GOLF
Gibson leads by 1
Rhein Gibson shot a 7-under 63 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead in the Web.com Tour Finals-ending Web.Com Tour Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The Australian had eight birdies and a bogey on Dye's Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass. The tournament is the fourth and final event in the series for the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings and non-members who earned enough money to have placed in the top 200 had they been eligible to receive points. The top 25 players on the Web.com Tour regular-season money list earned PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for 25 cards based on series earnings. Gibson was 33rd on the Web.com Tour regular-season money list and entered the week 24th on the series money list with $33,942. Lucas Glover, Sam Saunders and Mexico's Oscar Fraustro were tied for second. Zack Fischer (Little Rock), Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks), Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Razorbacks) and Andrew Landry (Razorbacks) each shot an even-par 70, placing them in a tie with others for 51st.
• Ireland's Paul Dunne had a hole-in-one and finished with an 8-under 64 in his professional debut for a share of the first-round lead in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews, Scotland. Dunne used a 5-iron on the 205-yard 15th hole at Kingsbarns. He also had eight birdies and two bogeys. England's Jimmy Mullen, also making his pro debut, also had a 64 at Kingsbarns, and Sweden's Kristoffer Broberg had a 64 on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Dunne and Mullen were teammates last month in Britain and Ireland's victory over the United States in the Walker Cup. David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 1-under 71 at Carnoustie. John Daly (Dardanelle, Razorbacks) had a 2-over 74 at St. Andrews. The tournament is split between three courses, with players alternating between St. Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie. The final round will be played at St. Andrews.
HORSE RACING
Keeneland fall meet begins
An historic month for Keeneland that includes its first Breeders' Cup and the likely farewell of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah begins today with the opening of its 17-day fall meet. Sixteen stakes races worth more than $5 million in purse money highlight the meet that precedes the Breeders' Cup championships Oct. 30-31 at the picturesque track. Nine graded races worth $3.7 million will be run during Keeneland's first three cards, with Saturday's $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile leading seven events guaranteeing entry into the Breeders' Cup weekend. The month and season conclude with the $26 million Breeders' Cup being run in central Kentucky for the first time. The two-day championships span feature the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff on Oct. 30 and the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic the next day, which will likely be American Pharoah's swan song before retirement. Opening day feature is the $500,000 Grade 1 Alcibiades for 2-year-old fillies. Today's card includes the $150,000 Grade 3 Phoenix with last year's champion sprinter, Work All Week, listed as the 2-1 second choice behind Runhappy, an impressive winner in the King's Bishop at Saratoga. Four graded stakes -- including two Grade 1s in the $500,000 Breeders' Futurity and the $400,000 First Lady -- join Saturday's featured Grade 1 Turf Mile. Dutch Connection, one of three British horses, is the 4-1 morning line favorite in the 13-horse field including Arlington Million winner The Pizza Man. The 2014 and 2015 Kentucky Oaks winners -- Untapable and Lovely Maria, respectively -- top Sunday's card in the $500,000 Grade 1 Spinster.
BASEBALL
Mets reliever suspended
New York Mets reliever Hansel Robles has been suspended for three games for throwing near the head of a batter after both teams had been warned. Major League Baseball announced the suspension and an unspecified fine Thursday, a day after Robles and Manager Terry Collins were ejected in the sixth inning of a 7-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. In the third, Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes left the game with bruises on two fingers of his left hand after he was hit by a pitch. Cespedes' replacement, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, later was hit. After that, Odubel Herrera of the Phillies was plunked in the back. Then both teams were warned. Robles called his pitch to Cameron Rupp "a fastball that got away." Collins said that "you can't miss that bad up around the head." Unless it is appealed, Robles' suspension will start today at home against the Washington Nationals. The right-hander is 4-3 with a 3.57 ERA in 56 appearances this season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Gales: Paralyzed but OK
Southern University football player Devon Gales wants supporters to know he's in good spirits despite a paralyzing neck injury. Though his body movement is limited mostly to wrists, shoulders and biceps, Gales is telling family members and friends that he hopes to make a full recovery. Family friend Kimberly August said Thursday that people "are calling to check on him, upset about his injury, and he's consoling them." Spinal cord specialist Dr. Brock Bowman, Gales' attending physician at the Shepherd Center, expects he will be hospitalized at least eight weeks. Bowman says it's too early to make a prognosis for recovery. Gales broke his sixth cervical vertebra in Saturday's game at Georgia. He underwent successful surgery Sunday.
• East Mississippi Community College football Coach Buddy Stephens has been given a two-game suspension after an on-field altercation with a game administrator during the Lions' 48-24 win over Itawamba Community College. The sideline scuffle occurred in the fourth quarter of last Saturday's game. In the game video, the game administrator can be seen throwing his clipboard and appears to swing at Stephens. Stephens then appears to swing at the administrator as he moves toward the official before being restrained. Following the incident, the game administrator was escorted out of the stadium while Stephens volunteered to leave the field and spent the remainder of the game in the press box. "While I believe Coach Stephens did not initiate physical contact, he did respond in the heat of the moment in a manner not consistent with our institutional expectations," EMCC President Thomas M. Huebner Jr. said in a statement. "Accordingly, I have suspended Coach Stephens for two games. Both the MACJC and the NJCAA have accepted our self-imposed penalties." It was unclear whether the game administrator, whose name has not been released, will serve the same two-game suspension.
• TCU senior defensive end Mike Tuaua and freshman receiver Andre Petties-Wilson have been reinstated and will be eligible to play against Texas on Saturday. The players were arrested last week on charges of robbery-bodily injury after another TCU student told Fort Worth police investigators that the players stole a case of beer while attacking him and his friends. The incident happened Sept. 4, a day after the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs beat Minnesota in their season opener. Tuaua and Petties-Wilson played against the Golden Gophers but missed the past three games. Coach Gary Patterson said the players had "gone through the judicial process," although a Fort Worth police spokesman said the case hasn't been forwarded to Tarrant County prosecutors. Tuaua played all 12 games with five starts last season.
BASKETBALL
Kerr to take leave
Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr will take a leave of absence as he recovers from back surgery and will be replaced on an interim basis by Luke Walton. The Warriors announced Thursday that Kerr will need time off for rehabilitation and recovery. Kerr underwent back surgery to repair a ruptured disc in late July and had follow-up surgery in September. The length of his absence is unknown at this time. Kerr said that after two days of training camp he realized he needed to take a step back and focus on his rehabilitation so he can make it through the grind of an NBA season. The Warriors won their first NBA title in 40 years in Kerr's first year as coach last season.
Sports on 10/02/2015