THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Zach Johnson is like most players at the World Challenge, not sure whether hes still playing in 2013 or if hes in the middle of the new wraparound season that officially started in October. All he knows is that hes leading. Johnson, who already has two official PGA Tour events under his belt in the "new season," came out a few days early to the unofficial World Challenge to work on new equipment with Titleist at its test centre in Carlsbad, and to meet with his team of coaches to outline goals for 2014 and to identify weakness. One priority is to score better on the par 5s, and Johnson wasted little time on that. Sherwood has five par 5s. He made birdie on four of them for a 5-under 67, giving him a one-shot lead over Matt Kuchar. Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson were at 70, while tournament host Tiger Woods missed short putts at the beginning and end of his round and had to settle for a 71. "A highlight that were looking into next year is trying to play those holes a little bit better," Johnson said of the par 5s. "I dont know what I did that today. I hit it close. I had good shots in there with the proper spin, nothing more than that. But youve got to take advantage of them. Youve got five of them. The thing is ... one errant shot, youre staring a 6 right in the face, if not more. Theres a lot of penal areas." Johnson said he still considers Kapalua to be the start of the season. Woods, meanwhile, is still trying to get his head around the schedule change. He hasnt played an official tournament in the 2013-14 season. The only event he played was the Turkish Open, where he tied for third in the European Tour event. After this week, he wont play again until Torrey Pines at the end of January. Thats his usual starting point, except that the PGA Tour already has had six guys win tournaments. "To me, Im still on the old calendar, so to me this is the end of the year," Woods said. "I know that Im going to be pretty far behind on points by the time I tee up again, and thats just kind of the way its going to be. ... But you have the entire summer, you have the entire major championship season, you have the big events and then the playoffs. Anything can happen. But its going to be interesting to see how far behind some of us are when we start." This sure didnt feel like summer. The temperature was in the upper 20s before the sun came up in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. There was a one-hour frost delay. A combination of firm turf, chilly weather, some breeze and firm greens made for tough scoring, and it showed. Steve Stricker was among those under par until a bogey-bogey-double bogey finish put him at 75. Jordan Spieth, coming off a sensational rookie season and playing for the first time since the HSBC Champions in Shanghai a month ago, had a 77 and was last in the field. Jason Day, who won the individual and team title at the World Cup two weeks ago at Royal Melbourne, had a 76. Rory McIlroy, with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki following him, was hopeful of building momentum from his first win of the year last week in the Australian Open. He missed a few short putts, found the water on the par-3 15th and had a 73. He played with defending champion Graeme McDowell, who had a 72. McDowell saw a note that his last eight rounds at Sherwood were in the 60s. That streak ended Thursday, though for good reason. "The course hasnt been this tough in a couple years," McDowell said. "The scoring reflects that. The greens are much firmer. The speed of them caught me by surprise a little bit today. My speed was a little clumsy, and it showed today on the greens." This is the final year the tournament is being played at Sherwood. It moves to Isleworth just outside Orlando, Fla., next year. Any rust Woods felt had to do with the greens, which he said showed on some of his putts. "I made a few mistakes today," Woods said. "I also hit a couple of good shots that ended up in some interesting spots. That can happen out there. I shot about the score ... maybe could have gotten one or two more out of it." Johnson had few complaints. He opened with two birdies, and then surged ahead on the back nine with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch, three of them on the par 5s. Johnson has a pair of runner-up finishes at this event, and with the tournament moving, this is his last shot at Sherwood. "I did everything decent," he said. "Just a real solid day all around. I was aggressive when I needed to be aggressive, and I was conservative when I needed to be conservative. Its nothing more than a decent start." on that. Edinson Volquez Jersey . People familiar with the case told The Associated Press on Friday that arbitrator Fredric Horowitz could issue his decision this weekend. Shin-Soo Choo Jersey . Joakim Nordstrom and Garret Ross also scored for Chicago and Corey Crawford made 30 saves. Tomas Tatar scored twice for Red Wings (2-3-0), Jonathan Ericsson added a goal and Gustav Nyquist had three assists. http://www.officialrangersgearshop.com/R...on-Kids-Jersey/. In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Russell Wilson Jersey . -- Miguel Angel Jimenez quickly shifted his focus back to the Ryder Cup after winning his first Champions Tour event. Ryan Rua Jersey . - The infectious smile was missing from Nam Nguyen last week.ATLANTA - Danny Ferry can only watch from afar, surely