Kenny Perry's mother dies of cancer

(AP) — Kenny Perry's mother has died after a long battle with blood cancer, and the 49-year-old American said he would play in the Presidents Cup next week in San Francisco at his family's request.

Even as Perry turned in one of his best years with three victories and a playoff loss at the Masters, he has been coping with an emotional home life as his mother was put in hospice in July. Perry recently had his son, Justin, caddie for him to keep close as a family.

Mildred Perry died peacefully Thursday morning in Franklin, Ky., of multiple myeloma, Perry's agent said.

She was 79.

Alan Bullington said Perry's family urged him to compete next week at Harding Park in the Presidents Cup.

``While Kenny is deeply saddened by the loss of his mother, he and the entire Perry family are finding comfort in knowing that after a lengthy battle with cancer, her suffering has now ended,'' Bullington said in a statement. ``Competing in the Presidents Cup next week will undoubtedly be an emotional challenge for Kenny, but he knows his mother and his family will find joy in watching him play.''

The highlight of Perry's career, which includes 14 victories, was winning the Ryder Cup a year ago in his home state of Kentucky. One of the most compelling images of the week was Perry's father, dressed in overalls, embracing him on the 15th green after he won his singles match against Henrik Stenson.

Perry said his father's health has been sliding. His parents had been married 60 years.

His mother died a week after Perry had a chance to win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, paired in the final group at East Lake with Tiger Woods and carrying a two-shot lead. He closed with a 74 and tied for fourth.

Perry nearly pulled out of the British Open this year when his mother's health began to deteriorate and she was put in hospice. He played all four majors, spending as much time as home as possible.

On eve of the final round of the Tour Championship, he indicated his mother was losing ground against cancer.

``She's not doing very well at all,'' Perry said. ``She's not talking much now. It's happening really fast. So that will determine how I do my schedule next year, how she's doing and how my family is doing, my dad is doing.''

The Presidents Cup begins Thursday, with all 12 players from both teams competing.

Perry has played three times in the Presidents Cup, and he spoke last week about it being more relaxed than the Ryder Cup.

``The Presidents Cup is like playing with your buddies,'' he said. ``It's really fun.''

It suddenly is packed with far more emotion for Perry, and possibly for his American teammates.

MLS Fantasy Tips: Week 26Adam Scott’s PGA Tour season is over

Taylor leads after 2 rounds at Turning Stone

VERONA, N.Y. (AP) — Vaughn Taylor managed to keep his tunnel vision. A brief patch of good weather helped immensely.

Taylor shot his second straight 67 on Friday to take a one-shot lead after two rounds in the Turning Stone Resort Championship. He was at 10-under 134 after another cold, wet and somewhat windy day at Atunyote (uh-DUNE'-yote) Golf Club.

Tied for second were Matt Kuchar (68), rookie Leif Olson (69), and Nicholas Thompson (67), whose 14-year-old sister, Alexis, was tied for the second-round lead at the Navistar LPGA Classic in Alabama.

Rookie Scott Piercy (66), Fredrik Jacobson (67), and Bo Van Pelt (66) were 8 under. Van Pelt moved into contention with seven birdies on the back nine, six of them in a row despite a steady late-afternoon drizzle that intensified toward dusk. Tim Petrovic (71), who shared the first-round lead with Olson, was at 7 under, tied with Australian rookie Aron Price (65), Jimmy Walker (69) and Troy Matteson (67).

Turning Stone is the first tournament of the Fall Series, which is comprised of five events. Players are vying to finish the year in the top 125 on the money list to retain full exemption for 2010, and the 33-year-old Taylor is right on the cusp at No. 131 ($519,282).

``I try not to think about it. Whatever is meant to be is meant to be,'' Taylor said after his best back-to-back rounds since he notched his lone top 10 of the season, a tie for eighth at the Buick Open in August.

In two trips around the 7,482-yard Atunyote course, Taylor hit 13 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation. On Friday, he birdied three of the four par 5s, rolled in a 28-foot birdie putt at No. 9 to reach 9 under, and sandwiched a pair of birdies around a bogey at No. 11 to take the lead.

