BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- Joe Durant knows his future is on the Champions Tour. That doesnt stop him from wanting to play on the PGA Tour. "I guess theres that part of your ego that still thinks you can play on the regular tour and you still want to prove you can do that," Durant said after birdieing his final hole Thursday for a 6-under 65 and a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Senior PGA Championship. Making his third Champions Tour start after turning 50 on April 7, the four-time PGA Tour winner had seven birdies and a bogey at Harbor Shores. Dan Forsman, fighting an arthritic left hip, opened with a 66, and Brad Faxon had a 67. Mark Brooks and P.H. Horgan III shot 68, and two-time Senior PGA winner Jay Haas and Colin Montgomerie were in the group at 69. Kenny Perry, the winner last week in the Regions Tradition in Alabama, topped the group at 70 with Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman, John Cook and Tom Watson. Durant, coming off a ninth-place tie Sunday at Shoal Creek in the first major of the year, missed only one fairway and birdied all the par 5s. He also birdied the par-4 seventh hole that plays up a sand dune and usually into the wind off Lake Michigan. "I just had a nice rhythm," said Durant who has played on the PGA Tour, Web.com Tour and the Champions Tour this season and plans to play the PGA Tour and Champions the rest of the year. "I didnt try to do anything fancy. I just went from point A to point B and hit a lot of good shots. It worked out to be a nice round." Durant has struggled with his PGA Tour status position to get into events. "I know my future is more out here than out there, but I would just like to play out there a little bit," he said. "It doesnt get any easier out there, thats for sure." Forsman, a three-time winner on the Champions Tour after winning five times on the PGA Tour, had four birdies and a bogey -- on the seventh -- in his final nine holes. "Its elusive," Forsman said of good play this year. "Its a challenging game by any measure. Certainly the older you get, the aches and pains come along." Faxon made two 35-foot birdie putts early in his round. He has only one top-40 finish in eight tournaments this year and missed the cuts in his two previous Senior PGA appearances. "There was really nothing to predict this round," Faxon said. "But Im excited about playing. My wife (Dory) came in yesterday and we were talking about just playing golf and not worrying too much about stuff. And it happened." Perry is trying to win his fourth consecutive Champions Tour major. He won the Senior Players Championship and U.S. Senior Open in consecutive tour starts last year, then skipped the Senior British Open. He said he is making adjustments to the greens at Harbor Shores. "The last two weeks the greens have been pretty fast, and this week the greens are not nearly has fast on the roll out, so youve got to hit them a little bit," he said. "Any time you can shoot under par in a major youve done a good job. I was very pleased with my round even though I bogeyed the last hole with an 8-iron in my hand." Lee Rinker, who played the PGA Tour fulltime from 1984 to 1999, was the top club pro with a 69. Hes the director of golf at Emerald Dunes Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Roger Chapman, the 2012 winner at Harbor Shores, opened with a 71. Japans Kohki Idoki, the winner last year at Bellerive in St. Louis, had a 76. . Louis Blues are reportedly taking restricted free agent forward Vladimir Sobotka to arbitration. .Johnny there, who knew he had that speed? teammate Tommy Wingels said.Scott and Matt Irwin were unlikely goal-scorers Tuesday night as the previously stingy San Jose Sharks finally sprung a leak or two, blowing a pair of three-goal leads before coming away with a 6-5 shootout victory over the Washington Capitals.
