Els, Furyk share Mercedes lead
KAPALUA, Hawaii, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Ernie Els and Jim Furyk combined to record three eagles and 14 birdies Thursday share the first-round lead at the Mercedes Championship.
Thursday's round marked the start of the 2003 PGA Tour season.
Els and Furyk both shot 64 over the par-73 Plantation Course at the Kapalua Bay Resort to claim a one-shot lead over Jerry Kelly, Gene Sauers and Chris Riley.
The 36-man field in the season-opening event is made up of winners from the 2002 season. Missing, however, are the top two ranked players in the world -- Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Woods is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery and Mickelson chose to skip the event.
Half of the players in the field are making their initial appearance in the tournament, having been part of a record surge of first-time winners last year.
Els suffered a double bogey on the eighth hole, but made two eagles and left a 20-foot putt for his third eagle of the day just short at the 18th hole. Furyk, who owns a home overlooking the 18th green, had an eagle and seven birdies.
The field overwhelmed the Plantation Course on an unusually calm day on the island of Maui.
Tied for sixth at 7-under 66 were Shigeki Maruyama and Bob Estes while K.J. Choi shot 67. Those at 68 included Loren Roberts, Vijay Singh, Phil Tataurangi, Jonathan Byrd and Luke Donald. Defending champion Sergio Garcia had to settle for a 2-under 71.
Kings blast Nets
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Peja Stojakovic scored 24 points and Mike Bibby added 23 Thursday night to carry Sacramento past New Jersey, 118-82.
The Nets had a 10-game winning streak snapped.
Entering the contest tied for the NBA's second-best record at 26-9, the Kings throughly embarrassed the Nets, who were trying to match the longest winning streak in club history.
Sacramento, which came within a win of playing the Nets in the NBA Finals last season, had some extra motivation after suffering a 117-83 loss here in February.
Stojakovic, Bibby and the rest of the Kings got their retribution, leading by as many 30 points in the first half and by 42 after intermission.
Stojakovic led the way with 21 points in the first half, while Bibby -- who outplayed Jason Kidd -- and Chris Webber each added 15. Sacramento shot a blistering 60 percent in the opening 24 minutes.
Jason Collins and Lucious Harris each had 11 points for New Jersey, which had a team-record 13-game home winning streak snapped and fell to 18-2 at Continental Airlines Arena. The Nets' other home loss came against league-leading Dallas.
Canadiens snap winless streak
MONTREAL, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Marcel Hossa scored a power-play goal 6:23 into the third period Thursday night as Montreal edged the New York Rangers, 3-2.
It was Montreal's first win in eight games.
The brother of Ottawa Senators star Marian Hossa, Marcel Hossa hit the near goalpost from the bottom of the left faceoff circle but followed his own shot and popped the puck over the back of goaltender Dan Blackburn.
Jose Theodore made 27 saves for the Canadiens, who returned from an 0-4-1-2 road trip and had two days' rest before beating New York for the third time in as many meetings this season.
Playing for the second straight night, the Rangers lost for the 11th time in 17 games (4-10-2-1).
Blackburn stopped 30 shots and put on a show in his hometown but dropped to 7-11-3. With the acquisition of Mike Dunham from Nashville, the 19-year-old had not started a game since Dec. 14.
Other NHL results: Philadelphia 4, New York Islanders 0; Atlanta 3, Tampa Bay 2 in overtime; Montreal 3, New York Rangers 2; Toronto 4, Pittsburgh 2; Dallas 4, Chicago 3 in overtime; Ottawa 1, Calgary 0; Anaheim 5, Colorado 3.
Serena to open Australian against Loit
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- No. 1 seed Serena Williams learned Friday she will play Emilie Loit in the first round of the Australian Open.
The draws for the first Grand Slam event of the season were released Friday. Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, the men's top seed, will face an undetermined qualifier.
Williams is trying to win her fourth consecutive Grand Slam title, having captured the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in succession last season. She also has set a goal of going through the season undefeated.
The best player in Williams' quarter of the draw is three-time Australian Open champion Monica Seles of the United States, the sixth seed. Serena's older sister, Venus, is seeded second and opens with Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
The men's field is more wide open, with a handful of dangerous players lurking for the top seeds.
Hewitt could meet three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in the third round. Kuerten, the 30th seed who never has gotten past the second round at Melbourne, faces Hicham Arazi of Morocco in the first round.
Second seed Andre Agassi of the United States is back after a wrist injury forced him to withdraw last year. He is trying to become the first four-time Australian Open champion since Roy Emerson won each year from 1963-67.