``It keeps the momentum going when you birdie the par 5s,'' Taylor said. ``It just makes it easier on you.''

So, too, did that brief dose of decent weather.

``It was pretty pleasant for a while there,'' Taylor said. ``It was drier, but still awfully wet, and then the last few holes the wind started picking up.''

``It wasn't like brutal, and actually the sun attempted to peak through,'' Thompson said. ``My caddie was like, hey, we haven't seen that in a while. It was like, it kind of looks more like the moon.''

Because there was so much standing water on the course Thursday, rules officials allowed the players a rarity - to lift and drop on all areas except teeing grounds, greens and hazards.

Although the course dried somewhat overnight, the same ruling applied on Friday, and Piercy really benefited. He made birdies out of the rough on Nos. 1, 7, 8, and 13

``Maybe one out of five times you catch a good lie, and now you got five out of five good lies,'' Piercy said. ``It is definitely an advantage. I hit it real close today, so I didn't really need to make a lot of putts.''

Playing in the morning didn't hurt, either.

``I feel fortunate to be done already. It's definitely an advantage,'' Piercy said. ``When we went out this morning, the sun was shining. There was no wind.''

Intermittent showers and a steady 12 mph wind hampered play in the afternoon, though at least, unlike Thursday, the temperature did make it past 50.

Olson, who had never held or shared the lead after any round on the PGA Tour, stayed steady while finishing in a driving rain. He finished the round with seven pars and two birdies on the front nine, splashing water with every fairway shot.

Van Pelt started the day six shots behind the leaders and was at even par for the day at the turn. After a par at the 10th hole, Van Pelt began to make a move. An 18-foot putt at the par-3 11th hole, statistically the second-most-difficult on the course, gave him the first of six straight birdies. And after hitting into intermediate rough from a fairway bunker led to a bogey at 17, Van Pelt finished the day by sinking a 13-foot birdie putt at No. 18.

``There's a lot to play for in the fall,'' said Van Pelt, 44th in money with more than $1.7 million. ``I wasn't even going to play this week, but my wife encouraged me to come.''

Kuchar, also in one of the final groups, hit a 3-wood from 252 yards out to within 15 feet of the pin and made eagle at No. 12 to reach 8 under. Birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 moved him into a tie for the lead, but when his chip shot from the rough hydroplaned 9 feet past the water-drenched hole at No. 17 he two-putted for bogey.

Brushing raindrops off his nose as he left the course after a par at 18, Kuchar simply was happy to complete the round.

``It was nasty at the start and nasty at the end,'' he said. ``It's amazing we've gotten this in.''

DIVOTS: Tom Pernice Jr., fresh from a victory in his first appearance on the Champions Tour, failed to make the cut, finishing at 144 along with David Duval and John Rollins. ... Davis Love III needs to finish the year on a strong note to qualify for the 2010 Masters. Love, who is ranked 52nd in the world and needs to get into the top 50 at the end of the year, just made the cut at 3-under 141.

Young guns push Chivas past RevsBarham takes 3-stroke lead at Austian Open

Moodie has one-shot lead over 9th-grader at Navistar LPGA Classic; Wie and Ochoa 2 back

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Scotland's Janice Moodie shot a bogey-free 8-under 64 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead over 14-year-old Alexis Thompson in the Navistar LPGA Classic, with Michelle Wie and top-ranked Lorena Ochoa two strokes back.

Moodie, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour, played her final nine holes - the front nine on The Senator course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Capitol Hill complex, in 6-under 30. She birdied her final four holes and six of her last seven.

``All of a sudden I'm hitting driver, wedge, wedge, wedge,'' Moodie said. ``I thought, you know, I better capitalize on this one, and I did. think I was more thinking about how the golf course has dried out compared to making the birdies.''

Thompson had eight birdies and a bogey.

``Everything was working for me,'' said Thompson, a ninth-grader from Coral Springs, Fla. ``My ball striking was good. My driver was a little off, but I'm not going to complain. I rolled my putter really good.''

