PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Joe Durant is trying desperately to hold onto his old job on the PGA Tour. If it doesnt work out, his new gig is looking more promising all the time. The Champions Tour rookie shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday in the first round of the Senior Players Championship, making seven birdies against one bogey to join David Frost and Doug Garwood atop the leaderboard at defenceless Fox Chapel. Bernhard Langer, Corey Pavin, Larry Mize, Steve Pate, Olin Browne, Bart Bryant, Peter Fowler and Wes Short Jr. shot 65. Colin Montgomerie, the Senior PGA winner last month, opened with a 5-under 30 on the front nine before fading to a 69. The 50-year-old Durant, a four-time winner on the main tour, is trying to split time between both circuits this summer. The pressure to earn enough money while making limited PGA Tour starts has been draining. In a way, the 50-and-over tour is allowing him to recharge. "Im trying so hard to make magic happen in one week (on the PGA Tour) and its just not working out very well," Durant said. Durant tied for 31st last week in Connecticut in the PGA Tours Travelers Championship, a finish he believes should have been higher had he not slogged through the second and third rounds. "It easily could have been a top-10 week if I had just managed my game a little better Friday and Saturday," Durant said. There were no such issues Thursday. Durant holed out from the greenside bunker on the par-3 third, kick-starting his round. He ended it with a sliding left-to-right birdie putt on the par-5 18th for his 64, matching his best round since joining the Champions Tour after turning 50 in April. "It all comes down to making putts," Durant said. "If you make putts, the game is real easy. If youre burning edges, its not that easy." Frost and Garwood quickly joined Durant atop the leaderboard. Frustrated after a middling 39th-place finish at the Encompass Championship last week in Illinois, Frost ditched the shafts on his irons for the first time in four years, trading them in for something that offered a little more forgiveness. The move paid off with a near flawless round in which he missed only one fairway and three greens. "I almost want to kick myself for not (switching shafts) earlier," Frost said. Garwood, a two-time All-American during his college career at Fresno State, has finally found a home on the Champions Tour after spending most of his adult life on pro golfs fringe. He never played in a PGA Tour event and sold insurance among other things before trying to give the 50-and-over circuit a shot last spring. After some initial struggles, it is paying off handsomely. Garwood lost a playoff four weeks ago in the Principal Charity Classic and backed it up with a runner-up finish last weekend. Garwoods round included three straight birdies on Nos. 12-14, including a 35-footer on the par-4 14th. His birdie attempt on the 18th stopped one roll short of giving him the lead. Being near the lead is becoming familiar territory for Garwood, though he has done his best to downplay his steady rise. "Ive always believed the lower the expectation, the easier it is to meet," he said, laughing. "Theres enough pressure just being out there with all the hoopla. So I just go out and try to shoot my best ... trying to shoot 64, it just kind of happens." Defending champion Kenny Perry, looking for his fourth major title in the last year, failed to take advantage of the prime scoring conditions. Playing his eighth tournament in nine weeks, Perry shot an even-par 70. Perrys score was actually one better than the 71 he posted in the opening round last year. Perry responded last June by shooting a combined 20 under over the final 54 holes to edge Fred Couples and Duffy Waldorf for the first major pro title of his lengthy career. The 53-year-old Kentuckian, the Tradition winner last month in the first senior major of the year, doubted Fox Chapel would be as generous this time around, but with wide open fairways and damp greens, it wasnt a fair fight. More than half the 81 players finished at even par or better. "Its going to take a lot of birdies this week with the conditions as they are right now," Durant said. "Youve just got to keep the hammer down." Cheap Authentic Jerseys. - The Arizona Coyotes have recalled goalie Mike Lee from Gwinnett of the ECHL to serve as starter Mike Smiths backup. Jerseys From China. JOHNS, N. http://www.cheapnfljerseyschinawholesale.us/. After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Cheap Jerseys From China. They presumably didnt want to make a mess of the court where he was essentially a coach between the lines for the Mavericks when they won the franchises only title in 2011. Cheap NHL Jerseys.C. -- With T.