LONGS DRUGS: At Danville, Calif., Michele Redman and Sweden's Maria Hjorth shot 6-under 66s on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour's Longs Drugs Challenge.

Redman and Hjorth both had seven birdies and a bogey on a sunny day at Blackhawk Country Club. In-Kyung Kim and Mikaela Parmlid were tied for second at 67.

Norway's Suzann Pettersen, a playoff winner over top-ranked Lorena Ochoa last year at Blackhawk, was two strokes back at 68 along with LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng, Sarah Lee, Sarah Kemp, Meaghan Francella, Reilley Rankin and Wendy Ward.

SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP: At Timonium, Md., Phil Blackmar, Bruce Fleisher and Des Smyth shot 5-under 65s to share the first-round lead in the Senior Players Championship, the fifth Champions Tour major of the year.

Blackmar holed out from the fairway for eagle to help offset four bogeys, Fleisher made four straight birdies early in his round, and Smyth had a bogey-free day to top the leaderboard.

Fred Funk, Scott Hoch, Bernhard Langer and Eduardo Romero opened with 66s, and 19 players were within three strokes of the lead after an ideal day for scoring at the East Course at Baltimore Country Club.