Briefs | Golf: Furyk shoots 68 to lead Tiger's tournament

Golf

Furyk shakes off rust, fires 68: In what amounts to a one-week break from his four-month vacation, Jim Furyk surprised himself Thursday with a 4-under-par 68 that gave him a two-shot lead after the first round of the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Furyk has not played a competitive round since winning the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda on Oct. 15. After this week, he won't play again until beginning his 2009 season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Furyk was the only one of the 16 players to break 70 in the opening round, and stranger still was that he failed to birdie any of the five par 5s. But he was the only player to birdie the tough 18th, giving him a two-shot lead over Boo Weekley and K.J. Choi.

In what could be his final appearance at Sherwood Country Club, Seattle native Fred Couples opened with a 73.

Tiger Woods was reduced to his role as tournament host. On Wednesday he confirmed that longtime caddie Steve Williams will continue to carry his bag despite his recent controversial comments about Phil Mickelson.

Zanotti leads South African Open: Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti shot an 8-under 64 in the first round of the South African Open in Paarl and is one stroke ahead of Sweden's Oskar Henningson.

Nicklaus, Sorenstam to lead Olympics charge: Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam will advocate for the inclusion of golf to the Olympics. The two golfing icons will serve as global ambassadors for the Olympic movement, the International Golf Federation said.

NHL

Sundin lands with Canucks: The Vancouver Canucks signed free-agent center Mats Sundin, 37. He has 555 goals and 766 assists in 17 seasons with the Quebec Nordiques and Toronto Maple Leafs. Sundin signed a one-year contract for $10 million, prorated over the remainder of this season, as the Canucks outbid the New York Rangers.

Anaheim's Giguere leaves Ducks after father dies: Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere has left the Anaheim Ducks to return home to Montreal after his father's death.

Blues lose captain: St. Louis Blues defenseman Eric Brewer, the team's captain, will undergo surgery for a herniated disk in his back and will be sidelined indefinitely.

Volleyball

Penn State, Stanford prevail: Nicole Fawcett had 24 kills, Megan Hodge added 23 and top-seeded and unbeaten Penn State beat Nebraska 25-17, 25-18, 15-25, 22-25, 15-11 in Omaha to set up a rematch with Stanford in the NCAA women's volleyball title match.

Second-seeded Stanford advanced with a 20-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 victory over No. 3 Texas. The Cardinal became the first team in the history of the volleyball final four to win after losing the first two sets.

Penn State (37-0) came in having won every set it had played this season, and the Lions won the first two against Nebraska to run their NCAA record to 111 in a row before they lost the third and fourth.

Nebraska (31-3) led 10-8 in the fifth set, but Fawcett pounded a kill to start a 7-1 Penn State run to end the match.

The Cardinal (31-3), the runner-up the past two years, will try to avoid becoming the first team to lose in three straight finals. Alix Klineman had 20 kills and Cynthia Barboza added 19 for Stanford.

Soccer

Two-time winner Sevilla crashes out of UEFA Cup: Sevilla's bid for a third UEFA Cup title in four years was ended by Sampdoria, which progressed to the knockout stage alongside Stuttgart, Tottenham, NEC Nijmegen, Paris Saint-Germain and Olympiakos.

Man U reaches final: Wayne Rooney came off the bench and scored twice to lead Manchester United over Japan's Gamba Osaka 5-3 in the Club World Cup in Yokohama. The European champions will play South American champions Liga de Quito in the final.

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