Pga Tour

Nick Watney took the lead Thursday at the PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship with a five-under-par 68 at Kapalua, Hawaii. Watney's round featured only one bogey. Watney poured in enough putts to take a one-shot lead over Daniel Chopra. Scott Verplank was at even-par 73, rattled by a ruling he continued to dispute after his round that cost him a double-bogey on the 13th.

Fred Funk won the Champions Tour's season-opening MasterCard Championship at Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii, on Sunday, birdieing the final two holes for a seven-under-par 65 and a two-stroke victory over Allen Doyle. The 51-year-old Funk, coming off a 10th-place tie last week in the PGA Tour's Sony Open, finished with a 21-under 195 total for his third Champions Tour victory in 14 starts and his second title in Hawaii in two years. Doyle, who blew a four-stroke lead, had a 68. Funk screamed "Yes!"

DORAL, Fla. -- Geoff Ogilvy was born for such moments. He's a descendant of Robert the Bruce, the Scottish king of Bannockburn fame who broke the ruthless reign of England's King Edward I almost 700 years ago. His bloodlines perfectly suited him for leading a rebellion of his own Monday at the CA Championship at Doral. Ogilvy ended the run of Sir Eldrick Woods. That, of course, would be Tiger Woods.

Five things to look for on the professional golf scene: 1. The PGA Tour looks like it's getting younger all the time. It sure appears that way, with eight winners so far this year in their 20s, including 27-year-old Adam Scott and 22-year-old Anthony Kim the last two weeks. And if that's a real trend, then maybe it'll also work for an unheralded twentysomething.

1. Professional golf may have lost one superstar for the year with Tiger Woods about to undergo season-ending knee surgery, but a potential star seems to be having a revival of sorts. Michelle Wie, who is playing the Wegman's LPGA in Rochester, N.Y., enters the tournament looking a lot more like the prodigy she was two years ago than the bust she has been since.

They're still trying to assess the potential damage that Tiger Woods' prolonged absence may cause the PGA Tour and all of its entangling business alliances. Television ratings may decline, the casual fan may disappear, attendance at tournaments may drop . . . but it's also possible something good may come out of all this, according to Ty Votaw, the PGA Tour's executive vice president for communications and internal affairs.

Five things to look for on the professional golf scene: 1. The era of drug testing has arrived for the PGA Tour, which can randomly test players, beginning this week at the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club. As for whether drug testing is going to be relevant, of course it is. Why? Because Tiger Woods pushed the plan, and did not hesitate when asked on a brief conference call with reporters Tuesday whether he had already done any testing on his own in the last several months.

Richard S. Johnson knows there was one shot that gave him the confidence to win his first tournament on the PGA Tour. "It all started out with that first day. I made that hole in one and all of a sudden I felt like I could make some birdies," Johnson said. Johnson birdied three of his last four holes Sunday to shoot six-under-par 64 and win the U.S. Bank Championship by a stroke over Ken Duke.

Golfer Orville Moody, whose only PGA Tour victory was in an upset at the 1969 U.S. Open, died Friday in Sulphur Springs, Texas, of complications from multiple myeloma. He was 74. Moody, who earned the nickname "Sarge" because of his service in the U.S. Army, won the Open at Champions Golf Club in Cypress Creek, Texas, a Houston suburb, when he came from three shots behind Miller Barber on the last day.

Carl Pettersson supported moving the Wyndham Championship to Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. After a performance like this, it's easy to see why. The local favorite produced the latest record-breaking round at Sedgefield, shooting a tournament-record 61 on Friday to match the PGA Tour's 36-hole mark at 15-under-par 125. He had a three-stroke lead over Garrett Willis (64). Scott McCarron (64) was four strokes back, and Kevin Streelman (64) was another shot behind.