Thursday's Sports In Brief
GOLF
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Jordan Spieth was already the hottest player on the PGA Tour.
He kept right on going at the Masters.
The 21-year-old Texan turned in a brilliant opening round at Augusta National, challenging the major championship scoring record on the way to an 8-under 64 Thursday.
Spieth birdied eight of the first 14 holes, his shots so precise that he often had nothing more than tap-ins with the putter. He finished with a flourish, rolling in a 20-foot birdie putt at the 18th.
Australia's Jason Day also made quite a push, ripping off five straight birdies to get to 6 under before a bogey at the 17th ended his hopes of catching Spieth.
Playing the Masters for the first time since 2011, Charley Hoffman went out in the first group of the day and shot 67, a score that was matched by a resurgent Ernie Els and 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose.
AARON HERNANDEZ
FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) - Jurors in the murder trial of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez will continue deliberating for a fourth day.
The twelve jurors have spent nearly 16 hours considering whether to convict Hernandez of the June 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd. Lloyd was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. Hernandez's lawyer acknowledged the former NFL player was there when Lloyd was killed, but says he didn't do it.
Deliberations on Friday will end at 1 p.m. due to scheduling issues if jurors have not reached a verdict by then.
A photographer for a Boston TV station was banned from the courthouse Thursday after he acknowledged following jurors to a parking lot. He and his station, WHDH-TV, both said he had not spoken to them or taken their pictures.
NFL
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Troy Polamalu's iconic football career is over.
The Uniontown Herald-Standard reported Thursday night that the eight-time Pro Bowl safety told Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney he will retire rather than return for a 13th season.
''Maybe it was a sign for me to retire when I chase my kids around and couldn't catch them,'' Polamalu told the newspaper. ''It was either a sign for me to retire or a sign for them to begin training.''
The four-time All-Pro turns 34 later this month and had two years remaining on his contract. Yet he saw his play dip significantly from his prime, which peaked when he was named the 2010 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Polamalu missed nine games in 2012 with a calf injury and four games in 2014 with a knee injury.
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell is facing a three-game suspension following his arrest on DUI and marijuana charges last August.
A person with direct knowledge of the suspension told The Associated Press Bell is expected to appeal the suspension. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the disciplinary action had not been announced by the league. The suspension was first reported by ESPN.
Bell was arrested last August following a traffic stop along with then-teammate LeGarrette Blount. The 23-year-old All-Pro ended up pleading no contest and was sentenced to 15 months of probation and entered into a diversion program.
Blount, now a running back with New England, received a one-game suspension from the league last week.
TENNIS
PARIS (AP) - Two-time major champion Amelie Mauresmo has announced that she is expecting her first child this summer.
Mauresmo, who won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006, was No. 1 for 39 weeks in her career, becoming the first Frenchwoman to reach the top of the computer rankings since they were introduced in the 1970s.
Mauresmo, who announced she was gay back in 1999, is now coaching the third-ranked Andy Murray. She is also the captain of the French Fed Cup team.
''Baby will be here in August! Pregnant. So happy,'' she said via Twitter.
It's unclear whether Mauresmo will be forced to reassess her working schedule with Murray, who is testing out retired Swedish player Jonas Bjorkman, with a view to adding the doubles specialist to his coaching team.
COLLEGE SPORTS
One of England's oldest sporting events gets a new twist on Saturday when the women's and men's Boat Races between Oxford and Cambridge are held on the same course and the same day for the first time.
For nearly 90 years, the top female rowers at England's two leading universities have competed in the shadow of their male counterparts.
Races between the men's crews have typically attracted 270,000 spectators along the 4.2-mile (6.8-kilometer) stretch of the River Thames in southwest London and worldwide television audiences in more than 200 countries.
Until now, the women have competed away from the limelight - on a different day and on a different, less challenging course.
Those days are over. The women will finally get a chance to test out just what it's like to compete on center stage. The waters will be choppier, the course will be 3 1/2 times longer and the scrutiny will be more intense.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller, who posted a picture of himself on social media with health care and nutritional products, committed a minor violation of NCAA rules but will not be penalized.
The Ohio State athletic department issued a statement on Thursday updating the status of the two-time Big Ten offensive player of the year.
Miller posted his picture on Instagram on March 24 with products from AdvoCare.
Ohio State reported the incident to the NCAA, which reinstated Miller's eligibility without any conditions.
Miller is a graduate student who started three seasons but missed all of the Buckeyes' championship season last year after shoulder surgery. He is expected to play this fall after rehabbing through spring workouts.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma will try to break through and win the team title at the NCAA men's gymnastics championships.
The Sooners, 16-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation, have been runners up the past four years. The freshmen who competed when Oklahoma hosted the national meet in 2012 are now seniors with one last chance in front of the home crowd in Norman.
Oklahoma has broken the NCAA record for team score twice this season. Though favored to win their ninth national title, Sooners coach Mark Williams expects challenges from Stanford and Penn State.
The individual championships are Saturday. Oklahoma's Alec Robin is back after claiming national titles last year in the floor and the vault, and Michael Squires is a two-time defending champion on the rings.
STORRS, Conn. (AP) - The nation's best college polo teams are gathered at the University of Connecticut this week for the sport's national championships.
About 50 colleges and universities have competitive polo clubs, including UConn, where the women's team will be riding in the semifinals Thursday night against rival Cornell. The Huskies are trying for an eighth national title, just two fewer than the school's more famous women's basketball team.
The college game is played in an arena with three players on each team. The teams are provided with a ''string'' of horses, which are rotated after each period, so the same ponies are ridden by both teams.
Texas A&M and Colorado State advanced to the men's finals on Wednesday night, each winning their games in an overtime shootout.
AUTO RACING
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Richard Childress Racing will present its appeal next week of penalties levied by NASCAR against Ryan Newman's team for allegedly manipulating tires.
In a statement Thursday, Richard Childress said the appeal hearing is scheduled for April. 16.
NASCAR has said tires taken from Newman after the March 22 race in California failed an independent inspection and had been altered to intentionally release air pressure during the race.
Newman and car owner Childress were docked 75 points each. The points would be reinstated if RCR wins the appeal.
SOCCER
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Brazilian soccer legend Pele says he has ''happily recovered'' from a recent health scare.
The 74-year-old spent time in intensive care late last year because of a urinary tract infection and had to undergo physiotherapy to recover some of the muscle mass that he lost during his time in the hospital.
Pele talked about his health while visiting a slum in Santiago on Wednesday.
The three-time World Cup champion said his recovery feels like ''the most important medal.'' But he joked that although fit, he's not ready to play in the Copa America that kicks off in Chile in June.
Pele is widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time. He is a national hero in Brazil and remains a global ambassador for the game.
CRICKET
SYDNEY (AP) - Former Australia cricket captain and television commentator Richie Benaud has died at the age of 84, his employer Channel Nine network said Friday.
Benaud, considered one of the most influential cricket identities of the past century, had been fighting skin cancer and died overnight in a Sydney hospice.
Nine Network chief executive David Gyngell said in statement ''Richie Benaud's passing has robbed us not only of a national treasure but a lovely man ... Richie earned the profound and lasting respect of everyone across the world of cricket and beyond.''
A veteran of 63 test matches, Benaud played a pivotal role in the formation of World Series Cricket in the 1970s and was one of the world's most recognized commentators, anchoring the Nine Network's cricket coverage for decades.