Gary Stevens is third in comeback debut

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens finished third in the first race of his comeback after a seven-year retirement at Santa Anita.

He was aboard Jebrica in the sixth race Sunday, a $45,000 claiming race at a mile on the turf. They were running second late in the race before finishing a nose behind second-place Deacon Speakin’.

“I thought, ‘Man, this is going to be a storybook comeback.’ It wasn’t meant to be, but it was close enough,” he said. “That’s the first time I’ve knuckled down on one in seven years, and it felt good.”

Mizdirection beat Kindle by a nose to win the $150,000 Monrovia Stakes at Santa Anita for co-owner and sports talk host Jim Rome.

Ridden by Hall of Fame member Mike Smith, Mizdirection ran 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf course in 1:11.94 and paid $3.80, $2.40 and $2.10 as the 4-5 favorite.

The 5-year-old mare improved to four for four on the turf at the track where she beat the boys to win the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November.

ETC.

Start of PGA Tour season delayed again

Another attempt to start the PGA Tour season was blown away.

Just more than an hour into the opening round of the Tournament of Champions, play was suspended when more 40-mph gusts came roaring down the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii, and left officials no choice but to wipe out yet another round.

Rickie Fowler will hit the opening tee shot of the 2013 season on Monday — for the third time.

Andy Pazder, the tour’s chief of operations, said that the decisions not to play “were not hard” because the wind was severe.

::

The Houston Rockets suspended first-round pick Royce White for “refusing to provide services” required by his contract.

General Manager Daryl Morey said that the team will continue to work with White in hopes of finding a resolution.

Last week, White refused his assignment to Houston’s Development League affiliate. The 16th overall pick in the June draft has spent most of the season on Houston’s inactive list while he and the team figure out how to handle his anxiety disorder and overall mental health.

::

Second-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia won the Chennai Open title in India by beating Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, in the final.

The ninth-ranked Tipsarevic won his fourth ATP title against an opponent who was playing in his first tour final. It was the Spaniard, though, who had the better start, winning the first three games.

Tipsarevic dominated the second set and then broke early in the third. Bautista-Agut seemed to struggle with a leg injury and needed on-court treatment during the second set.

::

Defending champion Marcel Hirscher reclaimed the overall World Cup lead by winning a slalom at Zagreb, Croatia, for his third victory of the season.

The Austrian trailed Jens Byggmark by 0.01 of a second after the first leg but took advantage of the Swede’s mistake in the second leg to win in a combined time of 1 minute 56.17 seconds.