The sister of PGA Tour player Nicholas Thompson, she won the 2008 U.S. Girls' Junior and tied for 34th in July in the U.S. Women's Open.

The 36-year-old Moodie noted that Thompson was ``almost a third of my age.''

``The thing is, I think she wants to beat me more than I want to beat her,'' Moodie said. ``I used to be that age. I know what it's like.''

Thompson made a late decision to travel to Alabama to attempt to qualify. Event officials canceled a Tuesday qualifier when enough spots opened up to add all qualifier participants. ``My dad was like, 'You want to go and try to qualify for this event?''' Thompson said. ``I was like, 'Yeah, sure, why not?'''

Wie eagled the par-5 fifth - hitting a 3-wood to 6 feet - and had five birdies and a bogey on the links-style course.

``It's a fun golf course. It's interesting,'' Wie said. ``It's really nothing like we played all year. You know, it's is fun golf course. You have to put it in the fairway and get on the greens and make the putt.''

Ochoa, the defending champion who finished second last week behind Sophie Gustafson in the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge in Danville, Calif., had a bogey-free round. She's winless in 11 starts since the Corona Championship in April and has two victories in 17 events this season after winning 21 times in the previous three years.

``I'm feeling good,'' Ochoa said. ``I'm for sure really happy with my round. It was a good day, an easy day, because I didn't make any bogeys. It was just a lot of birdie chances, and we love to have those days.''

Karine Icher also opened with a 66, and Alena Sharp, Lisa Strom, Katherine Hull, Na Yeon Choi, Meaghan Francella, Inbee Park, Eunjung Yi, Pat Hurst, Sung Ah Yim and Pornanong Phatlum shot 67s.

Thompson, who had a morning tee time, was the talk of the tournament, even after Moodie took the lead in the afternoon.

``It's amazing,'' Ochoa said. ``I was warming up on the range when I heard that a 14-year-old was winning the tournament. It's very impressive. I wish her the best for the rest of the week.''

Ochoa, Gustafson share LPGA leadYoung guns push Chivas past Revs

Bjorn leads by 2 at Dunhill Links championship

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — Thomas Bjorn shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead in the first round of the $5 million Dunhill Links championship on Thursday.

The 38-year-old Dane bounced back from the disappointment of seeing his European team lose the Vivendi Trophy last week to make six birdies and an eagle on the 7,160-yard Kingsbarns layout on the outskirts of St. Andrews.

``I drove the ball fantastic all day and that set it up,'' he said, adding that he missed just one fairway, and that only by inches.

``When you drive it as well as I did today, the golf course becomes very simple and for the first time in a long time I rolled in a few putts,'' Bjorn said. ``It has been a while since I walked off feeling like this.''

Gareth Maybin of Northern Ireland shot a 66, also at Kingsbarns, to share second place with Ross McGowan, who had the best score on The Old Course at St. Andrews.

A group of six on 67 included Scotland's Richie Ramsay, who only got into the tournament last week when Paul Casey withdrew. Jose Manuel Lara of Spain had a 67 at St. Andrews, where the British Open will be played next year.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, third in this event two years ago, had a 68 at Carnoustie, as did Darren Clarke. Two-time champion Padraig Harrington shot 70 at Carnoustie, where he won the first of his two successive Open titles in 2007.

Defending champion Robert Karlsson struggled to a 76 at Carnoustie, while former champion and European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie shot 73.

The field of 168 play a round on each of the three courses over the first three days before the cut for the final round on The Old Course on Sunday. The champion wins $800,000.

Bjorn captained Europe in a 16 1/2-11 1/2 loss to Britain and Ireland last week in the Vivendi Trophy, a Ryder Cup-style team event. He is also the chairman of the Players Tournament Committee, and those duties have been taking up a lot of his time.

``I put a lot into last week and there has been a lot of stuff going on this year. These are tough, worrying times with companies cutting sponsorships ,and I have those responsibilities on behalf of the players,'' Bjorn said. ``But today, nothing was out of synch. Everything came together.''

