HONOLULU, Hawaii - Webb Simpson made his debut with a conventional putter Thursday at the Sony Open and might have wished he had used one sooner. Cody Kessler Jersey .One year away from the new rule that outlaws anchored strokes, Simpson ditched his belly putter for a regular one for his 2015 debut and ran off eight birdies over his last 10 holes for an 8-under 62 that gave him a share of the lead with Paul Casey.David Hearn, from Brantford, Ont., sits in 23rd spot and is the top Canadian through the first 18 holes after shooting a 3-under 67. Nick Taylor, of Moose Jaw, Sask., and Calgarys Roger Sloan are tied for 70th after shooting even par. Graham DeLaet, from Weyburn, Sask., shot a 2-over 72 and is in 111th position while Adam Hadwin, who resides in Abbotsford, B.C., is in 126th place with a 3-over 73. On a day that made the 144 players feel they were in paradise with sunshine and barely a breeze, Simpson and Casey led the low scoring at Waialae.What set them apart is how they got there — Simpson with his conventional putter, Casey with his return to Honolulu for the first time in a decade.Today was a big day for me, Simpson said. I was extremely nervous — first round on the PGA Tour with a short putter. But I just had a couple (Bible) verses in my yardage book today that I kept reading, and I stayed calm. All thanks to God for giving me strength to just get through today.Today was a hurdle I felt like I needed to get over, and just real thankful.Camilo Villegas would have joined them at 62 except for failing to make birdie on the par-5 18th hole. He shot 29 on the front at Waialae before cooling slightly for a 63. Robert Streb also had a 63, the low score from the afternoon.Rory Sabbatini had a 64, while Jason Day, Matt Kuchar were in the group at 65. Defending champion Jimmy Walker played in the afternoon and was in the large group at 66.Casey says he gave up his European Tour membership to concentrate on playing the PGA Tour, spending time with his newborn son and getting his game back into the top 50 in the world. He hasnt played in a Ryder Cup since 2008. He hasnt been in the top 50 in nearly three years.And thats why it has been 10 years since he has been at the Sony Open. He typically is starting his season in the Middle East.For as long as Ive been professional Ive been a member of the European Tour, Casey said. For a long, long time now, Ive been trying to play both the PGA Tour and the European Tour, and some years Ive done it brilliantly, and other years Ive failed miserably, and I just didnt want to keep putting myself in kind of a position where Im struggling to fly around the world.Playing both tours is easier from inside the top 50, which effectively guarantees four majors and four World Golf Championships. Casey, who won the Dutch Open last year, is now at No. 78.Simpson said he stopped off in Las Vegas to work with Butch Harmon on his way to Hawaii to make sure he was up so speed with swing changes he made in the fall. But this day was all about his putter. He won the U.S. Open in 2012 with the belly putter, which has been his club since the fall of 2004 when he was at Wake Forest. And he used it last fall in Japan, but there was something about a PGA Tour event that made him nervous.It was one of my best putting rounds Ive ever had, to be honest, he said. Ive been putting well with it, but its easy to putt well at your home course playing with your biddies. So today there was a lot of pressure. Didnt sleep that great last night, but had a good morning, talked to my wife, good warmup, and it was big to see a few putts go in early. Real thankful for how the day unfolded.He made four birdie putts of at least 15 feet on his front nine, a pace that will be tough to maintain all week.DIVOTS: Geoff Ogilvy made his first hole-in-one on the PGA Tour with a 5-iron from 211 yards on the fourth hole. He said he has made five or six aces on other tours. The ace only helped so much. He opened with a 69. ... Simpsons 28 tied the front-nine record at Waialae set by Toshinori Muto three years ago. ... Of the five Champions Tour players in the field, Kenny Perry led the way at 67, while Paul Goydos shot 69. Vijay Singh had a 71, and Davis Love III and Fred Funk each had a 72. All but Singh are going over to the Big Island next week to start the Champions Tour season. Singh did not get an exemption. Malik Jackson Jersey . The second-ranked Jayhawks will play the Miners of Texas-El Paso at Imperial Arena in the Bahamas. The game can be seen live on TSN2 starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. A. J. Cann Jersey . Wawrinka, who is seeded fourth, is in the top half of the draw with Serbian Novak Djokovic. The Swiss star outlasted Djokovic in a five-set quarterfinal thriller last year and stunned Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the final to capture his first-ever Grand Slam title. http://www.thejaguarsfansshop.com/Jaguars-Aj-Bouye-Draft-Jersey/ . -- Cole De Vries had a couple of key strikeouts during what could have been the inning that doomed him to defeat against the Kansas City Royals, allowing him to escape further damage and keep the game tied up.