MILWAUKEE, Wis. — No matter how hard he tried Thursday, Chris Smith couldn’t sneak in a nap. Scheduled or unscheduled.

With a 8:09 a.m. (ET) tee time in the first round of the U.S. Bank Championship, the veteran PGA Tour member figured the afternoon would bring him ample time to kick back in his hotel room and catch some shut-eye. Smith was forced to scrap those plans after a mid-morning downpour halted play for nearly 4 1/2 hours, beginning at 10:05 a.m., at Brown Deer Park Golf Course.

LONGMEADOW, Mass. — Bob Tway’s son beat Arnold Palmer’s grandson in a second-round match and won his next match 3 and 1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur on Thursday.

LONGMEADOW, Mass. — Bob Tway’s son beat Arnold Palmer’s grandson in a second-round match and won his next match 3 and 1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur on Thursday.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The Champions Tour and ClubCorp Thursday announced that the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at Vista Vallarta Golf Club in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico will be the site of a new Champions Tour event next spring.

The Puerto Vallarta Championship will be played March 27 – April 2, 2006.

The 54-hole stroke-play tournament will feature a 78-player field and official prize money of $1.6 million, with the winner collecting $240,000. The official competition will be preceded by two days of pro-am play sponsored by First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC), a global leader in electronic commerce and payment services.

EAGLE, Idaho — U.S. Women’s Open runner-up Morgan Pressel lost in the third round of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur on Thursday, the second time in a month the 17-year-old was beaten by an opponent’s late chip.

Pressel, who finished second at the Women’s Open on June 26 after Birdie Kim chipped in from a greenside bunker, was eliminated Thursday when Juliana Murcia Ortiz of Columbia chipped in from 40 feet on the first extra hole.

Murcia Ortiz was two holes down with two remaining, and rallied with a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 17. She then forced an extra hole by winning the 18th when Pressel’s second shot went into a greenside hazard.

On the first extra hole, Pressel, of Boca Raton, Fla., missed a 12-foot birdie try to extend the playoff.

ALVESLOHE, Germany — The first round of the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship of Europe was washed out Thursday.

Heavy overnight rain continued through the morning and early afternoon at Gut Kaden before officials decided to call off play for the day.

The first round was rescheduled to begin early Friday. Officials said they hoped to play all four rounds by Sunday night. The forecast called for the possibility of more rain on Friday.

Officials hope to play the second round on Saturday, with the third and fourth rounds played on Sunday in a two-tee, threeball format.

Tournament director David Probyn said playing on Monday was an option. He said the tournament could also be cut to 36 holes.

CAMBRIDGE, Ontario — Matt Bettencourt called his opening-round 9-under-par 63 at the Canadian PGA Championship presented by MasterCard on Thursday the best competitive round he’s ever played on the Nationwide Tour or anywhere else for that matter. Bettencourt, a 30-year old from Modesto, Calif., ripped off nine birdies in an 11-hole stretch and grabbed the first-round lead at Whistle Bear Golf Club. Bettencourt’s 63 gave him a two-shot lead over Doug LaBelle and Jason Buha, each of whom matched Charles Warren’s 2004 course record of 65.