3 Share Lead at Senior Major in Maryland

Phil Blackmar, Bruce Fleisher and Des Smyth shot 5-under-par 65s yesterday in Timonium, Md., to share the first-round lead in the Senior Players Championship, the fifth and final 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 leader board. All three are winless this year.

"I really didn't anticipate this at all," Fleisher said.

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. . . .

Australia's Nathan Green shot an 8-under 62 to take a two-stroke lead over Olin Browne and Paul Claxton in the Texas Open in San Antonio. Green, winless in three seasons on the PGA Tour, birdied nine of his first 16 holes. . . . Nearly five months pregnant, Sweden's Maria Hjorth shot a 6-under 66 for a share of the first-round lead with Michele Redman in the LPGA Tour's Longs Drugs Challenge in Danville, Calif.

· AUTO RACING: Steady drizzle in Concord, N.C., canceled afternoon practice, and NASCAR called off qualifying for tomorrow night's Bank of America 500. Sprint Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson will start on the pole, with Carl Edwards, 72 points behind, alongside on the front row. . . .

Witnesses said Edwards and Kevin Harvick were in a heated argument yesterday in the Nationwide Series garage at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Edwards apparently walked into Harvick's garage stall and the two engaged in a shoving match.

Edwards triggered a late crash Sunday at Talladega when he tried to push teammate Greg Biffle as the three Roush Fenway Racing cars raced for the lead. Several championship contenders were caught in the melee, including Harvick, who had harsh words for Edwards and his strategy after the accident.

· BASEBALL: New York Mets pitcher Ambiorix Burgos will be jailed for three months while awaiting trial for a hit-and-run accident that killed two women in the Dominican Republic. The 24-year-old reliever told the Associated Press that a Dominican judge ordered him to remain behind bars out of concerns for his safety.

· SOCCER: In Sandy, Utah, defender Jamison Olave scored the tying goal off a corner kick by Javier Morales late in the first half and Real Salt Lake opened its new stadium with a 1-1 MLS tie against the New York Red Bulls.

· PRO BASKETBALL: Portland Trail Blazers forward Martell Webster had surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot. He will likely miss eight to 10 weeks.

-- From News Services