Off the wire

GOLF Kuchar tied for lead

There were no major letdowns for Masters contenders Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island, S.C., on Thursday. Kuchar, who tied for fifth at Augusta National on Sunday, shot a bogey-free 5-under 66 to share the first-round lead with Scott Langley and William McGirt. The 20-year-old Spieth, who tied for second behind Bubba Watson at the Masters, continued his strong play Thursday with a 69, part of a large group tied for fifth at Harbour Town Golf Links. Langley and McGirt each had five birdies on the front nine to match Kuchar. Harris English was two shots behind after a 68 before Spieth topped a group of 15 another stroke back. In all, 54 competitors shot par or better despite gusts of 20 mph that swept through the course much of the round. Just six of the world’s top-20 ranked golfers teed it up this week, led by Kuchar at No. 6. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) had two birdies, a bogey and a double bogey for a1-over 72. Glen Day (Little Rock) had two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey for a 3-over 74. Bryce Molder (Conway) had three birdies and six bogeys for a 3-over 74, while John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) also shot 3 over after a birdie, two bogeys and a double bogey.

Angela Stanford shot an 8-under 64 on a wind-swept course to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA LOTTE Championship in Kapolei, Hawaii, on Thursday. Stanford took the lead early with five birdies in a row on the front nine and finished the day with eight birdies. The best round of the tournament so far left the five time LPGA Tour winner at 8-under 136. Just like the first round, the contenders played Day 2 at Ko Olina Golf Club with gusty winds - up to 18 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Hawaii favorite Michelle Wie was one stroke back after a 67 that included five birdies. Christie Kerr, a 16-time tour winner, shot a 66 and was tied for third in a group of four at 138. Among them was top-ranked Inbee Park, who shot a 68. Anna Nordqvist, going for her third victory of 2014, and 2012 LOTTE champion Ai Miyazato both missed the cut. Karen Stupples (Arkansas State) had one birdie and four bogeys for a 3-over 75 (149).

Determined to end a two-year title drought, Lee Westwood shot a 7-under 65 Thursday to take the lead at the storm-affected Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur. Westwood had a bogey at his first hole but birdied four of his closing five to take a one-shot lead ahead of Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium before play was suspended because of the risk of lightning. A tropical downpour in the afternoon had previously halted play for more than an hour, and 45 players in the 156-man field will have to complete their first round today. The 36th-ranked Westwood is coming off a seventh-place finish at the Masters last weekend - his best so far this year - and is looking to repeat his Malaysian Open victory from 1997. Colsaerts recovered from a neck injury that forced him out of the Houston Open earlier this month and carded a 66. Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey and Portugal’s Ricardo Santos were a stroke further back in the co-sanctioned European and Asian Tour event. Defending champion Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand shot a 71 and 2012 winner Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa had a 72.

Three top golfers have filed to join the field for the 2014 U.S. Senior Open Championship to be played at Oak Tree National in Edmond, Okla. The U.S. Golf Association said Thursday that Fred Couples, Vijay Singh and Bernhard Langer have filed to play in the tournament scheduled for July 7-13. Others who have filed to play include previous U.S. Open champions Scott Simpson and Hale Irwin and past U.S. Senior Open champions Irwin, Kenny Perry, Roger Chapman, FredFunk, Peter Jacobsen, Brad Bryant and Graham Marsh. Others who have committed to the tournament include Colin Montgomerie, Rocco Mediate, Loren Roberts, Jeff Sluman and Tom Lehman.

FOOTBALL Team to back coach

A Minnesota State football player said the team is now going to unite behind reinstated Coach Todd Hoffner. A day after refusing to practice with Hoffner, the players met for nearly two hours Thursday morning with the coaching staff. Afterward, senior tight end Darius Clare told KEYC-TV, “We’re going to move forward with Todd Hoffner as head coach.” Hoffner returned to campus Wednesday for the first time since an arbitrator ruled he was fired unfairly last year in the wake of a child porn investigation that ultimately cleared him. Mavericks players came out for spring practice that afternoon but were not in uniform. They read a statement saying they wanted interim coach Aaron Keen to remain as head coach.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have released veteran linebacker Russell Allen after he failed a physical. Allen started 29 games the last two seasons. He missed the final two games last year because of a concussion. The team also released third-year defensive end D’Aundre Reed, second-year defensive end Will Pericak and first-year receiver Jabin Sambrano. Allen was originally signed as an undrafted rookie on April 26, 2010. He played in 78 games with 44 starts over 5 seasons. He finished with 452 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. The Jaguars signed free agent linebacker Dekoda Watson last month, adding him to a positional mix that includes Paul Posluszny and Geno Hayes.

TENNIS Nadal advances

Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal had little trouble reaching the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters, beating Italian Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-3 on Thursday. Having looked a little rusty in the second round on Wednesday, where he trailed 3-1 against Teymuraz Gabashvili, the Spaniard was more clinical this time and raced into a 4-0 lead. The top-seeded Nadal was only briefly troubled in the second set when Seppi broke him to love to pull back to 4-3 down. But Seppi could not hold and Nadal completed the victory with an ace on his first match point. He next faces sixth-seeded David Ferrer or No. 12 Grigor Dimitrov. Third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, eighth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada and No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France also advanced to the last eight. Wawrinka next faces Raonic, who beat No. 11 Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-3, 6-4.

Top-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia needed just over an hour to beat Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan 6-1, 6-2 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur. Third-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic also advanced, beating Ying-Ying Duan of China 6-1, 6-3 to set up a quarterfinal against Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey, who ousted Tadeja Majeric of Slovenia 6-4, 6-4. Kristyna Pliskova - Karolina’s sister - was eliminated by Donna Vekic of Croatia, who won 1-6, 6-3, 7-5. In a rain-delayed second-round match, second-seeded Zhang Shuai of China outlasted Hong Kong’s Ling Zhang 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

Britain will be without its top female player at Wimbledon after Laura Robson announced she is having surgery on her injured left wrist. The 64th-ranked Robson said on her Facebook page Thursday that she will miss the French Open and Wimbledon. Robson, 20, last year became the first British woman to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon since 1998, helping her reach a career high of No. 27 in the world rankings. Robson won the girls’ sin-