Fowler, Moore among leaders at Bridgestone

Golf: Rickie Fowler had eight birdies and an eagle to give himself another shot at winning. Adam Scott did well enough to stay in the lead. PGA Tour rookie Keegan Bradley got in on the action late.

It seemed as if everyone was in contention Friday at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.

Except for the guy most everyone came to see.

On another soft day that was ripe for low scores, Tiger Woods missed a 2-foot putt and didn’t make enough birdies to atone for his short-game mistakes during a 1-over-par 71 that left him in the middle of the pack.

He was only seven shots behind, but had 35 players in front of him at Firestone.

“Today was not very good,” Woods said.

It was good enough for Scott, except for making the putts he holed in the opening round of this World Golf Championship. He had a 70, which is never bad at Firestone in any condition.

After opening with a 62, Scott was at 8-under 132 along with Tacoma native Ryan Moore (66), Fowler (64) and Bradley (65). Jason Day bogeyed his last hole for a 70 and was one shot behind with Martin Laird (67) and Robert Karlsson (65).

Fowler was all over the place. He made only five pars, and kept his gallery guessing the rest of the time. There were three straight birdies, and a wedge he holed from 110 yards for eagle on No. 3. He followed that with three bogeys and three pars.

• Haas, Huston lead at 3M Championship: Jay Haas aced the fourth hole and finished with four straight birdies en route to an 8-under 64 to share the lead with John Huston after the first round of the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn.

Huston birdied five of his final nine holes. Gary Hallberg, Tom Lehman, Peter Senior and Rod Spittle were one shot back at the TPC Twin Cities. Mark Calcavecchia, Dave Eger, Kenny Perry and Joey Sindelar were at 66.

With temperatures in the mid-80s, high dew points and little wind, 53 of the 80 players finished under par.

• Taylor leads at Reno tourney: Vaughn Taylor shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead midway through the Reno-Tahoe (Nev.) Open.

Taylor, who has twice won the event, had an eagle and four birdies to move to 9-under 135. That’s one better than Will MacKenzie, who is among four other past Reno winners in the hunt.

Steve Flesch, the 2007 champion, shot a 69, good for a tie for third with Hunter Haas and first-round leader Nick O’Hern at 7 under.

Alex Prugh (Ferris HS) is tied for 21st place at 3 under after posting a second-round score of 67. Kirk Triplett (former Pullman resident) is tied for 45th at 2 under after shooting a 72.

• Proveaux drains birdie putt to win Junior PGA: Cody Proveaux of Leesville, S.C., drained a 15-foot putt from the fringe for birdie on the 18th hole at Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Fort Wayne, Ind., to win the 36th Junior PGA Championship.

He bettered, by one stroke, Lorens Chan of Honolulu, who had made a putt from the same spot for birdie to tie Proveaux atop the leaderboard in the afternoon.

The girls’ side was won in dominating fashion by Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, who had a final-round 70 to finish at 15 under, 10 strokes better than Mariah Stackhouse of Riverdale, Ga.

Ohio State takes back ‘JT’ wristbands

Miscellany: Two days after several Ohio State freshmen displayed wristbands supporting deposed Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel, the university has taken them away and refunded their money.

Ohio State spokesman Jerry Emig said officials wondered if wearing the wristbands – which said “JT” – could be an NCAA violation.

“We don’t know that yet, but that’s what compliance is looking into,” Emig said.

Since Ohio State goes before the NCAA’s committee on infractions on Friday, it might also appear that the school remains firmly behind a coach who was forced out on May 30. Tressel was pressured to resign when it was revealed he knew some of his players had broken NCAA rules but did not report it for more than nine months.

Weber-Gale wins 100 free at U.S. nationals

Swimming: Olympian Garrett Weber-Gale won the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. national championships in Stanford, Calif., with a time slower than his split in the 4x100 freestyle relay at the world championships.

Weber-Gale touched in 48.87 seconds, defeating training partner Jimmy Feigen, who took second at 48.99. Scot Robison was third at 49.06.

Feigen led after the first lap but Weber-Gale surged from third to first down the stretch.

Weber-Gale’s 100 split in Shanghai was 48.33, the slowest of anyone on the U.S. relay, which took bronze.

Robles wins 110 hurdles in London

Track and field: Olympic champion Dayron Robles won his 110-meter hurdles showdown with American rival David Oliver at Crystal Palace in London, though Grenadian teenager Kirani James stole the spotlight with the season’s best time in the 400 in his first race as a professional.

Robles set a stadium record of 13.04, holding off Jason Richardson of the U.S. Oliver was a distant third.

In the last Diamond League meet before the world championships, James, 18, burst into contention by clocking 44.61 to upstage his experienced rivals.