Couples, Dufner share Masters lead
AUGUSTA, Ga., April 6 (UPI) -- Fred Couples stunningly moved into a share of the lead Friday in a bid to win his second Masters crown, 20 years after he captured his first.
At age 52, and for the third year in a row, Couples put himself into title contention going into the weekend and gave himself a chance to become the oldest major championship winner in golf history.
He shot the day's low round in cool, breezy weather -- a 5-under 67 that began with a bogey and ended with a dramatic par save after his tee shot at the par-4 18th hit a tree.
Couples was tied for the lead at 5-under 139 with Jason Dufner, who last summer had the PGA Championship in his grasp before falling in a playoff to Keegan Bradley.
"It's very shocking and it was a great day," Couples said. "I've said it for 28 years, this is my favorite golf tournament in the world. This was an incredible round, a very, very good round."
Couples' climb to the top highlighted a day in which three-time champ Phil Mickelson jumped back into contention and four-time Masters winner Tiger Woods did not. Mickelson's 68 left him at 142 and made him one of 18 players within three shots of the lead heading into the third round.
Woods did not come close to resembling the player who won two weeks ago in Florida to end a tour drought that was in its third year. He wound up with a 75, within a shot of his worst score at the Augusta National Golf Club as a professional, and was in a tie for 45th place at 147.
Couples and Dufner found themselves one stroke in front of a group of seasoned international stars -- Sergio Garcia, former British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen, long-hitting Bubba Watson and the players currently ranked second and third in the world, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood.
Paul Lawrie, Matt Kuchar and Miguel-Angel Jimenez were all at 141 and Mickelson was joined at 142 by, among others, Vijay Singh, Charles Howell, Aaron Baddeley and Nick Watney.
The cut came at 10-under 149 and 62 out of the original field of 96 survived. Defending champion Charl Schwartzel made it at 147 and world No. 1 Luke Donald survived at 148.
The late Julius Boros was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship in a duel over Arnold Palmer, and although there have been many close calls since then, no one older has claimed one of the major titles. Tom Watson, at age 59, lost in a playoff at the British Open to Stewart Cink three years ago.
Couples was a shot out of the lead at the 36-hole mark of this event last year before shooting 72-73 on the weekend and finishing in a tie for 15th.
Rays outslug Yankees to open season
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 6 (UPI) -- Ben Zobrist drove in the tying run and then scored the game winner in the ninth inning Friday in the Tampa Bay Rays' 7-6 win over the New York Yankees.
With New York ahead 5-4, Tampa Bay's Desmond Jennings led off the bottom of the ninth with a single off of New York closer Mariano Rivera (0-1) and Zobrist followed with a triple to drive in Jennings with the tying run. Rivera issued intentional walks to Evan Longoria and Luke Scott to load the bases and then struck out Sean Rodriguez for the first out.
Carlos Pena then singled to left center, driving in Zobrist with the winning run.
It was Pena's second big hit of the Rays' season opener -- he had staked his team to a 4-0 lead with a first-inning grand slam. Longoria hit a solo shot in the third.
Fernando Rodney (1-0) got the win in one inning of relief for Tampa Bay.
Raul Ibanez hit a three-run home run and Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with one run scored for the Yankees.
Texas, meanwhile, opened a bid for its third straight AL title by edging the Chicago White Sox 3-2 and Baltimore held off Minnesota 4-2.
France, U.S. in 1-1 Davis Cup tie
ROQUEBRUNE-CAP-MARTIN, France, April 6 (UPI) -- John Isner used a straight-set victory Friday to pull the United States even with France after the first day of Davis Cup quarterfinal series.
Isner posted a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win over Gilles Simon after France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga opened the best-of-five series with a 7-5, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Ryan Harrison.
Isner and Tsonga are scheduled to square off in the first singles match Sunday, which will be the first opportunity for one team to secure a berth in the Davis Cup semifinals.
The United States will send out twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan -- the No. 1 doubles team in the world -- against Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra for Saturday's double match.
Simon and Harrison are paired against each other for Sunday's second singles match -- the fifth of the series.
The U.S.-French winner would go against either Austria or Spain in the semifinals Sept. 14-16. Spain is up 2-0 against Austria in their series.
Tsonga committed 53 unforced errors and lost his serve four times against Harrison. But three of the breaks were in the third set and Tsonga came back in the fourth with 21 winners in putting away the match.
Isner piled up 53 winners and fought off all five of Simon's break-point chances. Simon had a set point at 4-5 of the third set but Isner rallied to hold serve, post his fourth break of the day and serve out for the match.
In the other half of the Davis Cup draw, Argentina and Croatia battled to a 1-1 tie Friday and the meeting between Serbia and the Czech Republic was also deadlocked at 1-1.
Oklahoma City loses third straight
INDIANAPOLIS, April 6 (UPI) -- Danny Granger ignited Indiana to a quick start Friday and the Pacers held on down the stretch to defeat Oklahoma City 103-98.
Oklahoma City has lost three in a row for the first time this season. The Thunder had dropped back-to-back outings only one other time, those setbacks coming in the sixth and seventh games of the season.
Granger finished with 24 points and was a key to the Pacers opening a 12-point lead after the first quarter. Indiana led by as many as 20 in the third period, but the Thunder closed within three with 6 seconds to play on a 3-pointer by Russell Westbrook.
Granger then hit two free throws to finally put the game away. Roy Hibbert added 21 for Indiana, which won its fourth in a row.
The Thunder fell despite a big game from Kevin Durant, who scored 44 points. Westbrook tallied 21 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists.
