Rose in position for big gain, leads at BMW Championship

LEMONT, Ill. - Feeling as though he had nothing to lose, Justin Rose put himself in position for a big gain with his best round of the year Thursday in the BMW championship.

Rose made birdie on half of his holes at Cog Hill, a tough course that played even longer in chilly conditions, giving him an 8-under 63 and a two-shot lead over Webb Simpson and Mark Wilson.

"Didn't expect that going out there today," Rose said. "I looked to the weather, looked at the temperature, and I thought today was going to be a day to hang in there. Little did I know I was about to play so well -- certainly my best round of the year by a long, long way. And could have been top five, top 10 rounds I've ever played for sure."

There were other reasons he didn't see it coming.

Since a solid spring through the Masters, the 31-year-old player from England lost his way and went 10 straight tournaments without a top-10 finish. He is No. 34 in the FedEx Cup, and because only the top 30 advance to the Tour Championship and a shot at the $10 million bonus, Rose figured he might as well give it his best shot.

It was better than he imagined.

He didn't miss a single fairway and only twice had to scramble for par.

One round made his prospects for the FedEx Cup brighten considerably, although plenty of other players took advantage of relatively soft greens that made up for the swirling breeze and temperatures that eventually climbed into the 60s.

Simpson remained hot despite the weather.

He won for the first time on the PGA Tour a month ago at Greensboro, then won again two weeks later in the Deutsche Bank Championship to move to the top of the FedEx Cup and assure himself one of the coveted top five positions at East Lake. Another week, another course, and there he is again.

"Luckily, I was able to keep the momentum in the good stretch I had in Boston going into today," Simpson said. "We got off to a really good start and made a few really good saves there in the middle of the round and finished with a couple birdies coming in. It was a good day for the tough course and tough conditions we were facing."

Simpson made it sound simple, which is how golf can feel when a player is winning.

It wasn't that way for everyone.

Dustin Johnson, the defending champion at Cog Hill, sputtered at the start and then stumbled at the turn, making five bogeys for a 40 on his back nine for a 76. Jason Day had a 77, while Bubba Watson was wild off the tee and didn't make a single birdie in his round of 78.

Phil Mickelson nearly joined them. He took double bogey on the par-3 second hole when his flop shot from the other side of the green only went one-third of the way toward the hole and stayed in the collar of the rough. Another towering flop shot wound up 12 feet by the hole. Lefty was 4 over through five holes, but ran off four birdies and salvaged a 72.

The measure of Rose's good round was that his 63 was nearly nine shots better than the average score in the opening round, and only 16 other players managed to break 70.

K.J. Choi opened with a 67, while the group at 68 featured Jim Furyk and Camilo Villegas, both of whom need a big week to advance to the Tour Championship. Villegas narrowly got into the FedEx Cup playoffs, starting at No. 109, and now has the Tour Championship in his sights.

"Who cares where you are right now," Villegas said. "It's all about just playing good golf from here the next three days and hopefully advancing."

Rose said he cleaned up his swing with coach Sean Foley during a practice session Tuesday, making sure the club was not laid off at the top of his swing. He found a simple swing though, stuck with it, and watched it pay off in a big way.

As for his position in the FedEx Cup? Rose didn't even bother to do the math.

"I've got nothing to lose this week," he said. "That's my strategy. That's my attitude. Right now, I'm not going to Atlanta. I've got everything to gain this week. That's really the way I'm seeing it. Guys who are 26, 27, 28, 29, who have played well all year, they might be pretty tense this week because they feel they deserve to be in Atlanta."

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France, Russia advance to semis at European championship

KAUNAS, Lithuania -- Russia's American coach David Blatt has given up trying to fit Andrei Kirilenko into a system. Let the forward do what he does best, which is to follow his instinct around the basketball court.

That approach worked Thursday. Kirilenko had 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals for undefeated Russia, which beat Serbia 77-67 to line up a semifinal against France at the European basketball championship.

Tony Parker scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as France rallied to beat Greece 64-56.

Spain and Macedonia will play in the other semifinal on Friday.

Blatt, seeking to guide Russia to its second title since 2007, described Kirilenko's game as "unbelievable" and compared the Utah Jazz free agent as a "beautiful wild horse."

"He's best when he's running around the court and he's free. Most of his best plays come from instinct. I try to tell him a little about how to play, but it only seems to bother him.

"You can't teach or coach what he does, and you can't prepare against him. Thank god he's on my side," Blatt said.

Victor Khryapa and Andrey Vorontsevich added 11 points each for Russia.

Serbia beat Russia in the quarters two years ago before losing to Spain in the gold medal game. But Russia was without Kirilenko and Khryapa then.

Serbia missed guards Milenko Tepic and Aleksandar Rasic because of back injuries. Centre Nenad Krstic played 25 minutes with a sore hip and finished with 13 points.

Point guard Milos Teodosic scored 20 points for Serbia, but also ended with nine turnovers and missed two three-point attempts late in the game.

"Russia scored 19 points from our turnovers and 18 from second chances and that's what lost us the game," Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic said.

"They were fast, aggressive and they jumped all over us," forward Dusko Savanovic said.