with plenty of satisfaction at the juggernaut he created, undoubtedly offset by a sense of melancholy that hes not along for the ride.Make no mistake, the Atlanta Hawks are Ferrys baby. He acquired nearly every player on a team that stunningly has the best record in the NBA.Even one of his harshest critics, who led the protests against Ferry after the general managers racially charged comments about Luol Deng, gives credit where credit is due.Clearly, Danny Ferry is largely responsible for putting together the winning team that we are enjoying here in the Atlanta community, the Rev. Markel Hutchins told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday.That said, there is essentially zero chance of Ferry returning to the team he created.Not this season.Not ever.I certainly hope that Danny Ferry gets a job as a general manager somewhere else, Hutchins said. He has expressed what I believe is sincere repentance off the court. Nobody should be condemned forever. He deserves restoration. But, he quickly added, that should not happen with the Atlanta Hawks.Ferry went on indefinite leave in September, just a few days after the scandal broke, and has been in limbo ever since. Hes apologized through public statements, met with civil rights leaders in private, and paid a huge price for repeating bigoted comments about Deng that someone else wrote in a scouting report.Now, nearly five months removed from the initial furor, Ferry has clearly suffered enough for his sin.I would welcome him with open arms, said Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll, one of many players Ferry brought to Atlanta. I dont feel hes a racist. I think he genuinely learned from his mistakes.The reality is, theres no impetus for the Hawks to bring Ferry back, not with the team holding a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference and extending its franchise-record winning streak to 18 in a row with a 105-99 victory over Portland on Friday night. His return would undoubtedly lead to renewed protests and create an unnecessary distraction. Besides, the Hawks are up for sale, so this can of worms will get kicked down the road to the next owner.Yet, in this greatest of seasons for the Hawks, thats the elephant in the room. There will be some huge decisions to make this summer, especially with free-agent-to-be Paul Millsap and what is expected to be plenty of salary cap flexibility.No one knows exactly who will be making those calls. Whoever it is, that person will face the enormous challenge of following in Ferry footsteps. He completely rebuilt the roster after taking over as general manager in 2012, while maintaining a competitive team that still went to the playoffs the lastt two seasons.ddddddddddddFerry defied the NBAs conventional logic, which held that major overhauls had to be accompanied by lots and lots of losses (see: Philadelphia 76ers).He did it a totally different way, said Kyle Korver, who bought into Ferrys vision right from the start. I think theres a whole lot of owners who would rather do it that way, rather than lose for five years and hope their draft picks turn out at the end of the day. Danny is going to have another job. Theres not any doubt about that.The only Atlanta holdovers from the pre-Ferry era are All-Stars Al Horford and Jeff Teague, and even Teague would have been out the door if Ferry had not matched a four-year, $32-million offer sheet from Milwaukee in 2013. Some wondered if Teague, who had been highly inconsistent to that point, was worth the money. Now, he looks underpaid.Hes not the only one. The Hawks have a lower payroll than all but four teams. Check out these bargains:— Millsap will be making his second straight All-Star appearance since signing a two-year, $19-million free-agent deal with the Hawks. Nondescript in Utah, hes now recognized as one of the NBAs best all-around players.— Korver, a backup most of his career, was acquired from Chicago for cash and a trade exception, then re-signed with the Hawks for four years at $24 million. Hes one of the best — if not the best — shooters in the league.— Carroll had bounced around to four teams until he landed in Atlanta for a two-year deal costing a mere $5 million. A defensive standout, hes improved offensively and hasnt met a loose ball he wasnt willing to dive for.Thanks to Ferry, the Hawks are also one of the leagues deepest teams. The draft produced Dennis Schroder and Mike Scott. Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore were below-the-radar free agents. Pero Antic was plucked out of Europe. Shelvin Mack initially came aboard on a 10-day deal.Almost as impressive was the list of players Ferry sent packing. Shortly after taking over as GM, he somehow persuaded Brooklyn to take Joe Johnsons max contract and Utah to accept the greatly overpaid Marvin Williams. In addition, Ferry didnt make much of an attempt to re-sign longtime Hawks stalwart Josh Smith, who was such a flop in Detroit that he got cut this season.And, of course, Ferry passed over better-known coaches to hire a little-known assistant from San Antonio.Mike Budenholzer could very well be the NBAs coach of the year.Under different circumstances, Ferry would be a lock for executive of the year.At the very least, he deserves another chance.It just wont be in Atlanta.___Paul Newberry is a national writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry@ap.org or www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 ' ' '