Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — GOLF Opener delayed again

Another attempt to start the PGA Tour season was blown away Sunday in Kapalua, Hawaii. Just more than an hour into the opening round of the Tournament of Champions, play was suspended when more 40 mph gusts came roaring down the Plantation Course at Kapalua and left officials no choice but to wipe out yet another round. Rickie Fowler will hit the opening tee shot of the 2013 season today - for the third time this week. Andy Pazder, the tour’s chief of operations, said earlier Sunday that the decisions not to play “were not hard” because the wind was severe. The evidence from one hour of golf was overwhelming. Matt Kuchar’s golf ball blew off the tee twice before he could even hit his first tee shot. Charlie Beljan played six shots before he reached his first green. Ben Curtis had birdie putts on the first two holes and played them in 5 over par. The winners-only tournament was supposed to begin Friday, but the round was scrapped by high wind after no one had played more than eight holes. It tried to start Sunday - the day most golf tournaments end - and it was clear early on there would be trouble. “We need to try to put the show on,” Ian Poulter said. “Hyundai spent a lot of money. We want to play. Fans want to see us play. TV wants to see us play. We’re backed into a corner. I don’t think they understand how windy it really is. Now they’ve seen it.” It was comical from the start, with Kuchar having to tee it up three times before he could hit, and removing his cap the rest of the way. Jonas Blixt had a 1-foot par putt on the 10th hole and took about two minutes. He had to wait as a cup and someone’s hat blew across the green. The final blow came at the 12th hole. Scott Stallings had a tap-in and as he approached the ball to take his stance, it blew some 8 feet away. “It’s crazy. That’s the only way to describe it,” Curtis said. “I’ve never hit two greens in regulation at the start and walked away at 5 over. But, hey, at least we had to try.” And they will try again, playing 36 holes today when the forecast is for less wind, followed by an 18-hole finish Tuesday. That puts a crimp on the next tournament, the Sony Open in Honolulu, which starts Thursday. Pazder had said the Sony Open would have a limited television production because it’s at least a 16-hour trip by barge to get the equipment over to Oahu.

HORSE RACING

Stevens third in comeback

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens finished third in the first race of his comeback after a seven-year retirement at Santa Anita race track in Arcadia, Calif. He was aboard Jebrica in the sixth race Sunday, a $45,000 claiming race at a mile on the turf. They were running second late in the race before finishing a nose behind second-place DeaconSpeakin’. “I thought, ‘Man, this is going to be a storybook comeback.’ It wasn’t meant to be, but it was close enough,” he said. “That’s the first time I’ve knuckled down on one in seven years, and it felt good.” Aaron Gryder rode the winner, Maybe Tuesday. “Gary looked good, and it was fun to have him back in the jocks’ room,” Gryder said. It was Stevens’ only mount on the card. Afterward, he hurried off to shower, changed and made it to the HRTV booth in time to analyze the featured Monrovia Stakes. “It feels good to get the cobwebs out, and I feel good,” said Stevens, who had battled knee pain for the last several years of his career. Stevens announced last week he was launching a comeback because he still has a passion for riding. The jockey, who turns 50 in March, plans to juggle his TV work with the horse racing channel and NBC Sports while riding. He said he will be selective in how many races he rides in.

TENNIS Murray defends title

Andy Murray kicked off 2013 with a successful defense of his Brisbane International title, holding off the up-and-coming Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (0), 6-4 in Sunday’s final in Brisbane, Australia. Dimitrov, 21 raced to a 4-1 lead in his first ATP World Tour final, stunning Murray with some impressive single-handed backhands, but lost his nerve and was broken when serving for the set at 5-3. After getting back on serve, the third-ranked Murray saved a set point with an ace and forced a tiebreaker, which he dominated. Murray began his breakthrough season in 2012 by winning in Brisbane and followed that up later with career-changing titles at the London Olympics and U.S. Open. He heads into the Australian Open, starting Jan. 14, as the reigning major champion.

Second-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia won the Chennai Open title Sunday in Chennai, India, by beating Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the final. Tipsarevic, who lost to Milos Raonic in last year’s final, dominated the second set and then broke early in the third. Bautista-Agut, who beat top-seeded Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, seemed to struggle with a leg injury and needed on-court treatment during the second set.

HOCKEY NHL, players settle labor dispute

NEW YORK - They walked into a Manhattan hotel, knowing they were running out of time to save their season.

After 16 hours of tense talks, the NHL and its players finally achieved their elusive deal early Sunday morning, finding a way to restart a sport desperate to regain momentum and boost its prominence.

Ending a bitter dispute that wiped out a large part of the hockey season for the third time in less than two decades, the league and its union agreed to the framework of a 10-year labor contract that will allow a delayed schedule to start later this month.

On the 113th day of a management lockout and five days before the league’s deadline for a deal, the bleary-eyed sides held a 6 a.m. news conference to announce there will be a season, after all.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and union head Donald Fehr appeared drained, wearing sweaters and not neckties, when they stood side by side at the hotel and announced labor peace.

“We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement, the details of which need to be put to paper,” Bettman said. “We’ve got to dot a lot of I’s, cross a lot of T’s. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but the basic framework of the deal has been agreed upon.”

Lawyers will spend the next few days drafting a memorandum of agreement.

The stoppage led to the cancellation of at least 480 games - the exact length of the curtailed schedule hasn’t been determined - bringing the total of lost regular-season games to a minimum2,178 during three lockouts under Bettman.

The agreement, which replaces the deal that expired Sept. 15, must be ratified by the 30 team owners and approximately 740 players.

“Hopefully, within just a very few days, the fans can get back to watching people who are skating,and not the two of us,” Fehr said.

Fehr became executive director of the NHL Players Association in December 2010 after leading baseball players through two strikes and a lockout.

Players conceded early on in talks, which began in June, that they would accept a smaller percentage of revenue, and the negotiations were about how much lower.

“It was a battle,” said Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey, a key member of the union’s bargaining team. “Players obviously would rather not have been here, but our focus now is to give the fans whatever it is - 48 games, 50 games - the most exciting season we can.”

With much of the money from its $2 billion, 10-year contract with NBC back loaded toward the Stanley Cup playoffs in the spring - and now perhaps early summer - the league preferred to time the dispute for the start of the season in the fall. Management made its decision knowing regular-season attendance rose from 16,534 in 2003-2004 to 16,954 in 2005-2006 and only seven teams experienced substantial drops.

Still, the lockout could wipe out perhaps $1 billion in revenue this season, given about 40 percent of the regular-season schedule won’t be played.