Michigan State wins Big Ten opener
EAST LANSING, Mich., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- No. 20 Michigan State used outstanding foul shooting to a 66-55 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten opener for both schools Thursday night.
Alan Anderson paced the Spartans with 18 points and freshman Maurice Ager added 15 for the Spartains.
Michigan State (9-4) has won six straight Big Ten games and 11 of its last 14. The Spartans avoided a third straight loss by converting 29 of 30 foul shots, including their first 26.
A three-pointer by Chris Hill triggered a 12-4 run that gave Michigan State a 41-33 lead with just under 13 minutes remaining. Ager scored the final five points of the spurt. Ohio State (7-5) pulled within 47-43 on two free throws by Shun Jenkins with 8:46 left and had a chance to get closer. But Emonte Jernigan missed a layup attempt and the Spartans ran off eight straight points to seal the victory.
Senators file for bankruptcy protection
OTTAWA, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The cash-strapped Ottawa Senators filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday in both the United States and Canada.
The announcement came just over a week after FleetBoston Financial Corporation and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce backed out of a complex $234 million deal that would have erased much of the Senators' considerable tax debt.
The plan included $42 million to cover operating expenses, including players' salaries. The team missed a payroll payment last week with players receiving a note from owner Rod Bryden saying they would be paid in the "next couple of days."
The Senators owe $160 million to creditors and $210 million to the Corel Centre, where the team plays its home games. Part of the court-ordered protection includes marketing the team for sale. The target date for the sale of the club is early May.
Bryden will have the opportunity to bid on the club and creditors have until Jan. 24 to accept any offers.
The NHL issued a statement vowing, "to work with the club and the interested parties to finalize the club's financing arrangements."
The league already has ownership issues in Buffalo. The Sabres could be facing bankruptcy if prospective owner Mark Hamister cannot complete his purchase by Friday.
Patrick Rafter retires
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Two-time U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter announced his retirement Thursday.
Rafter's career was scuttled by injuries to his right elbow and shoulder and an announcement had been expected after the arm injuries forced the 30-year-old Australian to miss all of last season.
"I know it's been a while coming, but I am announcing my official retirement from professional tennis," Rafter said in a letter to media outlets. "As you can probably understand, it has been a very difficult decision for me to make, which is why it took me some time to be sure I was making the right decision."
Rafter was injured late in the 2001 season and played just one tournament after losing in the fourth round of the U.S. Open that year.
In 1998, Rafter became the first Australian to defend his U.S. Open title since Neale Fraser in 1959-60. Those were among 11 ATP Tour titles in a 12-year career during which he won more than $11 million.
Carter leads East voting
NEW YORK, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Toronto swingman Vince Carter, who has missed 25 games due to injury, continues to lead the Eastern Conference in All-Star balloting.
Carter has been sidelined most of the season with a left knee strain, but he leads all Eastern Conference forwards with 1,023,750 votes. He is second overall in balloting behind Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant.
Bryant, who set NBA records for three-pointers (12) and consecutive three-pointers (nine) Tuesday against the Seattle SuperSonics, has garnered 1,148,754 votes from fans.
Rookie Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets is second overall in the Western Conference with 1,015,018 votes, leading all NBA centers. Lakers superstar Shaquille O'Neal is second in the West with only 784,920.
Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs leads all Western Conference forwards with 906,446 votes. Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves is second with 854,811, just over 40,000 more than Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks.
Steve Francis of the Rockets is second among guards in the West, well behind Bryant with 778,518 votes. But he is in good position to start alongside Bryant, leading Dallas' Steve Nash by some 200,000 votes.
Tracy McGrady of the Orlando Magic, Carter's former teammate in Toronto, leads all Eastern Conference guards and is second overall in the conference with 1,016,123 votes. Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers is second among guards with 902,754.
While McGrady and Iverson appear to be in good position to earn starting nods, Michael Jordan of the Washington Wizards is third with 795,481 votes.
Ben Wallace is tops among Eastern Conference centers with 854,714 votes, nearly double the total of second-place Dikembe Mutombo of the New Jersey Nets.
Jeff Faine to turn pro
SOUTH BEND, Ind., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Jeff Faine, one of the best interior offensive linemen in college football, will skip his senior season at Notre Dame.
The 6-3, 298-pound center was a Rimington Award finalist and Lombardi Award semifinalist. The three-year starter admitted he made the decision after being told by the NFL Draft advisory board that he likely would be a second-round selection.
A second-team All-American, Faine has started in every one of his 35 games at Notre Dame and keyed a revitalized Fighting Irish running attack under first-year coach Tyrone Willingham.
