GOLF
Lewis shares lead
Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic at Prattville, Ala. Lewis, the 2012 winner in the event that was dropped from the schedule last year after losing its title sponsor, had a bogey-free round on The Senator course. She has a tour-high three victories this season. "I grew up playing on Bermuda grass, which I think that helps a lot, you know, just reading greens and understanding the different types of lies, but it feels like home," said Lewis, the former University of Arkansas golfer from Texas. "The heat, the humidity, I'm used to it." Lewis tied for 16th last week in France in the Evian Championship in the final major of the year. "I played really solid last week, and that golf course was just a little goofy and the scores just didn't really show how I played," Lewis said. "So I felt like things were coming along and getting closer and it showed out there. I hit my wedges a lot better, which is always a good sign for me. When my wedges get back on track that usually gets the entire swing back going in the right direction." Hur also had a bogey-free round. The South Korean player won her lone LPGA Tour title in 2009. South Africa's Paula Reto had a 65, and Cydney Clanton was another stroke back along with Sweden's Karin Sjodin and Japan's Ayako Uehara.
• Zac Blair matched the course record with a 7-under 63 on Thursday to take the lead in the Web.com Tour Championship, the final event in the four-tournament Web.com Tour Finals. Blair, the 24-year-old former BYU player who needs to earn about $40,000 this week to earn a PGA Tour card, had a bogey-free round on TPC Sawgrass' Dye's Valley Course at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Scott Pinckney, Derek Fathauer, Sung Joon Park, Bronson La'Cassie and Chad Collins were tied for second at 65. David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) had five birdies, a bogey and a double bogey for a 2-under 68. Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) had six birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey for a 1-under 69. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) had three birdies and three bogeys for an even-par round of 70. Tag Ridings had two birdies and three bogeys for a 1-over 71.
• Joost Luiten birdied seven of his last 10 holes Thursday to grab a one-shot lead in the first round of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor in Newport on Thursday. Luiten parred his opening eight holes before storming up the leaderboard with a 6-under-par 65 on the Twenty-Ten course. Of Europe's four Ryder Cup players in the field, Jamie Donaldson shot a quiet 1-under 70, Thomas Bjorn birdied the 18th to finish on par, Lee Westwood, who hasn't played in a month, bogeyed his last two holes to card a 2-over 73, and Stephen Gallacher failed to manage a birdie in a 7-over 78. One shot behind and tied for second with Andrew McArthur of Scotland was former Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts, who hit the longest recorded European Tour drive. Another stroke back at 4 under in a share of fourth place, were South Africa's Justin Walters and Englishmen Robert Rock and Sam Walker.
FOOTBALL
Wallerstedt resigns
Matt Wallerstedt has resigned as defensive coordinator of the Texas Tech football team, citing personal reasons, according to a Texas Tech news release. Earlier Thursday, reports surfaced that he was dismissed after he was suspected of being under the influence of an unknown substance while at the team's football building Monday, according to ESPN. Pete Roussel of coachingsearch.com first reported Wallerstedt's departure. Wallerstedt joined Kliff Kingsbury's staff in the spring of 2013 and recently coached the third game of his second season at Texas Tech. Mike Smith, co-defensive coordinator, will lead the defense for the remainder of the year alongside Kevin Curtis, Trey Haverty and John Scott Jr. Matt Brock will move from his role of defensive quality control and coach the inside linebackers. Wallerstedt was the first Red Raiders defensive coordinator to last for more than a season since Ruffin McNeill departed after the 2009 season. Smith becomes Texas Tech's sixth defensive coordinator in as many years. Texas Tech gave up 438 yards rushing in a 49-28 loss to Arkansas on Saturday and has given up 100 points in three games.
TENNIS
Monfils advances
Second-seeded Gael Monfils of France and third-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany advanced Thursday to the quarterfinals of the Moselle Open at Metz, France. Monfils overcame a slow start before beating Michal Przysiezny of Poland 7-5, 6-1, and faces seventh-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland after he comfortably beat veteran Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4, 6-4. The big-serving Janowicz saved all three break-points he faced and hit nine aces. Kohlschreiber had 12 aces in a 6-3, 7-5 win against Italy's Paolo Lorenzi and next plays Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, who did not face a single break-point in a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 victory against No. 5 Jeremy Chardy of France. No. 6 Joao Sousa of Portugal and No. 8 David Goffin of Belgium also reached the last eight.
MOTOR SPORTS
Back to Brazil
IndyCar says it will race in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia next year, returning to the country after a one-year absence. The March 8 race will take place at the Nelson Piquet permanent racetrack located in the central Brazilian city. IndyCar raced in Sao Paulo from 2010 until last year, but local promoters weren't able to secure the event in 2014 because of financial problems. The CART series was in Brazil from 1996-2000 with a race on an oval track in Rio de Janeiro. The race in Sao Paulo was held on a temporary street course. Brazilian officials had said in March that they had reached an agreement with the series to host the event. Local organizers say they expect 100,000 fans at next year's race.
SOCCER
Refs may halt games
Referees have been given the power to stop matches in European competitions for three minutes to fully assess head injuries. The proposal by FIFA medical committee chairman Michel D'Hooghe in response to concerns about the treatment of concussions in high-profile matches, was approved by the UEFA executive committee meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on Thursday. "In the event of a suspected concussion, the referee will stop the game for up to three minutes, to allow the injured player to be assessed by the team doctor," UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino said. "A player will only be allowed to continue playing on specific confirmation by the team doctor to the referee of the player's fitness to do so." Football officials have been under pressure to better protect players after there were five concussion cases at the World Cup in Brazil, including several where the player tried to stay on the field. A lawsuit is also being brought in the U.S. chiding FIFA's guidelines for players who receive serious head injuries. D'Hooghe said last week that a concussion case occurs on average once in every 20 games.
Sports on 09/19/2014