GOLF

Donald grabs a share of the first-round lead while chasing Simpson for PGA money lead

Luke Donald got off to a strong start in his pursuit of Webb Simpson and the top spot on the PGA money list, shooting a 6-under 66 Thursday in the opening round of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic to share the lead with six other players at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Donald, the world No. 1, is trying to become the first player to finish the season No. 1 on both the European and PGA tour money lists. Donald was paired with Simpson, who was two strokes back after a 68.

James Driscoll, Arjun Atwal, Nathan Green, Gary Woodland, Scott Stallings and Derek Lamely also shot 66 to share the lead in the season’s final event.

• The PGA Tour is launching a developmental tour in South America, hoping it can expand its presence there as golf prepares to become an Olympic sport again in 2016 in Brazil.

The PGA Tour Latinoamerica will start next year, featuring 11 tournaments that will be played in seven countries, most of them in South America but including Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The tournaments will have 144-man fields consisting primarily of players from the region, although there likely will be some access for Americans who now play the mini-tours. The top players on the Latin American tour then will have access to the Nationwide Tour.

LPGA: Yani Tseng and Ai Miyazato each shot 4-under-par 68 to share the first-round lead in the Taiwan Championship at Yang Mei, Taiwan.

Jennifer Song, Morgan Pressel and Anna Nordqvist had 69s.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Ross McGowan shot a 7-under 64 to take a two-shot lead over Fabrizio Zanotti and Richard McEvoy after the opening round of the Castello Masters at Catellon, Spain.

COLLEGES

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Christine Dubuc had three goals and one assist to lead the University of Maine (5-8-1, 2-5 America East Conference) to a 6-0 victory over Stony Brook (4-11-1, 2-4-1) at Orono.

Carolyne Nellis had two goals and Nikki Misener one, and Meagan Price-Leibenzeder made six saves for the shutout.

TENNIS

STOCKHOLM OPEN: Top-seeded Gael Monfils was the only seeded player to advance in the second round at Stockholm, beating Bernard Tomic, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4.

KREMLIN CUP: Top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic advanced to the quarterfinals at Moscow, rallying to beat Igor Kunitsyn, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-0.

In men’s second-round play, Jeremy Chardy upset third-seeded Aleksandr Dolgopolov, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

LUXEMBOURG OPEN: Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka defeated Alberta Brianti 6-0, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals at Luxembourg.

SKIING

WORLD CUP: Defending men’s overall World Cup champion Ivica Kostelic of Croatia was voted skier of the year by the international association of ski journalists.

Kostelic beat out women’s overall champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch, world super-G champion Christof Innerhofer and World Cup downhill and super-G champion Didier Cuche.