http://www.mavericksteamofficial.info/d ... ks-jersey/. Ferrer, the two-time defending champion in Buenos Aires, is aiming to win his 21st ATP tournament. Ferrer will next face fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, the fourth seed, who defeated Jeremy Chardy of France 7-6 (7), 6-3 in another quarterfinal match. . It was the first game back in Columbus for Rangers star Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets franchise leader in goals, assists and games. He was given a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period, but was booed loud and long after a second-period, two-handed shove up high on Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. .Brady threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter, and New England beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 for its eighth win in nine games.TORONTO - Forgive Dwane Casey if hes not jumping up and down as a result of his teams first win of the exhibition season. Although the Raptors coach acknowledges the positives - and there were several of them - to be taken out of Mondays 97-89 preseason victory over the Celtics, there was one thing that was on his mind the following afternoon. "Turnovers," he emphasized after practice on Tuesday. "26 turnovers is way too many. Weve got to make sure we cut those down." Preseason rust is a phenomenon that has been known to affect even the best of teams and Casey understands that. Its also not hugely surprising for a Raptors team that has spent the bulk of training camp working strictly on their defence. Casey accepts this premise, but he wont excuse it. "We[ve] got to get those down," Casey said of the offensive miscues. "Probably in half, is my goal once we get going. A lot of it is rust, we spent a lot more time defensively than we have offensively." Protecting the ball was one of Torontos strengths a year ago when they averaged just 13.7 turnovers per game, third best in the NBA. By halftime on Monday the Raptors had turned the ball over 16 times and each of their starters finished the game with three or more giveaways. "It was the first game," said Terrence Ross, who had just one turnover in a standout 12-point performance. "Its not going to be perfect [but] were working on it." The young Celtics scored 26 points off Torontos 26 turnovers but the Raptors were able to overcome their mistakes thanks in large part to efficient shooting (52 per cent), an inspired performance on the boards and a defensive effort that met their coachs high expectations. "We did a lot of good things defensively," Casey said after preaching a re-commitment on that end of the floor throughout the first week of camp. "Weve got to continue that, build on that [and] cut down on some of the mistakes we made defensively but most of all we made up for the mistakes with effort." Casey will continue to emphasize defence first and foremost but making the most of each possession will undoubtedly be a focus for his team when they host the Timberwolves at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday. "Its something that were going to be more conscious of in the next game," Ross admitted. "I dont think well get 26 turnovers [or] anywhere near that again." Eliminating "cheap" fouls Anoother focus for Caseys club has been increasing their defensive intensity while also decreasing the unnecessary fouls theyre being called for, a tricky act to balance and one the Raptors have had a tough time with in the past.dddddddddddd Toronto has committed more fouls than any other NBA team in each of the two seasons since Casey took over as head coach. Last year they were whistled for a shade over 22 violations per game, down from 23 the season before. On par with their 2012-13 average the Raptors committed 22 fouls on Monday, six of them called on Jonas Valanciunas who fouled out late in the fourth quarter. One of the (few) pitfalls that comes with employing a group of high-energy big men is the foul trouble thats likely to ensue. That will be the challenge for Valanciunas, Amir Johnson - who led the league in fouls last season - and spark plug Tyler Hansbrough. They are far too valuable to be constrained to the bench for long stretches. "The fouls we dont want to have are the cheap ones," Casey said. "Where youre reaching and grabbing, not in position. Ill take that hard play and try to correct it as we go." For Valanciunas its about playing under control on defence and when fighting for position in the low post. Casey and the coaching staff have been working with the sophomore centre on his balance as well as his vertical shot contest. "When he goes up, what we call verticality," Casey said, "and then he comes down with the hand, he thinks hes going straight up but human nature brings the hand down and he gets a cheap foul." Praise for Hansbrough Hansbrough was a popular man at practice on Tuesday. His reputation precedes him. You love him if hes on youre team, you hate him if hes not, we were told. Turns out he makes friends quick. "Tylers my favourite player on the team," Ross joked, a day after Hansbrough debuted for the Raptors with 17 points and nine rebounds off the bench. "I love playing with him," he continued. "It makes my job a lot easier knowing that hes down there battling. Hes usually taking on two guys so theres more people focused on Tyler. He slows a lot of things down for us so its great having him on the team." Lowry banged up Kyle Lowry banged his hand in practice Tuesday morning, according to Coach Casey. His status is not known but should be updated prior to Wednesdays preseason game. Its not believed to be serious. ' ' '
