Sports briefs

COLLEGE FOOTBALLOpenly gay player practices

One day after becoming the first active, openly gay Division I football player, Chip Sarafin practiced yesterday with his Arizona State teammates.

The offensive lineman already had told his teammates and coaches long before, without causing so much as a ripple.

He came out publicly when he did an interview with Compete, a magazine for gay sports, in which he talked about his sexual orientation for a story in its August issue.

The fifth-year senior follows in the footsteps of Michael Sam, the St. Louis Rams linebacker who came out after his playing days at Missouri were over. Sam became the first openly gay player to be drafted in the NFL and is competing for a roster spot with the Rams.

Jason Collins set the original precedent, becoming the first openly gay athlete in the four major U.S. sports when he came out to Sports Illustrated in April 2013. He broke another barrier when he played for the Nets late last season.

"I'm hoping that stuff like this won't be such a big news story, that people will hear stories like this and it won't be such a big thing," Sarafin said. "Eventually, players will be who they are and it's just that, but right now there still needs to be role models for those types of players."

GOLFThompson shares lead in LPGA

Lexi Thompson and South Korea's Meena Lee shot 6-under-66 to share the first-round lead in the LPGA Championship, the fourth major of the season.

Thompson, the Kraft Nabisco winner in April for her first major title, and Lee each made eight birdies and a pair of bogeys at Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, New York, to finish a stroke ahead of Brittany Lincicome, Lisa McCloskey of Colombia and Jennifer Kirby of Canada.

Villegas shoots 63 at Wyndham

Camilo Villegas shot a 7-under 63 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round at the Wyndham Championship in Greenboro, North Carolina. North Carolina natives Webb Simpson and William McGirt shot 64, and Scott Langley, Heath Slocum, Paul Casey, Andrew Loupe and Martin Laird were another stroke back in the final event before the PGA Tour's playoffs.

TENNISMurray holds off Isner

Andy Murray fought off two match points and edged John Isner, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (2) to reach the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open. In women's play, top-seeded Serena Williams continued her pursuit of her first title in this tournament with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Flavia Pennetta.

WNBALiberty falls to Fever

Briann January scored 16 points as the host Indiana Fever clinched a playoff spot for the 10th straight season with a 76-63 win over the Liberty. Tina Charles scored 15 points and Cappie Pondexter added 10 for the Liberty (13-19), which has two games remaining and trails by two games for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

SOCCERBanned Suarez can practice

Luis Suarez will train with his Barcelona teammates today after his ban at the World Cup was softened but not shortened. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the Uruguay forward, who recently left Liverpool for Barcelona, deserves his four-month ban from playing official matches for both his club and his country for biting the shoulder of Italy's Giorgio Chiellinian during the World Cup, but cleared him to start training with his club. -- AP