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Trevor Cooney hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points, C.J. Fair added 15 points, and Syracuse forced 15 turnovers in the second half to pull away from the Panthers 75-54 on Friday night. A three-point Syracuse lead at the half turned into a one-point deficit early in the second half when Devante Wallaces leaner in the lane gave High Point a 40-39 lead. The Orange (11-0) responded with a 28-3 run to erase any doubt about the outcome. "We knew in the second half we had to get our confidence early, but we kind of started off a little bit slow again the first couple of minutes," Fair said. "But then we got it going. We got the stops we werent making in the first half. They were making us work on offence and on the defensive end, taking their time, and we were taking quick shots and not making them work." The Orange are the highest-ranked team High Point has ever played. The Panthers lost to third-ranked North Carolina 94-69 in December 2006 and are 2-26 against the Atlantic Coast Conference, the two wins coming more than 50 years ago. They departed deflated by the score but satisfied with the effort. "Im really proud of my team and the way that they battled and competed," High Point coach Scott Cherry said. "This should give us some confidence to be able to compete with anybody in the country. It doesnt mean were going to beat them, but we should certainly be able to compete with all the teams in our league. Im proud of everybodys effort. They competed the whole game." Cooney, who entered the game shooting 46.3 per cent from beyond the arc, has made at least five 3-pointers in six games this season. Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis had 10 points and matched his season high with nine assists and Jerami Grant also had 10 points for Syracuse. Wallace led High Point with 10 points, Anthony Lindauer had nine, and Dejuan McGaughy and Lorenzo Cugini seven apiece. Leading scorer John Brown, averaging 20.1 points, was held to a season-low six points on 3-of-11 shooting. "Its toough when he plays these guys with this length," Cherry said about Brown, his redshirt sophomore star. Ronnie Harrison Jersey. "Hes in the inside and hes trying to find space, and theres not a lot of space to work down there. But he did get some good looks. For some reason, he didnt convert them tonight. He was just trying his heart out." Syracuse finished 29 for 54 (53.7 per cent) and scored 38 points in the paint. High Point stayed with the Orange at the outset of the second half. Brown blocked Dajuan Colemans shot and then converted a dunk at the other end to narrow the Syracuse lead to a point. After falling behind for the second and final time in the game, Syracuse responded with an 11-0 spurt in less than 3 minutes. Baye Moussa Keita started it with a putback and Ennis scored two baskets in 6 seconds, hitting a driving layup and then stealing the inbounds pass for another easy bucket. Two free throws by Grant and Cooneys fourth 3 of the game capped the quick spurt and put Syracuse up 50-40 at 14:03. Fairs runner and another 3 from Cooney boosted the lead to 55-43 midway through the half as the Orange overwhelmed the Panthers, who committed 19 turnovers that Syracuse converted into 27 points. "The first half, when youre not active, you dont force turnovers," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We forced four turnovers in the first half, 15 in the second, and that got us out, got us some easy baskets. That was really the difference -- starting to just really play defence." Syracuse received a scare when Grant slipped to the floor with a sprained left ankle midway through the second half, but he walked off OK and retreated to the locker room to get examined. Syracuse pressed early and led by as many as 10 points in the opening half, gaining a 16-6 lead on Cooneys second straight 3-pointer at 12:47. Keitas three-point play kept the Orange lead intact at 11:55, but the Panthers had begun to find their range from outside with Lindauers 3-pointer. After missing six of their first seven shots, the Panthers finished the half 14 of 28 and were 6 of 12 from beyond the arc as four players hit from long range. They made 2 of 8 from beyond the arc in the second half and shot just 7 of 20 (35 per cent) overall. Cheap Blackhawks Jerseys Cheap Avalanche Jerseys Cheap Team USA Hockey Jerseys Cheap Stars Jerseys Cheap Wild Jerseys Cheap Predators Jerseys Cheap Blues Jerseys Cheap Jets Jerseys Cheap Ducks Jerseys Cheap Coyotes Jerseys Cheap Flames Jerseys Cheap Oilers Jerseys Cheap Kings Jerseys Cheap Sharks Jerseys Cheap Canucks Jerseys Cheap Golden Knights Jerseys Cheap Winter Classic Jerseys ' ' '