Starting at the 10th, Bjorn birdied four of his first seven holes. He eagled the long third with a 30-foot putt and birdied two of the next three with good approaches.

McIlroy, who is playing the pro-am side of this event with his father Gerry, was 1 over after four holes but birdied five holes after that.

``This sets me up for a nice week,'' he said. ``It was a solid start on the toughest course and gives me something to build on.''

McIlroy is third in the lucrative Race to Dubai standings, but with Martin Kaymer and Paul Casey injured, he could pass them both this week.

Harrington admitted that memories of his 2007 Open triumph came flooding back.

``I think on every hole there was something that jogged the memory,'' said the Irishman, who has had top-10 finishes in his last six events after missing eight cuts earlier in the year as he remodeled his swing.

Joseph, again, leads Revs past Sounders FCSALTMANS HOPING TO SHINE

Watson 1 shot back in Senior Players Championship

TIMONIUM, Md.(AP) Tom Watson credited skillful iron play for his efficient 4-under 66 in the opening round of the Senior Players Championship.

It was his putter, however, that set the tone.

Watson saved par with an 8-footer on the first hole Thursday, then dropped in a 25-foot downhill birdie putt on No. 2. He made his only bogey on 13 and finished tied with Jay Haas in second place behind unheralded Lonnie Nielsen, who had eight birdies and three bogeys in an up-and-down 65.

Sandy Lyle shot a 67, and four golfers, including Bob Tway and Dan Forsman, were tied for fifth at 68.

Watson stepped back into prominence last July when he finished second in the British Open. That proved he still had the talent to compete with golfers half his age, but the 60-year-old still hasn't won on the Champions Tour this season.

That could change this week at the Baltimore Country Club.

Although he missed a 3-foot birdie putt on 18 that would have put him a tie atop the leaderboard, Watson said, ``It was just a good day all around. I was very happy about the way I played.''

It began on the 427-yard 1st hole.

``It's a real tough starting hole, uphill into the wind,'' he said. ``Making that 8-foot putt was a real positive. Then I made a good putt on the next hole. I was just trying to get it close, and it goes in. That gets you off on exactly the right foot. It kind of opens the door.''

Birdie putts on Nos. 4, 6, 8 and 12 followed before he three-putted from the fringe on 13. But that, and his disappointing finish, didn't spoil a wonderful day for one of the most popular players on the Tour.

``The one thing that I still do well is driving the ball,'' Watson said. ``I concentrated more on my iron play today, and as a result, I kept the ball out of the water and hit some decent shots.''

Nielsen birdied four of the first six holes and added birdies on Nos. 9, 12, 14 and 15. He also had bogeys on 7, 13 and 17.

``I always make a few bogeys, so three was not out of the ordinary for me. But eight birdies sure was,'' he said. ``I was lucky today. When I hit a good shot, I hit it in the right place. The key to the day was having so many putts up the hills, and relatively easy ones.''

It's only the third time in 154 career starts on the Champions Tour that Nielsen has held sole possession of the lead after the first round. He won the Dick's Sporting Goods Open in late June but has not finished better than 21st in eight tournaments since.

``My putting had been off, and then of course your attitude goes right in the toilet and it's a downhill spiral,'' he said. ``It's been a couple of tough months.''

Seeing Watson and Haas on the leaderboard came as no surprise.

``I can think of better guys I'd rather have chasing me than Tom Watson and Jay Haas, that's for sure,'' Nielsen said. ``But on a course like this, the cream is going to rise to the top, and we expect Tom and Jay to both play well. The tougher the course, the better the chance they're going to be up there.''

Haas was 6-under and enjoying a bogey-free round until he hit a drive into the fairway bunker on 17 and two-putted from 30 feet. Then, on 18, he drove into the right rough and ``couldn't muscle it up'' to the green, which resulted in a second straight bogey.

``I was playing pretty flawlessly up to that point,'' he said. ``If I'd have made my two bogeys somewhere else and birdied the last two, I'd feel a whole lot different than I do right now. I still can't be discouraged with 66. I played really well.''

