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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- There were no major letdowns for Masters contenders Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage on Thursday. Kuchar, who tied for fifth at Augusta National, shot a bogey-free 5-under 66 to share the first-round lead with Scott Langley and William McGirt. The 20-year-old Spieth tied for second behind Bubba Watson last Sunday and continued his strong play with a 69, part of a large group tied for fifth at Harbour Town Golf Links. Kuchar and Spieth both spent much of Sunday in the pressure cooker that is the Masters final round. But neither player allowed any lingering disappointment or fatigue from a grueling week to slow them down here. "I was anxious to get back out and play another competitive round," Spieth said. "So today was going to be kind of therapy, in a sense, from last week." Langley and McGirt each had five birdies on the front nine to match Kuchar. Harris English was two shots behind after a 68 before Spieth topped a group of 15 another stroke back. In all, 54 competitors shot par or better despite the gusts of 20 mph that swept through the course much of the round. The week after the seasons first major is generally one of rest for many of golfs big names and this years no different. Masters champ Watson took off as did Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy. World No. 1 Tiger Woods continues recuperating from back surgery that kept him from playing Augusta National for the first time in 20 years. Just six of the worlds top-20 ranked golfers teed it up this week, led by Kuchar at No. 6. Spieth, who tied with fellow Masters rookie Jonas Blixt for second last week, didnt consider withdrawing at Harbour Town, convinced of the benefits of quickly getting back to work. It was also a get-to-know-you session for Spieth, who was paired with U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson and 2012 Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III. "It was unbelievable just to be playing with them," Spieth said. For Kuchar, playing was a no-brainer considering the strong run hes been on the past month or so. He tied for fourth at the Texas Open three weeks ago and lost in a playoff at the Houston Open a week later right before the Masters. And Kuchar understands being focused at the Masters can mean being zoned in at Harbour Town. "Youre going to see a lot of guys, if theyre not too run down from a major championship, come out and play some pretty good golf the week following." Kuchar played with confidence and precision, avoiding the winds when possible and playing to the meatiest parts of the smallish greens. After starting on the back nine, Kuchar birdied both the par 5 holes on the front side before finishing with a birdie on his final hole, the ninth, to shoot in the 60s for the sixth time in his past 11 rounds here. "It was some awfully steady golf," he said. Langley, with his early birdie run, looked as if he might finish on top alone after a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th moved him to 6 under. But Langley wound up in the scrub along the 18th green and took bogey to fall into the three-way tie for first. Langley has missed seven cuts this season, including his past two tournaments. But he felt confident in his game and took motivation from his friend Spieths run at a green jacket last week. "Seeing Jordan do so well, almost win the Masters, inspired me a little bit," Langley said. McGirt played in the same group with Langley and matched his partner with five front-nine birdies. He chipped in on the par-3 17th to move up into the tie for first. "Scott and I were both making birdies left and right," McGirt said. "It was easy to feed off each other." DIVOTS: Nick Faldo may make his weekend TV job after all. The CBS Sports analyst opened his first RBC Heritage in eight years with a 6-over 77 to tie for next-to-last place. The 56-year-old Faldo won his first U.S. event at Harbour Town in 1984. ... Davis Love III has been the Harbour master at the RBC Heritage with five victories and a tour-best $2.63 million won here. But he missed the past two years with injuries and was back for the first time since 2011. The layoff didnt slow Love down as he opened with a 1-under 70 -- his 59th career round under par at Harbour Town. ... Tom Watson was a two-time RBC Heritage champion who hadnt played here since 2001. He shot a 4-over 75. T. J. Watt Womens Jersey . -- Arizona coach Bruce Arians says there "were obviously very, very many problems" with the officiating in the Cardinals 24-21 loss at Philadelphia. Heath Miller Youth Jersey . Reimer is winless (0-2-1) since returning from a six-week absence due to concussion-like symptoms. The Maple Leafs dropped a 4-2 decision to the hosting Washington Capitals on Friday. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steel...Gilliam-Jersey/. HEROES P.K. Subban – Scored the overtime winner and assisted on Montreal’s earlier goal, both on the power play, in a 2-1 win over Nashville. Troy Polamalu Jersey . Peter Dawson took his long before he started the job. "I was playing an American one year at Oxford Golf Club, and he introduced me to this travelling mulligan," Dawson said. Diontae Johnson Youth Jersey . 