Briefly

Second-year PGA Tour player Lucas Glover, from Greenville, S.C., made eight birdies and shot a 5-under-par 65 Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Canadian Open golf tournament with veteran Mark Calcavecchia.

Glover and Calcavecchia took advantage of near-perfect afternoon conditions on the tight, tree-lined Shaughnessy course in Vancouver, B.C.

Jasper Parnevik, who played in the morning, shot a 66.

Defending champion Vijay Singh didn’t make a birdie and had three bogeys in a round of 73. The world’s second-ranked player and leading money winner the past two years again struggled with his putter, missing several birdie putts from inside 15 feet.

•The talent-packed U.S. women’s team should have no trouble handling the Europeans once the Solheim Cup gets under way today at Crooked Stick Golf Club outside Indianapolis.

But come to think of it, weren’t the U.S. women favored two years ago in the Solheim Cup in Sweden, only to get pummeled, 17 1/2 to 10 1/2 , cutting the Americans’ lead in the biennial series to 5-3?

So, brace for pretty much any possibility and any outcome when the two 12-member teams of top pros cross swords (and 3-woods) in the ninth staging of the three-day match-play event often described as the women’s Ryder Cup.

Among the American team members is Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., but she is not scheduled to play in today’s initial matches.

Olympics

Marathoner loses appeal for gold

The Brazilian runner who was grabbed by a spectator while leading the Olympic marathon lost his bid to be awarded a duplicate gold medal.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, rejected Vanderlei de Lima’s appeal, saying it couldn’t change the result of the 2004 Athens race unless there was evidence of “bad faith or arbitrariness.”

A fading De Lima was leading when an Irish spectator jumped from the crowd, grabbed him and pushed him off the course with about two miles to go. De Lima stopped for about 15 seconds and got back into the race but finished third behind winner Stefano Baldini of Italy and Meb Keflezighi of the United States.

Hockey

Patrick retires after 21 years in NHL

Veteran Buffalo Sabres defenseman James Patrick, who spent 21 years in the NHL, retired and accepted an assistant coaching position with the team.

•The Pittsburgh Penguins are expected to announce today that the No. 1 draft pick, Sidney Crosby, has signed his first NHL contract.

Sports people

Record-setting harness driver dies

Stanley Dancer, a record-setting harness driver who was the undisputed king of the sport’s marquee races, died at 78. He had been in declining health for several years and died at his home in Pompano Beach, Fla., the U.S. Trotting Association said. … Recently retired Marshall coach Bob Pruett has dropped out of the Harris Interactive College Football Poll because of his affiliation with ESPN and will be replaced by former SMU player Bobby Leach. … In Richmond, Va., Mike Skinner got his second straight NASCAR truck series victory by outrunning Todd Bodine and Kevin Harvick in a two-lap sprint to end a crash-filled race at Richmond International Raceway.