MELBOURNE, Australia -- Representing the United States for the first time and making his first trip to Australia, Kevin Streelman wasnt over-awed by a tough Royal Melbourne golf course on Thursday. Streelman birdied five of the first six holes on the back nine before making bogey on two of the final three to share the first round lead at the World Cup with Thomas Bjorn at 5-under 66. K.J. Choi, Martin Laird and Stuart Manley were tied for third at 67, and Jason Day (68) was sixth place, two strokes behind the leaders. Another American, Matt Kuchar, shot 71 after four bogeys on the back nine. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., is the top Canadian after the first round. Hes in a tie for ninth at 1-under 70. Ottawas Brad Fritsch opened at even 71. The Americans and Denmark were tied for the team lead, three strokes ahead of Portugal. Traditionally a team event, an individual stroke-play competition was added to the tournament this year to mirror the format to be used at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Only 12 of the 60 players in the no-cut field broke par. "I made some good birdie putts today and some par saves as well, so pretty happy," Streelman said. "On 18, the wind tricked us a little bit and it floated me on a hair and it came down in the middle of that bunker and plugged pretty deep. I had no shot. Its going to happen out here, you expect it." Bjorn had a poor start to his day, four-putting the fourth hole. "I thought, Well, this could be a long day, but I just kind of kept my composure and made some good birdies and kept playing solid," the Dane said. "It is, in my eyes, probably the finest golf course you can ever play." Kuchar said he wasnt disappointed with his score. He bogeyed 18, a hole he double-bogeyed at the Australian Masters on Sunday to give Adam Scott as two-stroke win. "The back side today, certainly 16, 18, are really tough holes," Kuchar said. "I was not able to finish those off as well as I would like to have today, but even par is not a bad score." Scott, who won the Australian PGA before his Australian Masters victory, had a quintuple-bogey 9 on the 12th hole and shot 75. Trying to drive over a dog-leg with his tee shot, Scott hit his first ball on the par-4, 440-yard 12th into the bushes in the right rough, then hit a provisional in the same area. He didnt find his first ball and his second was unplayable, so he returned to the tee and hit his fifth shot. Scott hit through the green on his approach, got on the green for seven and two-putted for nine. "Just a couple of lazy swings and I paid the price," Scott said. "Just away with the fairies on that hole. When you play good tracks like this you need to be switched on at all times and I paid the price." 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Marcus Davenport Saints Jersey .J. -- While Martin Brodeur wasnt willing to say he stole one for the New Jersey Devils against the Columbus Blue Jackets, almost everyone else was. Thomas Morstead Jersey .6 seconds left to give the Toronto Raptors a 92-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in an exhibition game Wednesday night.ST. LOUIS - When Carlos Martinez tries for a spot in the St. Louis Cardinals rotation, the 23-year-old righty will be proudly wearing the number of a fallen teammate.Martinez was close friends with fellow Dominican Republic countryman Oscar Taveras, the promising rookie outfielder who died in a car crash last October after St. Louis was eliminated by the Giants in the NL Championship Series.Martinez switched to jersey No. 18 to honour Taveras, and says hell wear it the rest of his career.He was a friend, a brother, Martinez said through an interpreter Monday on the final day of the teams three-day Winter Warm-Up fan festival. Im taking it bit by bit. This tragedy, of course, affected me.Cardinals uniforms will feature patches with Taveras number and initials, and a decal will be placed inside the stadium, much like the ones memorializing the late Darryl Kile and Josh Hancock. Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said the team also is renovating a field in Taveras hometown of Sosua, aiming to make it first-rate.A brief stint pitching in the Dominican Winter League provided Martinez with an outlet that helped him process the accident that also killed Taveras girlfriend.Martinez wax 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 26 strikeouts and two walks in 24 innings for Aguilas Cibaenas.It definitely helped me mentally to be able to focus on something else, to be able to concentrate on something else, Martinez said. I know what I need to do be in the fifth spot and Im ready for the challenge.I feel like yes, this is my spot, he said.Martinez appeared in 57 games last season,including seven starts in midseason, going 2-4 with a 4.03 ERA. Hes the top pitching prospect in the organization.The Cardinals werent anxious to block that path by chasing free agent Max Scherzer, who got a seven-year, $210 million deal with Washington on Monday.The Cardinals have other pitching issues. Theyre monitoring the progress of 20-game winner Adam Wainwright from elbow surgery, Michael Wacha from an unusual shoulder injjury and lefty Jaime Garcia from unproven thoracic outlet surgery.ddddddddddddWere giving Carlos a great opportunity, but opportunity is just that, manager Mike Matheny said. Hes going to have to go out and compete.Marco Gonzales, coming off an impressive finish to his rookie year, and reliable lefty Tyler Lyons offer depth for a franchise leaning on its farm system.It makes the off-season for baseball fans enjoyable, to think of the what-ifs, Matheny said. Man, I could think of a bunch of guys that could come in here and compete for a job.I dont see the urgency in running out and making a hasty decision that goes outside of what the business model and plan is, he said.Lance Lynn, who has 48 wins in three years in the rotation, believes the biggest hurdle for Martinez will probably be adjusting to the work load. Counting a brief stint in the minors last year, he worked 99 2-3 innings.Thats going to be a different thing for him. You have to know when to go after it and when to be able to back off and get through things, Lynn said. I threw 140 innings, 160 innings before I even got called up to the big leagues.Lynn preferred to wait and see how Martinez handles the adjustment when facing a lineup for the third time. He topped out at 88 pitches and never made it past six innings last season.He showed at times last year that hes got electric stuff, Lynn said. Hes going to have to handle the pitching deep into games and staying under control and being able to get through those innings late in the game when theyve seen him once or twice.Lynn has the security of a long-term contract after getting a three-year, $22 million extension a few days earlier. Last year he entered spring training competing for a spot in the rotation.You know its going to take care of itself with the arbitration process, but just to get the whole three years situated so we dont ever have to go through it, Lynn said. Both of us feel like we got what we wanted and Im excited about it. ' ' '