1 status and was unable to prevent a late season collapse, James Reimer said he wants to put the past behind him and is looking forward to spending the next two years in a Maple Leaf uniform.OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Thunder became familiar with Memphis grind-it-out defensive style while losing to the Grizzlies during last seasons NBA playoffs. On Monday night, the Thunder beat Memphis at its own game. Kevin Durant had 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Serge Ibaka had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder continued their home dominance, beating the Memphis Grizzlies 86-77. Oklahoma City (39-11) had a 10-game winning streak snapped Saturday at Washington, but the Thunder moved to 21-3 at home while winning their seventh straight game at Chesapeake Energy Arena. In doing so, the Thunder posted its second-best defensive outing of the season. Oklahoma Citys inside quartet of Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, Steven Adams and Nick Collison combined to limit Memphis potent frontcourt duo of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol Meanwhile, Thabo Sefolosha limited Memphis Courtney Lee -- who scored 24 points in the last meeting between the teams -- to 11 points. Memphis finished 2 of 16 from 3-point range. "I thought we did a good job of playing tough defensive basketball throughout the game," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "One of the strengths of our team, obviously, is our versatility. I think tonight it showed that sometimes you have to play different styles of basketball to get a win." Randolph had 13 points and 13 rebounds and Gasol added 13 points for Memphis (26-21), which lost for the second time in 13 games. The Grizzlies had won six straight games, the NBAs longest winning streak entering Monday. "We didnt play the basketball that we normally play," Randolph said. "We made bad decisions at important times of the game. There were a lot of turnovers, including myself, but youve got to be smart. And weve got to hit shots." Coming off a remarkable January during which he averaged 35.9 points per game on 54.9-per cent shooting, Durant finished 11 of 21 from the field. Ibaka went 10 of 17 from the field and posted his 19th double-double of the season while helping lead the Thunders interior defence. Oklahoma City finished with nine blocked shots, four of those by Adams, a career high for the rookie from New Zealand. "Steven only had three points and five rebounds and Perk only had one point and eight rebounds, but both impacted the game," Brooks said. Memphis, which trailed by 17 points laate in the first half, pulled within three points three times in the final 6:45, the last time at 78-75 after Lees driving 5-foot jumper with 4:54 left.dddddddddddd Durant answered with a 14-foot jumper, then after an exchange of empty possessions, Sefolosha swished a 3-pointer and Durant followed with a steal and layup to give Oklahoma City an 85-75 cushion with 2:54 left. "That gave us a boost when he hit that shot," Durant said. The Thunder managed only one point after that, but the Grizzlies couldnt take advantage, scoring only on a follow shot by Randolph with 1:12 left. The Thunder used an 18-2 run near the end of the first half to take a 51-36 halftime lead. By halftime, Ibaka already had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. "We started the game great defensively and we built off of that," Durant said. "Offensively we played a little slow but we picked it up in that second quarter and built some momentum going into the second half." With a lineup of reserves, Oklahoma City didnt score for almost three minutes to start the fourth quarter, causing Brooks to reinsert Durant with 9:41 left. Durant promptly drew a foul on James Johnson and hit 1-of-2 free throws, then swished a 14-foot jumper from the left wing to put the Thunder up 72-63. "We played from too far behind," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said. "We gave them 51 points, lots of layups, in the first half. . It was very difficult for us. When you come back, you have a very small margin for error." Reggie Jackson started the game with two airballs but eventually finished with 12 points for Oklahoma City. Mike Miller added 11 points for Memphis. Notes: With starting point guard Mike Conley out with an ankle injury, Memphis signed G Darius Morris to a 10-day contract on Monday. Morris averaged 4.2 points and 1.6 assists in 22 games this season with the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers. ... Memphis had a six-game road winning streak snapped. .. The Thunder recorded its 113th straight regular-season sellout, although there were some empty seats visible in the lower sections of Chesapeake Energy Arena. ... Joerger was named as the Western Conference coach of the month for January, beating out Brooks. Memphis went 12-3 in January, compared Oklahoma Citys 13-5 mark. ... At least twice, Joerger complained about the volume level in the arena. ' ' '