Tom Watson is feeling good and likes his golf game these days. The 60-year-old Watson celebrated his one-year anniversary from successful left hip surgery by shooting a 6-under 64 and building a four-stroke lead Saturday at the Senior Players Championship.

Watson, bidding to become the oldest major winner on the Champions Tour, attacked the Baltimore Country Club course and put together a bogey-free round — he’s made only one during the tournament — with six birdies to finish at 12-under 198 and four shots clear of Loren Roberts (65), John Cook (65) and Mark Wiebe (66).

Watson nearly won the British Open back in July, but a balky putter on the 72nd hole cost him the Claret jug. Now, Watson said he’s more confident on the greens and, three months removed from his dramatic performance at Turnberry, happy about his play.

He’s also healthier. Last season, Watson walked with a limp and had trouble sleeping because of pain in his hip. After the surgery, Watson said he immediately saw results.

“I heard a lot of good things about hip replacement, people getting great results and having more flexibility, more range of motion,” he said. “I can get up on a horse, over a fence, all kinds of things now. It is something, to think you’ve got this metal, ceramic piece of merchandise in there. It works so well, I hope it lasts a long time.”

Watson started the round with a two-shot lead over Wiebe and Jay Haas (7-under 203) and birdied three holes on the front nine to get to 9 under. Three more birdies and a key par save on the par-3 11th hole put Watson into the lead. It also drew praise from his competitors.

“Tom’s played three great rounds,” said Cook, who carded six birdies and one bogey to stay close. “We’ve got our work cut out for us, no doubt.”

Cook’s lone blemish came on No. 18, one of the most difficult holes on the course.

Watson seemed relaxed Saturday, chatting off and on with playing partner Wiebe about non-golf related topics such as college football and his hometown pro team, the Kansas City Chiefs.

GOLF

Ochoa leads LPGA events

Prattville, Ala. — Defending champion Lorena Ochoa shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead in the Navistar LPGA Classic, leaving 14-year-old Alexis Thompson eight strokes behind.

Ochoa, second last week behind Sophie Gustafson in California, had a 16-under 200 total on The Senator course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex. She birdied six of her final 12 holes in the bogey-free round.

The top-ranked Mexican star is winless in her last 11 starts. She has two victories in 17 events this season after winning 21 times the previous three years.

Thompson, the Florida ninth-grader who was part of a five-way tie for the second-round lead, had a 74 to drop into a tie for 13th at 8 under.

Sandra Gal (66) was second at 13 under, and Janice Moodie (68) and Brittany Lang (68) were 12 under. Michelle Wie (72) matched Thompson at 8 under.

Two tied at Turning Stone

Verona, N.Y. — Scott Piercy shot a 6-under 66 for a share of the lead with Matt Kuchar after the third round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship.

With the sun shinning after two days of heavy rain in the Fall Series opener, Kuchar had a 67 to match Piercy at 14-under 202 on the Atunyote Golf Club course.

Rod Pampling (65) and Leif Olson (68) were a stroke back, and Nicholas Thompson (69) was 12 under. Mathias Gronberg tied the course record with a 64. He was 10 under.

Wind halts Dunhill Links

St. Andrews, Scotland — Gale force wind forced the postponement of the third round of the Dunhill Links Championship without a shot being played. With all three venues — the Old Course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns — deemed unplayable, the possibility of any action was abandoned.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Michael Hoey and Scotland’s Richie Ramsay were tied for the lead at 11 under.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Army names coach

West Point, N.Y. — Zach Spiker has been hired as men’s basketball coach at Army. Spiker has served as an assistant at Cornell under Steve Donahue and helped the Big Red to upper-division finishes in the Ivy League each of his five seasons there.

Spiker was involved in recruiting at Cornell, which won consecutive Ivy League titles the past two seasons, including a 14-0 conference mark in 2007-08. It was the first back-to-back league titles for Cornell in school history, and the first time a team other than Penn or Princeton won consecutive Ivy League championships.

NFL

Favre probable for Vikings

Eden Prairie, Minn. — Brett Favre won’t be missing his first game against the Green Bay Packers. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback is listed as probable for the showdown on Monday night. Favre has been limited in practice all week because of a sore right foot, but he will make his 273rd consecutive start.

All-Pro left guard Steve Hutchinson is listed as questionable due to a back injury. He missed the first two practices of the week and participated on a limited basis on Saturday. Coach Brad Childress says he thinks Hutchinson will be fine.

Seahawks add lineman

Renton, Wash. — With little depth on the offensive line, the Seattle Seahawks signed tackle Kyle Williams from the practice squad Saturday and released fullback Justin Griffith. Seattle will be without tackles Walter Jones and Sean Locklear today at Indianapolis.

Williams played in four games last season and started two. Griffith played in Seattle’s first two games, but was inactive last week against Chicago. The veteran was brought in during the offseason to compete with Owen Schmitt for the starting job.

Browns RB out for season

Cleveland — Browns rookie running back James Davis had a short run in his first NFL season. Davis, whose impressive exhibition season led to speculation about Jamal Lewis’ future in Cleveland, will miss the rest of the season because of a shoulder injury. The Browns placed him on injured reserve Saturday.

BASEBALL

Chamberlain to relieve

St. Petersburg, Fla. — New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain is scheduled to work in relief today and appears headed to the bullpen for the first round of the playoffs. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Saturday that Chamberlain will pitch an inning or face a couple batters in the regular-season finale against Tampa Bay. Girardi said Chamberlain is “in the mix” for a bullpen spot for the opening round.

Chamberlain went 9-6 with a 4.78 ERA in 31 starts.

Blue Jays fire GM

Toronto — The Toronto Blue Jays fired general manager J.P. Ricciardi on Saturday, ending an eight-year tenure marked by an inability to get past the Yankees and Red Sox and into the playoffs.

Ricciardi, who joined the Jays in 2001, had one year left on his contract. The Blue Jays (75-85) are finishing off a mediocre season in Baltimore, with the team embroiled in locker-room unrest with manager Cito Gaston.

Padres GB Towers out

San Diego — Kevin Towers says he really wasn’t told why he was fired as general manager of the San Diego Padres, although he figures it’s because CEO Jeff Moorad wanted his own guy in the job.

“He never really told me exactly the reason why, but I’ve been around long enough to know why,” Towers, who held the job for 14 seasons, said Saturday.

NBA

Cavs’ West held out

Akron, Ohio — Troubled Cavaliers guard Delonte West did not join his teammates for an intrasquad scrimmage, the public’s first chance to see superstars LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal on the floor together as Cleveland teammates.

TENNIS

Malaysia finalists set

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia overcame a sloppy first set to beat Robin Soderling of Sweden, 1-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2, on Saturday and set up a Malaysia Open final against Fernando Verdasco. The second-seeded Spaniard beat Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, 6-4, 7-5, to reach his third ATP final of the year.