In brief: Tom Watson leads by one at Senior Open

Golf: Tom Watson took advantage of cooler morning conditions Thursday to shoot a 4-under 66, grabbing a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the U.S. Senior Open in Sacramento, California.

With the temperature soaring over 100 degrees in the afternoon, Watson worked through Del Paso Country Club before the scorching heat intensified in California’s capital city. The eight-time major champion overcame a double bogey early in his round and had four birdies in a six-hole stretch after the turn.

Michael Allen, Lee Janzen, Jeff Hart, Jim Carter, P.H. Horgan and Woody Austin shot 67.

Defending champion Colin Montgomerie and Champions Tour stalwart Bernhard Langer, who have won six of the last seven senior majors, teed off in the afternoon heat. Montgomerie shot 68, and Langer 71. Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett is three back after shooting 69.

• Watson surges at Travelers: Bubba Watson hit to inches on the final hole for the last his nine birdies in an 8-under 62 in the first round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.

Watson had a two-stroke lead in the event he won in 2010 for his first PGA Tour title. He has finished in the top 20 five times in eight previous starts at TPC River Highlands.

The two-time Masters champion just missed an eagle on the par-4 18th hole, hitting a 139-yard second shot that bounced into the flagstick and rolled 4 inches past the cup.

Keegan Bradley was tied for second with Jason Gore, Seung-Yul Noh, Brian Stuard and Harris English, who shot a 30 on the back nine. Eight players shot 65, and 12 more opened at 66. Ferris grad Alex Prugh was 10 strokes back after shooting a 72.

• Spieth plays charity round: The U.S. Open aftermath has been a blur for Jordan Spieth, but not surprisingly the 21-year-old Dallasite on Wednesday made good on an eight-month-old promise.

Spieth was at Dallas National, where he is a member, playing in a round of golf and fulfilling a commitment he made at a Jordan Spieth Family Foundation charity function last October.

One of the auction items was a round of golf with Spieth. The high bidder was Gregg Ontiveros, CEO of Group O, a marketing firm in Northwest Illinois.

Offense increased in college baseball

MISCELLANY: The 15 home runs hit in 16 College World Series games this year were the most since the tournament moved to TD Ameritrade Park in 2011 and they mirrored the increased offense across Division I this season.

The NCAA put a new flat-seam ball into play this year to counter severe drops in offense since bat specifications changed five years ago. The new ball replaced the more wind-resistant raised-seam ball.

College baseball officials were especially interested in how the ball would play in Omaha’s expansive stadium. Home run totals during the first four years of the CWS in TD Ameritrade Park were nine, 10, three and three.

For the season, home runs increased 42 percent in Division I. Teams averaged 0.55 per game compared with 0.39 in 2014.

The national batting average went from .270 to .274 and per-team scoring from 5.1 runs a game to 5.4.

Though the national ERA went from 4.23 to 4.58, strikeouts increased from 6.3 a game to 6.8.

• OSUs to play: Oklahoma State and Oregon State have agreed to a home-and-home football series in 2019 and 2020. The Cowboys and the Beavers will play in Corvallis, Oregon on Aug. 31, 2019, and in Stillwater on Sept. 5, 2020.

The two OSUs have never met previously in football.