Tiger Woods takes a practice swing before teeing off on the first hole during the first round of the AT&T National at the Aronimink Golf Club on Thursday in Newtown Square, Pa.

Newtown Square, Pa. ? Arjun Atwal learned years ago to stop comparing himself with Tiger Woods during their many practice rounds together in Florida. There was no comparison Thursday in the opening round of the AT&T National.

Atwal ran off three straight birdies early in his round at Aronimink Golf Club and wound up in a four-way tie for the lead at 4-under 66 on a gorgeous day in the Philadelphia suburbs. Woods let a decent round get away from him with an awful finish and shot 73 to finish toward the bottom of the pack.

Joining Atwal atop the leaderboard were Joe Ogilvie, Nick Watson and Jason Day.

Golf

Choi leads by one stroke

Sylvania, Ohio — Na Yeon Choi shot a career-best 7-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Canadian Alena Sharp in the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

NASCAR

Kansas petitions for second race

Daytona Beach, Fla. — Kansas Speedway’s new look could lead to a new date.

International Speedway Corp. formally petitioned NASCAR on Thursday to give the Kansas City track a second Sprint Cup race as early as 2011.

ISC spokesman Lenny Santiago said he expects an answer later this summer, before NASCAR reveals next year’s schedule. Santiago declined to talk about details of the petition, which includes a potential date and likely eliminates a race at another ISC track.

“We’re hopeful,” Santiago said at Daytona International Speedway. “We’ve been working with NASCAR and recently made our formal request to them. We’re not discussing the details of where the date may come from or anything like that, but we have made the request, and we’ll wait for their decision.”

Five newcomers added to ballot

Charlotte, N.C. — Jerry Cook, Jack Ingram, Dale Inman, Fred Lorenzen and T. Wayne Robertson are the newest nominees for NASCAR’s 2011 Hall of Fame class. The five are among 25 nominees who will be considered for induction next year.

MLB

Phillies 2B Utley out 8 weeks

Pittsburgh — Phillies star second baseman Chase Utley will be out at least eight weeks after having surgery on his injured right thumb, a major setback for the two-time defending NL champions.

Rangers get C Molina from Giants

Arlington, Texas — The AL West-leading Texas Rangers filled a significant need Thursday by acquiring veteran catcher Bengie Molina and cash from the San Francisco Giants for reliever Chris Ray and a minor-league pitcher.

Astros trade C Cash

San Diego — The banged-up Boston Red Sox have acquired catcher Kevin Cash from the Houston Astros for infielder Angel Sanchez.

Arizona fires manager, GM

Phoenix — Arizona Diamondbacks have fired manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Josh Byrnes. The Diamondbacks announced the move Thursday night. Arizona is 31-48 and in last place in the NL West.

NFL

Two players suspended

The NFL has suspended free agent running back LenDale White for four games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy and free agent defensive tackle Hollis Thomas for eight games for violating its performance-enhancing substances policy.

Titans QB Simms arrested

New York — Tennessee Titans backup quarterback Chris Simms says police mistook a comment about smoking cigarettes as an admission that he’d been smoking marijuana before he was stopped while driving in New York City.

Simms was released without bail after his arraignment Thursday on charges of driving while impaired by drugs. He’s due back in court Aug. 23.

Vick denies involvement

Richmond, Va. — Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Michael Vick says he was not involved with a shooting following his birthday celebration in Virginia Beach last week.

“I want to assure everyone that I had nothing to do with that incident,” he said in the statement provided to the Associated Press by his representatives Thursday night. “I left the restaurant prior to it occurring and did not witness what happened.”

Vick said he reported the incident to the Eagles and “to representatives of Commissioner Roger Goodell.”

The former Atlanta Falcons star also said he has been “completely truthful and fully cooperative” with law enforcement and the NFL and will continue to cooperate as the investigation continues.

Innovative coach Coryell dies

San Diego — Don Coryell, the innovative coach whose Air Coryell offense produced some of the most dynamic passing attacks in NFL history, has died. He was 85.

The San Diego Chargers confirmed Coryell died Thursday at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, just outside of San Diego. The team did not release the cause of death, but Coryell had been in poor health for some time.

Softball

U.S. advances to worlds final

Caracas, Venezuela — Katie Cochran singled in two runs in a four-run first inning, and the United States went on to beat Japan, 4-0, on Thursday and clinch a spot in the finals of the softball world championships.