In the early game, Greece led 43-40 going into the fourth quarter but Parker scored four straight points to cap an 8-0 run and France never lost the lead again. France outscored Greece 24-13 in the final period.

"I've worked too hard this summer and the last 10 years to let it end now," said Parker, the San Antonio Spurs star who is seeking to lead this generation of talented French players to their country's first title.

Ioannis Bourousis, who finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, kept Greece in the game until Nicolas Batum, the Portland Trail Blazers small forward, made two straight baskets with a block in between to make it a six-point game with just over a minute to go.

A pair of free throws by Nikolaos Zisis gave Greece some hope. After Parker and centre Joakim Noah missed shots, Greece lost the ball and fouled Nando de Colo, who made both free throws. Noah then stole the ball, was fouled and made both free throws. De Colo finished with 16 points and Batum added 15.

"They really broke our rhythm at the start. They pretty much put us to sleep," Parker said. "But we got into the third quarter well and we never doubted that we would win."

The two finalists of this tournament will also clinch slots at next year's Olympics in London. The next four teams will go to an additional qualifying tournament next year, with three advancing to the games.

The semifinalists are certain of at least a place in the qualifying tournament.

"This was our first goal, now we want to go straight to the Olympics," France coach Vincent Collet said.

Greece coach Ilias Zouros said his team ultimately paid the price for being less experienced.

"When you don't score you have to stop them quickly and we didn't do that even though we had few team fouls," Zouros said.

Greece and Serbia will play for a place in the top six. The winner will play Lithuania for fifth place. Lithuania beat Slovenia 80-77.

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NBA stars shine as European Championship kicks off

SIAULIAI, Lithuania -- NBA stars made the difference on the opening day of the European Championship, leading their nations to victories in what is also a qualifying tournament for next year's London Olympics.

Pau Gasol, the Los Angeles Lakers centre, had 29 points to help defending champion Spain stave off a late comeback and defeat Poland 83-78.

Tony Parker had 31 points in 38 minutes to lead France past Latvia 89-78, while Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 in 27 minutes and Chris Kaman added 18 points and 10 rebounds in Germany's 91-64 defeat of Israel.

"It's always good to win the first game. Obviously I won't play 38 minutes in every game," said Parker, the San Antonio Spurs guard who also had seven assists. "The whole team has to play good if we want to do something at this competition."

Four other French players scored in double figures.

Janis Blums led all scorers with 32 for Latvia, which kept the Group B game close until the fourth quarter. Blums hit six of nine 3-pointers but got little help.

Boris Diaw had 14 for France, Mikael Gelabale added 11 while Joakim Noah and Nicolas Batum had 10 each.

Blums' free throw left Latvia trailing by two with 4:30 remaining, but Nicolas Batum's 3-pointer and another by Gelabale restored a safe cushion for France.

"We just have to take it one game at a time. The games go on very fast. It's on us to just stay focused and realize that we are playing against a team that can definitely beat us," said Noah, the Chicago Bulls centre.

With the NBA mired in a lockout, many stars have returned to Europe to help their nations try to clinch slots at next year's Olympics. The two finalists qualify directly, while the next four finishers earn slots at another qualifying tournament.

Nowitzki, the MVP of the NBA finals against the Miami Heat, and Kaman dominated a smaller Israeli team.

"We played well together, it was super for the first game," Nowitzki said. "If we play like this, we can achieve something."

In one game in which NBA players did not tip the balance, Serbia overcame a slow start to beat Italy 80-68.

Guards Milos Teodosic and Milenko Tepic scored 15 points for Serbia and Milan Macvan added 14 off the bench to go with eight rebounds.

Italy's Andrea Bargnani, the Toronto Raptors centre, led all scorers with 22 points and Danilo Gallinari of the Denver Nuggets added 15.

Serbia did not lead until late in the second quarter but then pulled away and was up by 18 before Italy came within four. The Serbs rallied and did not let the game slip away.

"I told my players that this the game we have to win, because we have tough matches upcoming," Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic said. "We went hot and cold and we relaxed too much when we had a bid lead. It was a team performance. We don't have a real starting five and our bench was ready to come in and contribute."

Serbia is in the same Group B with France and Germany. Only the top three teams advance from each of the four groups in the 24-team tournament.

Spain, which beat Serbia in the title match two years ago, had a rocky start, although Gasol and his brother Marc, who also plays in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies, dominated inside. They tied for a game-high seven rebounds each and Marc also had 16 points.

Juan Carlos Navarro added 23 points for Spain.

But Ricky Rubio, the guard signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves, missed all of his five field-goal attempts in 16 minutes of play, with two steals and two turnovers.

Luol Deng's double-double was not enough for Britain to upset host Lithuania. The Chicago Bulls forward led all scorers with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Lithuania led by 10 at halftime but scored only four points and produced nine turnovers through eight minutes of the third, giving Britain a 55-54 lead.

The hosts revived their shooting touch with a 26-12 fourth quarter.

In other matches, Montenegro beat Macedonia 70-65 in overtime, Georgia routed Belgium 81-59, Greece beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 76-67, Slovenia defeated Bulgaria 76-67, Turkey swept past Portugal 79-56, Russia beat Ukraine 73-64, Croatia edged Finland 84-79.

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