GOLF

Furyk opens with 63 at Bridgestone, seven-time champ Woods far off the pace

Jim Furyk shot a 7-under 63 to take the lead Thursday in the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio.

On a warm day with little wind, Furyk took advantage of the pristine conditions to build a two-shot lead over Lee Slattery of England in the World Golf Championship event.

Tiger Woods, a seven-time winner at Firestone, three-putted from 25 feet on the 18th for an even-par 70.

• Andres Romero had seven birdies in a bogey-free first round at the Reno-Tahoe Open to take a one-point lead over South Korean rookie Seung-Yul Noh at Reno, Nev.

Romero had 14 points under the modified Stableford scoring system, which is being used for the first time on the PGA Tour since the 2006 International in Colorado.

BASEBALL

FCBL: Luis Gonzalez doubled home two runs to lead the Brockton Rox (24-22) to a 5-2 victory over the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide (19-28) in the first game of a doubleheader at Brockton, Mass.

The Rox completed the sweep with a 2-1 victory.

HIGH SCHOOLS

FIELD HOCKEY: McAuley High hired Elyse Tourangeau as its varsity coach and Samantha Leach as her assistant coach.

COLLEGES

ST. JOSEPH’S: Brian Curtin, the athletic director at St. Joseph’s College, was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Executive of the Year.

FOOTBALL: Despite its lopsided loss to Alabama in the BCS title game, LSU will open the 2012 season ranked No. 1 in the USA Today Top 25 coaches poll, with Alabama second and Southern California third.

LSU received 18 first-place votes, slightly fewer that the 20 first-place votes for the Crimson Tide and 19 for the Trojans. Still, the Tigers narrowly had the most overall points.

Oklahoma and Oregon round out the top five, followed by Georgia, Florida State, Michigan, South Carolina and Arkansas.

NCAA OPENS DOOR TO CANADA: The NCAA Executive Committee supported a change in constitutional language, paving the way for Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, to become the first member from outside the U.S.

TENNIS

CITI OPEN: Sam Querrey finished off Benjamin Becker with his eighth ace of the match, winning 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals in Washington.

Top-seeded Mardy Fish also advanced, beating Ricardas Berankis, 6-3, 6-1.

—From staff and news services