DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The four golfers?in contention for the?Race to Dubai?title were upstaged by Lee Westwood in the first round of the DP World Tour Championship on Thursday.Westwood shot a 6-under 66 in swirling winds to take a one-stroke lead at the European Tours season-ending event in Dubai.Some days you feel like theres a lot of birdies out there but today I think was a pretty stiff test, Westwood said.Danny Willett and Alex Noren were best-placed of the players bidding to finish the season as Europes No. 1 after shooting 71s on the Earth course of Jumeirah Golf Estates, while Henrik Stenson -- the leader in the Race to Dubai standings -- shot 72.Rory McIlroy started the week as the big outsider to win the Race to Dubai and his chances are even slimmer after shooting 75, ending a run of 28 straight rounds of par or lower at the World Tour Championship.Should Stenson win, he will be Europes No. 1 for the second time in four years. He could even finish atop the standings with a top-eight finish, provided Willett doesnt win or finish second and Noren doesnt win.The 43-year-old Westwood, who was the winner of the inaugural edition of World Tour Championship in 2009, made just one bogey -- on No. 12 -- on a day when winds made scoring difficult. He had three birdies on the front nine and four on the back nine.It was all good, really. I played lovely, said Westwood, playing without his regular caddie Billy Foster who is out with a knee injury. Hit a lot of fairways, a lot of good iron shots, putted nicely and, you know, didnt make too many mistakes out there.Frances Julien Quesne and Belgiums Nicolas Colsaerts were tied for second place after 67s, while No. 12 Spaniard Sergio Garcia was tied fourth after a 68, along with Italian Francesco Molinari and Dutchman Joost Luiten.Stenson made just one birdie and one bogey, being denied a closing birdie on the 18th after his putt from six feet lipped out.It wasnt my best day. I played very average, Stenson said. Id say the good putts I hit didnt go in, and the bad ones certainly didnt.Mariners Jerseys 2020 . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. Custom Seattle Mariners Jerseys . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. https://www.cheapmariners.com/ . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. Seattle Mariners Store . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Seattle Mariners Pro Shop . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record.HOUSTON -- The Rockets have labored intently without guard Patrick Beverley over the opening three weeks of the season, but now comes the time where their patience should be validated.Beverley, who underwent left knee surgery during the preseason, is set to return this week. He practiced on Friday and completed a light training session on Sunday. Rockets coach Mike DAntoni declared Beverley out against the Philadelphia 76ers for Monday night at Toyota Center, but chances appear great that Houston (5-4) will get a backcourt boost either Wednesday or Thursday.Cant wait to play, cant wait to get back with my teammates, Beverley said. Ive missed them a lot. Ive missed being on the road a lot, I miss the team camaraderie a lot. I miss playing basketball, I miss competing so Im excited to get back this week.The impact for the Rockets is greater than the 10.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game Beverley provided last season. Beverley is the teams best individual perimeter defender, and his influence on that end of the court has been sorely missed as Houston entered Sunday ranked 27th in defensive rating.Additionally, Beverley provides DAntoni the backcourt depth the Rockets have lacked through nine games. Houston has relied on Corey Brewer and Tyler Ennis to fill the void while also heaping a heavy workload on guard James Harden, who on Sunday ranked third in the NBA with an average of 37.8 minutes per game.Over his last three starts, Harden has averaged 39.9 minutes per game while posting averages of 27 points, 9.7 rebounds and 14.3 assists, incluuding consecutive triple-doubles in a home-and-home set with the Spurs that the Rockets split.ddddddddddddI havent completely 100 percent decided on things, DAntoni said. I do know Pats going to play and hes going to play a lot of minutes so that will change everybodys rotation. And I think it will also give James a couple, three minutes more rest. Hes been getting about 39 minutes; thats just too many minutes and we dont want to do that. Pat will be able to alleviate a lot of that.The Sixers (1-8) have been far more hamstrung by injuries, not only opening the season without veteran guard Jerryd Bayless (wrist) and young forwards Nerlens Noel (knee) and Ben Simmons (foot), but also managing the minutes restrictions on centers Jahlil Okafor and Joel Embiid.Okafor enjoyed his most effective performance of the season on Saturday night in a 117-96 loss to the Hawks in Atlanta, posting season highs in points (18), rebounds (six) and assists (two). Okafor played just under three minutes the previous night against the Indiana Pacers in the Sixers first victory of the season, and his showing against the Hawks bodes well as Philadelphia continues to bring him along slowly.The four-minute chunks that weve been giving him, we extended that, Sixers coach Brett Brown said after the loss. I was going to spend my money all to try to get back in this knowing that we may not have him at the end. I felt like the game would leave us otherwise. ' ' '