GOLF
Every matches record
Matt Every matched the Wyndham Championship's first-round record with a 9-under 61 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead at the Greensboro, N.C., tournament. Every tied the opening-round mark set in 2010 by Arjun Atwal, who went on to win the PGA Tour's final tournament before the postseason. Henrik Stenson opened with a 62. Former Wyndham winner Webb Simpson was at 63 along with Cameron Smith, Vaughn Taylor, Tim Wilkinson, Harold Varner III, Brian Campbell and Sam Saunders. Davis Love III, 53, who has won this tournament three times, most recently in 2015, matched Martin Flores and Rick Lamb with a 64. Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 4-under 66. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) had a 2-under 68.
Looper has career low
Ken Looper shot a career-low 9-under 62 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the Web.com News-Sentinel Open at Knoxville, Tenn. He leads Kyoung-Hoon Lee (64) by two strokes at Fox Den Country Club. Tyler Duncan, Jeff Gove and Shaun Micheel are tied for third (65) at 3 strokes back. Andrew Landry (Arkansas Razorbacks), Ethan Tracy (Razorbacks), Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) and Matt Atkins (Henderson State) each shot a 2-under 69. Zack Fischer (Little Rock) had a 1-under 70. Taylor Moore (Razorbacks) had a 2-over 73.
Wall leads match play
Anthony Wall holed a long birdie putt on No. 18 to begin the defense of his Paul Lawrie Match Play title with a 1-up victory over Sam Walker in the first round Thursday at Bad Griesbach, Germany. The Englishman won the European Tour event, his first title in more than 16 years, when it was held in Scotland in 2016. It is being staged in Germany this year and all four German participants -- Florian Fritsch, Maximilian Kiefer, Alexander Knappe and Marcel Siem -- advanced. Edoardo Molinari also progressed after beating Ryder Cup vice captain Robert Karlsson on the 24th hole, making it the longest match in the three-year history of the tournament. Lawrie was 1 down with three to play but recovered to beat Peter Hanson on the 20th hole as the former British Open champion started another bid to win the tournament he is hosting. Mikko Ilonen beat Matthieu Pavon 8 and 7 in the most convincing victory of the first round, while Adrian Otaegui was 9 under in his 16 holes in beating Gary Stal 4 and 2.
Pearce ahead in Fiji
New Zealand's Daniel Pearce shot a 6-under 66 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the wind-swept Fiji International at Natadola Bay, Fiji. Compatriot Ben Campbell and Australian Daniel Valente shared second place on the course at Sigatoka. Gavin Green of Malaysia was among four golfers tied for fourth with 68s. Local favorite Vijay Singh was five strokes behind after a 71, while fellow former Masters champions Angel Cabrera and Mike Weir shot 72s in the PGA Tour of Australasia and European Tour event. Defending champion Brandt Snedeker, who won last year's tournament by nine strokes, withdrew with a sternum injury after missing last week's U.S. PGA Championship.
TENNIS
Muguruza advances
Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza overcame a long rain delay in the third set and fought off three match points on Thursday before advancing to the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open at Mason, Ohio. The tournament's No. 4 seed beat American Madison Keys 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) to extend her successful summer. Defending champion Karolina Pliskova and Rafael Nadal -- the top seed in the men's bracket -- saw their matches pushed back by the rain. Before the storm, second-seeded Simona Halep became the tournament's first quarterfinalist with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over 15th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova. In the men's bracket, Grigor Dimitrov rallied from a 4-1 second-set deficit for a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Juan Martin del Potro. Dimitrov will face Yuichi Sugita, who advanced with a 6-7 (0), 6-3, 6-3 victory over Karen Khachanov. David Ferrer reached his first ATP Masters quarterfinal in his last 11 tries with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Pablo Carreno Busta.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
UNC hearing wraps up
North Carolina has wrapped up a two-day hearing with an NCAA infractions committee panel that will decide whether the school faces penalties tied to its multi-year academic scandal. Now the case goes into yet another holding pattern. School officials spent much of Wednesday in a closed-door meeting with committee members in Nashville, Tenn. They returned Thursday morning for a second session lasting about 4½ hours with the panel that will determine whether UNC faces penalties such as fines, probation or vacated victories and championships. NCAA spokesman Stacey Osburn confirmed the hearing was complete but both sides were mum afterward. Osburn didn't comment further because the panel must deliberate before issuing a ruling, which typically comes weeks to months after a hearing. UNC athletics spokesman Steve Kirschner said the school wouldn't have any comment about the hearing either. The focus is independent study-style courses in the formerly named African and Afro-American Studies (AFAM) department. The courses were misidentified as lecture classes that didn't meet and required a research paper or two for typically high grades. In a 2014 investigation, former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein estimated more than 3,100 students were affected between 1993 and 2011, with athletes making up roughly half the enrollments. The NCAA has said UNC used those courses to help keep athletes eligible. UNC has challenged the NCAA's jurisdiction, saying its accreditation agency -- which sanctioned the school with a year of probation -- was the proper authority and that the NCAA was overreaching in what should be an academic matter.
BASEBALL
Manfred hopeful for agreement on pace
CHICAGO — Major League Baseball is having conversations with the players’ association over possible rule changes designed to speed the pace of play, and Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday he hopes to reach an agreement instead of implementing any measures unilaterally.
Manfred also said the Bruce Sherman-led ownership group trying to purchase the Miami Marlins has presented the league with a financial structure that would work for finalizing the deal, and he expressed confidence that a major league franchise can be successful in the market.
The average time of a nine-inning game is a record 3 hours, 5 minutes this season, up from 3 hours last year and 2:56 in 2015, Manfred’s first season as commissioner. Management proposed making changes for this year, such as installing pitch clocks and limiting trips to the mound by catchers, but players’ association head Tony Clark said his side would not agree. The league can implement changes by itself with one-year advance notice.
“We met with Tony Clark and a group of players last week,” Manfred said. “The tone of those conversations have been very positive. Hats off to Tony and the players on that, and I remain confident that we will have changes for next year on the issue of pace of game that will be significant.”
A message was left Thursday seeking comment from the players’ association.
The owners had a light agenda for their quarterly meeting at a downtown Chicago hotel. One of the major topics was Sherman’s signed $1.2 billion agreement to purchase the Marlins from Jeffrey Loria. Former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is a limited partner in the group and will take over Miami’s business and baseball operations if the transaction is approved.
Sherman met with the MLB ownership committee on Wednesday, and the deal could be completed by the end of the season. Manfred brushed aside any concern over reports that the group is seeking more financing.
Sports on 08/18/2017