Els among leaders at Regions Tradition

Ernie Els, Steve Flesch, Chris DiMarco, Padraig Harrington, Kenny Perry and Doug Barron all shot 5-under 67s to share the first-round lead Friday at the weather-delayed Regions Tradition at Birmingham, Ala.

The first round was delayed by more than three hours on Thursday and then halted with lightning in the area at Greystone.

The 72-hole event is the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors.

Els, who started on the 10th hole, eagled No. 18 to highlight a bogey-free round for the World Golf Hall of Famer. Flesch, Harrington and Barron also had bogey-free rounds, while DiMarco’s only blemish was a bogey on the par-3 No. 14. Perry had an eagle, bogey and five birdies.

Marco Dawson and Charlie Wi finished the round at 6 under. Two-time defending champion Steve Stricker, 12-time PGA Tour Champions major winner Bernhard Langer and Darren Clark were two shots back.

Tennis: Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open in Rome on Friday.

Local organizers say a child was leaning over the railing to hand Djokovic a notebook for a signature and an aluminumtype water bottle fell out of the child’s backpack and hit Djokovic on the top of his head.

Meanwhile, defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina withdrew before her opening match against Irina-Camelia Begu because of illness. Also advancing in second-round matches were 2017 Rome champion Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and Ben Shelton. Sofia Kenin eliminated eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.