GOLF
Saunders leads
Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, rolled in birdie putts and kept a clean card at Riviera on Thursday for a 7-under 64 and an early two-shot lead in the Genesis Open at Los Angeles. Saunders had a two-shot lead over Dustin Johnson. PGA Tour rookie J.T. Poston joined Johnson at 66, while Phil Mickelson was among those at 67. At 68 was Billy Hurley III, Branden Grace and Padraig Harrington. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) was even after 12 holes. Bryce Molder (Conway) was 2 over after 11 holes.
Atkins tied at top
Matt Atkins (Henderson State) is tied for the lead with Andrew Putnam, Adam Svensson and Beau Hossler at the Panama Claro Championship at Panama City, Panama. The quartet is at 6-under 64 after their first round. Ethan Tracy (Arkansas Razorbacks), Cameron Wilson, Kurt Kitayama, Sam Ryder and Ted Potter Jr. are one stroke back. Andrew Landry (Razorbacks) shot an even-par 70. Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) had a 1-over 71. Taylor Moore (Razorbacks) and Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Razorbacks) each had a 2-over
- Zack Fischer (Little Rock) shot a 5-over 75.
Kirk ahead by 2
Playing for the fourth consecutive week, Katherine Kirk wasn’t showing any signs of fatigue after shooting an 8-under 65 at Royal Adelaide to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Women’s Australian Open on Thursday. Tied for second with 67s were Marissa Steen and Jane Park of the United States, South Korean Chella Choi and Min Lee of Taiwan. Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks) and Canada’s Brooke Henderson were four strokes behind after each shot a
- Michelle Wie, using a new putting grip and stance over the ball on the green, shot 70 and No. 1-ranked Lydia Ko had a 71.
FOOTBALL
Revis faces charges
New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis faces five pending charges, including two counts of aggravated assault, after allegedly being involved in a fight with two men last weekend. According to a Pittsburgh police statement and a court document, Revis, 31, is also facing charges of robbery, terroristic threats and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault after the incident at 2:43 a.m. Sunday. Revis’ attorney, Blaine Jones, said in a statement Thursday that Revis was “physically assaulted … by a group of at least five people.” Revis had not turned himself in Thursday night. Police say the alleged fight started when a 22-year-old man, not identified in the statement, spotted Revis walking. After Revis confirmed he was the NFL player, the man started recording their interaction on his cellphone. When Revis grabbed the phone and tried to delete the video, an argument ensued and two people involved in the altercation were punched and knocked out, according to the police statement.
TENNIS
Quarterfinals set
Nikoloz Basilashvili beat top-seeded Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (2), 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the Memphis Open quarterfinals. Basilashvili, ranked 67th in the world, never lost his serve and allowed the 20th-ranked Karlovic just one breakpoint opportunity. Basilashvili will face Matthew Ebden, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 winner over 2016 Memphis Open runner-up Taylor Fritz. In other second-round action, fourth-seeded Steve Johnson beat fellow American Tim Smyczek 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Johnson lost the first set and fell behind 3-1 in the second set before rallying. Johnson will face Mikhail Kukushkin, a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Darian King. The other quarterfinal matchups have No. 2 seed John Isner facing fellow American Donald Young and Ryan Harrison taking on Damir Dzumhur.
Second, third seeds out
Second-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay was knocked out of the second round of the Argentina Open on Thursday, losing to Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 7-6 (4). Dolgopolov won their only previous tour-level meeting in 2014 in Buenos Aires, and Cuevas had reached the quarterfinals in the last two years. No. 3-seeded David Ferrer of Spain was also eliminated in the second round, losing to Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 6-4, 6-2. Ferrer won three consecutive Buenos Aires titles from 2012-14. Top-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan reached the quarterfinals with a victory on Wednesday.
BASKETBALL
N.C. State coach out
North Carolina State says men’s basketball Coach Mark Gottfried won’t return for a seventh season but will coach the remainder of this season. The school announced the decision Thursday, less than a day after the Wolfpack fell by 24 points to 10th-ranked rival North Carolina in the team’s sixth consecutive loss as a once-promising season continues to unravel. Gottfried had a 122-82 record with the Wolfpack, including NCAA Tournament trips in his first four years that included two Sweet 16 appearances. But N.C. State has slid to 30-30 over the past two seasons, including 8-24 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, and struggled to maintain continuity amid transfers, players leaving early to pursue professional playing careers, and staff turnover.
BASEBALL
Marlins purchase on hold
MIAMI — The Kushner family, which has close ties to the White House, put the brakes on its negotiations to buy the Miami Marlins because of a report that team owner Jeffrey Loria may be nominated by President Donald Trump to become ambassador to France.
Joshua Kushner, whose older brother is an adviser to the president, has a preliminary agreement to buy the Marlins. But in a statement released late Wednesday by Kushner’s brother-in-law, Joseph Meyer, the family expressed concern the sale might “complicate” the ambassadorship appointment.
“Although the Kushners have made substantial progress in discussions for us to purchase the Marlins, recent reports suggest that Mr. Loria will soon be nominated by the president to be ambassador to France,” the statement said. “If that is true, we do not want this unrelated transaction to complicate that process and will not pursue it. The Kushners remain interested in purchasing a team and would love to buy the Marlins at another time.”
The New York Post reported Wednesday that Loria, a New York art dealer, is likely to be the next French ambassador. The report named him as one of four people selected by White House chief of staff Reince Priebus for top diplomatic posts.
Loria is a longtime major contributor to the Republican National Committee, which Priebus led until taking the job with Trump. Fundraising records show Loria gave $125,000 last fall jointly to the Trump campaign and RNC.
The statement from the Kushners was the first public confirmation of their negotiations with Loria.
Joshua Kushner, 31, is a New York City businessman and investor and part of the real estate family that also includes Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser.
Marlins officials haven’t commented. Team President David Samson said he will speak today about the status of sale negotiations.
Other parties are also interested in buying the Marlins, and Loria might reopen negotiations with them.
Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, is not believed to part of the recent effort to the buy team. Neither is the Kushners’ father, Charles, who ran the family real estate firm until he went to prison for tax evasion, making illegal campaign contributions and witness intimidation.
Sports on 02/17/2017