Watson among leaders at Senior British OpenYoung guns push Chivas past Revs

Ochoa tries to end another streak in Alabama

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Lorena Ochoa has made a habit of ending streaks at the Navistar LPGA Classic, whether she wanted to or not.

Ochoa beat Candie Kung with a 2-foot par putt on the second hole of a playoff last year after coming in winless in seven starts. Two years ago, Maria Hjorth kept the Mexican star from a fourth consecutive victory.

Ochoa hopes to snap an 11-tournament winless stretch dating back to the Corona Championship in late April. The $1.3 million Classic begins Thursday on the 6,546-yards, par-72 Senator Course on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Capitol Hill in suburban Montgomery.

``I have nothing but good memories,'' Ochoa said Wednesday. ``I would love to win the tournament. I heard nobody has won the tournament twice, so it would be nice to put my name up there. I feel good playing on this course.''

She came fairly close to winning last week. Ochoa, who had won 21 times from 2006-08, finished four strokes behind winner Sophie Gustafson at the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge in Danville, Calif.

Recent rains have changed the dynamics some in Prattville.

``I think I have a good plan on how to play the course,'' Ochoa said. ``It's playing a little bit longer because obviously it's a little bit wet and the rough is a little bit higher. So I think it should be a little bit different than last year.

``But at the same time, a good challenge. I'm happy to be back, and I'm going to do my best to defend my title. It would be great to win on Sunday.''

Gustafson, No. 3 money winner Cristie Kerr, Hjorth and Michelle Wie are also in the field. It's a chance for Kerr to make up some ground on Jiyai Shin, who leads her in the Rolex Player of the Year chase.

Wie returns from a short break for the start of classes at Stanford, where's she's taking communications and statistics courses.

She has six Top 10 finishes in 16 events, including a runner-up at the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay.

``I had a good two weeks off and a good week of school last week,'' Wie said. ``I'm excited to play again. I felt like I practiced a lot last week and it will be fun to put that into action.''

This is the 19-year-old's first time playing in the Navistar Classic and her first visit to Alabama. She likes the Southern flavor just fine so far.

``I love the food here, love the music. It's great,'' Wie said. ``Every other radio station here plays country music, so I'm pretty happy about that.''

She'd be even happier with her first LPGA victory.

``That's a goal I can't really control as much,'' Wie said. ``More of a personal goal is what I've been trying to accomplish all year: Try my hardest and play my hardest and end the week, knowing I've done that.''

DIVOTS: The LPGA announced an extension to hold the Navistar event next year on Wednesday. ... Susann Petterson withdrew from the field for the second straight week. ... The tour takes a three-week break after the tournament.

Ochoa, Gustafson share LPGA leadLineup switch lifts Revs past Quakes

Pepper Plan: LPGA needs its own version of FedEx Cup

As interim commissioner of the LPGA, Marty Evans has been a stabilizing influence, but as we get closer to the announcement of a full-time replacement for Carolyn Bivens, I have one really big idea I think he or she should consider: an LPGA version of the FedEx Cup.

The 2010 season probably won't start until late March. Perfect. Have the season run from March Madness to Oktoberfest with scheduled weeks off during the men's majors, leaving 24 solid events in which the players accrue points based on the simple, understandable notion that $1 equals one point (something the LPGA did in 2008). The playoffs would comprise three events. In the first two the field would be winnowed from 120 to 60 and then to 30. The survivors would advance to the tour championship, which would bear the seasonlong sponsor's name. That event would be played under the multiple-cut, winner-take-almost-all format of the old ADT season-ender, which was extremely well received by the players and TV.

The three playoff events would satisfy sponsor demand for elite fields, while the rest of the events would meet player demand for full-field opportunities at which they could make a living. And here's one final twist. After a week off following the tour championship, there would be an international team showdown: the Solheim Cup in odd-numbered years and an event featuring the U.S. or the Americas versus Asia or the rest of the world in the even-numbered years. These would be a huge hit in the global market and allow women's golf to go out on a high note every year.

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