Tiger Woods is among few to tame Innisbrook in PGA event

Tiger Woods was among the 27 players — only 20 percent of the field — to break par at Innisbrook on Thursday in the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla.

Woods shot a 2-under-par 70 and trailed leader Corey Conners, a rookie from Canada, by three strokes. Nick Watney, Whee Kim and Kelly Kraft each shot a 68. Only four other players beat Woods' 70.

"I enjoy when par is a good score. It's a reward," Woods said. "There are some tournaments when about four holes you don't make a birdie, you feel like you're behind."

Woods is playing his fourth PGA Tour event since returning from fusion surgery on his lower back, his fourth surgery since spring 2014.

Serena Williams beat Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3 in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., winning her first singles match in her comeback after a 14-month layoff for the birth of her first child.

Williams' only competitive appearances since the birth came in a Fed Cup doubles match with sister Venus Williams and an exhibition in New York on Monday.

"It's been over a year and a kid later, and I get to go home to her now, and I'm excited about that," Serena Williams said.

Guice told Sirius XM Radio that one team asked if he was gay and another asked if his mother "sells herself."

The league released a statement deploring any such queries.

• Denver agreed to trade cornerback Aqib Talib to the Los Angeles Rams, a person with knowledge of the deal said. The Rams will send Denver a draft pick, believed to be a fifth-rounder, for the perennial Pro Bowler.

• Tennessee revealed it will release running back DeMarco Murray, whose role diminished last season.

• Cincinnati signed defensive tackle Chris Baker to a one-year deal. He has started 53 games the past four seasons, for three teams.

College football: Former Gophers coach Ed Warinner will lead Michigan's offensive line, filling the post left open by Tim Drevno's departure. Warriner left the Gophers in January.