Golf | Champions major has 7-player tie for lead

SUNRIVER, Ore. — Defending champion Mark McNulty shot a 5-under-par 67 Thursday for a share of the first-round lead in the Jeld-Wen Tradition, the fourth of the 50-and-older Champions Tour's five major tournaments.

Craig Stadler, Gene Jones, Mark Wiebe, Tim Simpson, Jay Haas and David Eger joined McNulty at the top of the leaderboard.

The seven-man logjam matched the 1989 GTE North Classic for the biggest tie after 18 holes in Champions Tour history.

Taking advantage of calm and clear conditions to attack the fairways and pins, another seven players were at 68 on the Crosswater Course — the Champions Tour's longest at 7,533 yards.

The 54-year-old McNulty, who is from Zimbabwe, has three top-five finishes this year and hasn't missed a cut. He blistered the course with a 16-under 272 last year.

Tournament host Peter Jacobsen withdrew from the field before teeing off because of a hip injury. The native Oregonian also has battled knee and back injuries and has withdrawn from the tournament in each of his last three years.

Former Ryder Cup player Des Smyth found out his 24-year-old son Gregory won the Irish National Lottery, worth about $14 million. Smyth shot a 71.

Heintz, Laird lead PGA Tour event

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Bob Heintz and rookie Martin Laird matched the course record with 7-under 63s at Sedgefield Country Club to share the lead in the Wyndham Championship, the PGA Tour's last event before the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Garrett Willis birdied his final five holes to join Scott Sterling, Tim Clark and Carl Pettersson at 64.

The group at 68 included Jeff Gove of Seattle, Ryan Moore of Puyallup and Pullman High School graduate Kirk Triplett.

Ochoa has fast start in Canada

OTTAWA — Defending champion Lorena Ochoa of Mexico shot a bogey-free, 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Annika Sorenstam in the Canadian Women's Open, leaving Michelle Wie of Honolulu nine strokes back in her final LPGA Tour event of the year.

Wie, using the last of her six 2008 sponsor exemptions, bogeyed three of her last six holes for a 75.

Wendy Ward, who lives near Edwall, outside Spokane, was tied for 19th place at 71. Louise Friberg, a former Washington Husky, and Jimin Kang, a graduate of King's High School in Shoreline, were tied for 73rd at 74.

Note

• England's Nick Dougherty holed a 142-yard wedge shot for an eagle on his way to a 4-under 66 and a share of the SAS Masters lead with Sweden's Peter Hanson and Spain's Pedro Linhart in Stockholm, Sweden.