THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Fred Couples shot a 4-under 68 in his first competitive round in eight months, while Bernhard Langer withdrew without hitting a shot Friday in the PowerShares QQQ Championship.Returning from a chronic back injury, Couples, 57, shot three straight birdies on the back nine at rain-softened Sherwd in the PGA Tour Champions playoff opener. He is tied for eighth, three strokes behind leader Colin Montgomerie.Honestly, I could have shot 80 and been OK with it because my goals were just to be able to swing and play, Couples said. Today was just a very nice day. Just to get out of the house and walk around and see if Ive made any progress in the last seven months.Langer aggravated a left knee injury at his home in Florida while doing routine spinning. He had an MRI on Monday and wasnt able to play a practice round.I cant transfer my weight, Langer said Thursday. I cant put any pressure on my left knee.Montgomerie shot a 65, closing with a birdie after nearly holing his approach on the par-4 18th. The Scot birdied the first three holes and had four more on the back nine. He won in Canada this season for his fourth tour title and is fourth in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.Even Ben Hogan allowed himself two mistakes a round of golf, so no bogeys around here is gd, very gd, and that was key today, Montgomerie said. Hit the fairways, hit the greens. Fairways and greens, thats what this course is all about.Fred Funk was two strokes back at 67 along with Scott McCarron, Jim Carter, Joey Sindelar, Jerry Smith and Brandt Jobe.Couples played the rainy front nine in 1 under with a birdie on the par-5 fifth. He birdied the par-4 10th, dropped a stroke on the par-5 11th, then birdied the par-3 12th, par-5 13th and par-4 14th.Playing in that rain early, it just kind of made the course maybe, I hate to say, easier, Couples said. But it was really hard, the greens were rock hard, and that little rain I think helped us. There were a lot of gd scores in the morning.In 1999 at Sherwd, Couples teamed with David Duval to win the final Shark Shtout at the course. Couples also won with Raymond Floyd in 1990 and Brad Faxon in 1994.Ive played a hundred rounds here probably, and I dont know how many guys can say that, or if they need to even worry about it, Couples said. But all the little nks and crannies and thats what I did today. I didnt really hit many bad shots.Langer leads the tour with four victories and has wrapped up the season money title with $2,697,459. The 59-year-old German star tops the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs standings and has a big enough advantage over second-place Miguel Angel Jimenez that he will keep the No. 1 spot without playing this week.Jimenez shot a 71.John Daly also had a 71, making bogeys on two of the last three holes. He qualified 70th and has five top-25 finishes in 14 starts since turning 50.I really kind of lost it there, Daly said. You cant bogey the last two out of three any day out here. I think 7 will be leading, so Im pretty much out of it really. I would have to sht really, really low on the weekend to even have a chance.The top 72 players on the money list earned spots at Sherwd. The playoff field will be cut to 54 for the Dominion Charity Classic next week in Richmond, Virginia, and to 36 for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship the following week in Scottsdale, Arizona. Each dollar earned in the first two events is worth two points and will be added to the regular-season total. At the Charles Schwab Championship, points will be reset so that the top five only have to win to capture the Charles Schwab Cup. Adrian Dantley Jersey . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. Tony Bradley Jersey . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. http://www.jazzauthentic.com/kids-adrian-dantley-jazz-jersey/ . The 18th player to sht 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-ft birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. Jeff Hornacek Jersey . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Utah Jazz Jerseys . Despite dominating possession, Schalke needed an own goal from Nicolas Hoefler for the breakthrough a minute before the interval. The Freiburg midfielder misjudged Jefferson Farfans corner and bundled the ball into his own net. TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Carson Palmer fumble that led to a Carolina Panthers touchdown on the sixth play of Sundays game should have been ruled a forward pass, but a malfunction with the replay feed prevented the replay official from reviewing the playArizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians was told that was the case after the game, and a league source confirmed the fact to ESPN on Tuesday.?Arians explained during his news conference Monday afternn following the Cardinals 30-20 loss to the Panthers that he was told Foxs instant replay feed was experiencing problems early in the game and was shut down to fix during the Cardinals first drive. That prevented the games replay official, Lou Nazzaro, from being able to slow down the replay and review the fumble on third-and-6, which was the ruling on the field. Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis recovered the fumble and returned it for the touchdown.Without access to a replay either in Carolina or at NFL headquarters in New York, Nazzaro went with his naked eye, so he went with the call on the field, Arians said.ddddddddddddt halftime, after he was told the feed was restored, Arians was told the play was confirmed as a forward pass, which would have been ruled an incomplete pass after a subsequent replay. Arizona would have punted, and the Panthers would not have taken a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game.Our offense really, really struggled after the call, Arians said Sunday evening. You make a couple first downs. You think you are moving pretty gd. And we always take the ball for that reason, and you have to overcome questionable calls.We tried to overcome it, and we didnt.ESPN has reached out to the NFL for a comment or explanation on the replay malfunction. ' ' '