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - As we speak, the city of Las Vegas is entrenched in the exploratory phase of a ticket drive meant to assess its readiness to accept an NHL franchise in the near future. Coming out of last weeks Board of Governors meeting in Boca Raton, commissioner Gary Bettman was adamant that expansion and relocation were merely topics discussed and not a dead certainty. There are 30 teams currently, and, if you believe the conspiracy theories that pop up whenever the league decides to realign its divisional format, two more spaces open for clubs in a 14-team Western Conference to balance out a 16-team Eastern Conference. There is no formal expansion process, Bettman said. There is no vote that was taken today. There is no vote that was contemplated. We dont have an agreement to sell anybody an expansion process. Still, its not difficult to read between the lines when billionaire businessman Rick Foley practically falls over himself in the last year to get the leagues attention and set out and prove that this former desert stop-over for GIs in World War II could field a hockey team at the continents highest level. Mr. Foley, who is investing a considerable amount of time and effort in expressing his interest, wants to have a good idea as to whether or not its a good idea, Bettman said last Tuesday. Were interested to know the results, as well ... if he just wants people to sign a piece of paper and say Im interested, Im not sure thats the same as somebody taking a deposit. Reports have surfaced that an expansion fee for Vegas could reach as high as $400 million, a number which seems to have discouraged all talk of a club coming to Seattle. Thats absurd, but thats apparently enough of a windfall to remedy any lingering cash flow issues from the 2012-13 season which began in late January due to 3 1/2 months worth of discord over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. A league seemingly impervious to business decisions which at times have pushed it to the brink of ruin would be stupid not to consider it. Its amazing that Bettman -- who has presided over three work stoppages and one entire cancelled season under his watch while revenues and a salary cap have seen a net increase in that time -- can simply sit back and let potential owners flock to him without really lifting a finger. But thats where we are. The National Hockey League, for all its faults and shortcomings and occasional labor battles which truncate season schedules and alienate hard-core fans, has reached a point on the North American sports landsscape where starry-eyed civic-minded heroes are lining up to grab a piece of the rock on little more than the promise of an audience with the king.dddddddddddd In Vegas, its the lure of legitimacy for a city eternally left out of the professional sports picture due to the stain of gambling and the possibilities of regional rivalries with southern California and Phoenix. In Quebec, now approaching 20 years since the Nordiques left for Denver, a whole new arena to replace the famed Le Colisee is being built on nothing more than the hopes of attracting either a wayward franchise or a totally new one. Lets not forget theres a brand-new arena in Kansas City which was all set to welcome the itinerant Penguins seven years ago before the deal of the century kept the team in Pittsburgh. And then, theres Florida. Nobody should be focusing on the Panthers as a relocation candidate. Period, Bettman said. Its inconsistent with everything we know and believe, its inconsistent with everything (owner) Vinnie Viola would be telling me and inconsistent meaning he has no intention of moving the club. He is committed to South Florida. With an average of well under 9,000 fans per game -- numbers which recently doomed the second NHL club to be placed in Atlanta -- its laughable that Bettman could keep up that charade for much longer. Just as when he preached patience and confidence for the Thrashers franchise and then allowed it to bolt up to Winnipeg in May of 2011, if the economics of a new locale will strengthen the overall brand, you can bet Bettman -- and by extension the rest of the BOG -- will sign off on the move before the first plastic rats hit the ice in protest. The devil, as always, is in the details. To wit: If were having this conversation in two or three years, it might be a different issue, Bettman said. And why wouldnt Bettman and Viola have this conversation by then? Its taken more than a decade for things to become so pear-shaped, how could it turn around in such a short time frame even with a winner in the building? While the puppets dance around him, sometimes by his own hand and sometimes to the beat of their own drum, Bettman and the NHL can just bide their time. Expansion and relocation is coming. Its simply more dramatic to hear the hedging and denials first, because thats what makes the final decision so explosive to the public and so ecstatic to the hopeful. In the meantime, pray for Vegas and Quebec and all points in between dont become too swept up in the sweepstakes because its all just a game in the end. cheap nfl jerseys? cheap jerseys?cheap jerseys?cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '