Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons created a four-way tie for first place at the Brier with an 8-4 win over British Columbia's Bob Ursel on Sunday night.

At 3-0, Simmons stands even with defending champion Glenn Howard of Ontario and two-time winners Kevin Martin of Alberta and Kerry Burtnyk of Manitoba through five draws at Winnipeg's MTS Centre.

Pat Simmons is on par with three heavyweight skips through five draws at the Brier.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

"I'd officially call it a pretty good start right now," said Simmons, who has failed to make the playoffs in his three previous Brier appearances. "We're giving ourselves a chance to reach our first goal, which is to give ourselves breathing room for midweek.

"So far, so good."

In other evening action, Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue got his first win by defeated Northern Ontario's Eric Harnden 7-5. Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard, the 2006 champion, trounced Nova Scotia's Brian Rafuse 13-2, while New Brunswick's James Grattan beat Chad Cowan of Yukon/Northwest Territories 9-4.

"It was definitely a must win," said Gushue. "More importantly, we had to come out and just play good. If they came out and beat us with a great game, then so be it.

"I'm glad we came out with a better game. I thought we were a little slow in the first half, but the second half was the way we needed to play."

Heading into Monday's draws, the middle of the round-robin table is as crowded as the top.

Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan aren't just the last remaining undefeated teams — they're also the only ones with winning records. New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northern Ontario, Nova Scotia, Quebec and the Territories are in a six-way tie for fourth place at 1-2. British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, skipped by Peter Gallant, bring up the rear at 0-3.

CBC Sports will broadcast the semifinal on March 15 and the final on March 16. Live streaming of those games, as well as key matches throughout the round robin, can be viewed on CBCSports.ca.

Good test for Burtnyk

Howard, Martin and Burtnyk all got to three wins by scoring 8-7 victories in the fourth draw on Sunday afternoon.

Martin edged New Brunswick, while Burtnyk needed an extra end to dispatch Nova Scotia, and Howard required an extra end of his own to edge Quebec's Menard.

"You didn't know what was going to happen," said Howard, who is also the reigning world champion. "A couple of ends it kind of twisted.

"It was a lot of fun to play."

Burtnyk, the hometown favourite, said playing a tight game was a good test for his Winnipeg rink, which has three players appearing in their first Brier.

"It tested both teams' patience along the way," Burtnyk said. "There were some great shots made. There were opportunities missed by both teams.

"That's the kind (of game), if you can come out on top you can use that for momentum."

With files from Canadian Press