Off the wire

GOLF Vegas leads by two

A year ago at the Honda Classic, Jhonattan Vegas made seven birdies all week. He’s off to a much better start this time. Vegas made six birdies and no bogeys Thursday, shooting a 6-under 64 to open a two-stroke lead after the first round at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Lucas Glover bogeyed his finishing hole for a 66, leaving him tied with Zach Johnson, Ernie Els and Ben Silverman. Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia were in a large group at 67, and defending champion Justin Thomas shot 68 after an eventful day that saw him play the last eight holes without a 9-iron after it bent when he hit it against a tree. Also at 68 was Sam Saunders, the grandson of golf legend Arnold Palmer. Saunders birdied all three holes in the famed “Bear Trap” stretch at PGA National, the run of holes 15 through 17 where a par 4 is sandwiched by two par 3s that can be treacherous even without much wind.

Five tied for lead

No. 1-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn’s 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole gave her a 4-under 68 and a five-way share of the first-round lead at the HSBC Women’s World Championship on Thursday in Singapore. Tied with Jutanugarn were No. 3 Minjee Lee, Amy Olson, Yu Liu and Celine Boutier, who won her first LPGA tournament three weeks ago at the Vic Open in Australia. No. 2 Sun Hyun Park bogeyed 18 after hitting her approach into a bunker for a 69 to drop into a seven-way tie for sixth, one stroke behind the leaders. Former No. 1 Lydia Ko shot 72, as did Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr. Nelly Korda, who won the Women’s Australian Open two weeks ago, had 74. Brooke Henderson dropped four shots in two holes on the eighth

and ninth and had a 75. Defending champion Michelle Wie was forced to withdraw with a recurrence of a right hand injury.

Kitayama out front

American golfer Kurt Kitayama kept up his impressive first season on the European Tour by shooting a 6-under 66 at the Oman Open to take a one-stroke lead after the first round on Thursday. After coming through all three stages of Q-School

in November to earn a place on tour, Kitayama won the Mauritius Open on just his third start of the season. He holed a 15-foot putt for eagle at the par-5 12th hole and rolled in four birdies in a bogey-free round at Al Mouj Golf Club in Muscat, Oman. Scott Jamieson of Scotland and Yusaku Miyazato of Japan were tied for second place after rounds of 67 before play was suspended because of darkness. Only one group hadn’t finished. Three French players — Raphael Jacquelin, Alexander Levy and Adrien Saddier — were in a seven-man share of fourth place, a further shot back.

TENNIS Federer advances

Roger Federer is two matches away from his 100th career title after beating Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (6), 6-4 on Thursday to reach the Dubai Championships semifinals. Federer faced two set points in the tiebreaker but Fucsovics hit two forehands into the net to let the Swiss star take control. Federer then wasted an early break in the second set but broke again for a 5-4 lead before serving out the match when Fucsovics sent a forehand return wide. Federer is looking to become the second man in the professional era to reach 100 tour-level tournament tiles, joining

Jimmy Connors, who won 109. Seven of Federer’s previous 99 triumphs have come in Dubai. The other semifinal will pit rising star Stefanos

Tsitsipas of Greece against French veteran Gael Monfils. Tsitispas outlasted Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (4), 6-7 (1), 6-1, while Monfils beat Ricardas Berankis 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-2.

Kyrgios beats Nadal

Rafael Nadal tumbled out of the Mexican Open at Acapulco on Thursday night, squandering three match points in a 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) loss to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios. Playing his first event since losing to Novak Djokovic in late January in the Australian Open final, the top-seeded Nadal dropped the first two match points on Kyrgios’ serve and the last one on his own first serve. Kyrgios set up a quarterfinal match against Stan Wawrinka, a 7-6 (5), 6-4 winner over seventh-seeded Steve Johnson in the hardcourt event at The Princess Mundo Imperial.