GOLF
Rain halts Genesis
Wind and rain were enough to halt play Friday in the second round of the Genesis Open at Los Angeles. Sam Saunders remained atop the leaderboard without ever hitting a shot Friday at Riviera. Jhonattan Vegas joined him at 7-under par and was all too happy to wait until this morning -- maybe -- to complete his second round. The wind made it difficult to pick the right club. The rain made it difficult to gauge the speed on the greens. Cameron Percy of Australia was among 24 players who finished the second round. He shot a 71 and was at 5-under 137. Zac Blair and Martin Laird each shot 68 to reach 4 under. Very much in the mix was Jordan Spieth at 5 under with two holes to play. Hideki Matsuyama, who had a mathematical chance to reach No. 1 in the world with a victory, returned Friday morning to complete the first round and made three consecutive birdies for a 68. He likely will have to finish with three consecutive birdies today to make the cut. Matsuyama was 6 over through 15 holes. Defending champion Bubba Watson was 8 over with two holes left, virtually assured of missing the cut.
Atkins drops to 4th
Matt Atkins (Henderson State), who was tied for the lead Thursday at the Panama Claro Championship at Panama City, Panama, shot an even-par 70 on Friday for a 6-under 134. He is tied for fourth with A.J. McInerney and is three shots off the lead at the Web.com Tour event. Mark Anderson had a 65 for a 9-under 131 and is tied for first with Cameron Wilson, who shot a 66. Andrew Putnam (68) is alone in third place at 8 under. Ethan Tracy (Arkansas Razorbacks), who was one stroke off the lead Thursday, had a 74 on Friday and is tied for 35th at 1-under 139. Andrew Landry (Razorbacks) shot a 69 (139). Taylor Moore (Razorbacks) also had a 69 (141). Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks), Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Razorbacks) and Zack Fischer (Little Rock) did not make the cut.
Smith leads Australian
Sarah Jane Smith shot a 6-under 67 in tough, windy afternoon conditions at Royal Adelaide to take a one-stroke lead in the Women's Australian Open. The Australian had a 36-hole total of 9-under 137. Lizette Salas shot a 70 to join fellow American Marissa Steen (71), Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum (70) and Sweden's Caroline Hewwall (69) at 8 under. First-round leader Katherine Kirk dropped into a tie for sixth at 7 under after a 74. Michelle Wie shot a 71 to reach 5 under. Second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand had her second consecutive 72 to get to 2 under. Top-ranked Lydia Ko of New Zealand was even par after a 75. Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 74 (143).
Three top leaderboard
Miguel Angel Jimenez had a late eagle and closed with a birdie for a 7-under 65 and a share of the lead in the PGA Tour Champions' Chubb Classic at Naples, Fla. Doug Garwood and Scott Parel joined Jimenez atop the leaderboard on the Talon Course at The TwinEagles Club. Mike Goodes had a 66, and Scott Hoch, Tommy Armour III, Bob Tway, Duffy Waldorf and Tuesday qualifier John Elliott shot 67. Fred Couples and John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) topped the group at 68 along with Jerry Kelly, the three-time PGA Tour winner making his senior debut. Defending champion Bernhard Langer opened with a 69. Glen Day (Little Rock) had a 71.
TENNIS
Tsonga, Berdych advance
Top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia and defending champion Martin Klizan of Slovakia both lost in the quarterfinals of the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam on Friday. Cilic was beaten 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5) by sixth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat the former U.S. Open champion for only the second time in seven meetings. Tsonga had 12 aces compared to nine for Cilic and neither dropped their serve. Klizan was soundly beaten 6-3, 6-3 in one hour by fourth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who took his three break-point chances and did not concede one on his serve. Tsonga and Berdych meet in the semifinals today, with Berdych holding an 8-3 lead overall.
Nishikori moves on
Top-seeded Kei Nishikori is finding his footing on clay. After struggling in his first match in the Argentina Open, the Japanese defeated No. 6 Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-4 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the outdoor clay-court event in Buenos Aires. Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine also reached the last four. Carreno Busta defeated fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, and Dolgopolov won over Gerald Melzer of Austria 7-5, 6-4. Carreno Busta will face Dolgopolov in one semifinal today, while Nishikori faces either Carlos Berlocq of Argentina or Thiago Monteiro of Brazil.
FOOTBALL
Revis turns himself in
New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis has turned himself in to police following charges alleging he was involved in a fight with two men last weekend. Revis was surrounded by television cameras as he entered the Pittsburgh Municipal Courts building Friday night and was accompanied by his mother, an aunt and his lawyer, Blaine Jones. He didn't answer questions on his way in. He was arraigned and released on a non-monetary bond, according to ESPN. A docket sheet filed Thursday states Revis faces counts of aggravated assault, robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and terroristic threatening over the Sunday altercation. Jones said Revis was physically assaulted by a group of at least five people. Police said the fight started when a man began recording a video of Revis and Revis grabbed his phone and tried to delete it. They said other men joined in and two men claimed they were punched and knocked out.
MMA
'Cyborg' cleared
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has cleared UFC featherweight Cris "Cyborg" Justino of a potential policy violation, ending her suspension. USADA announced its decision Friday. The agency, which administers the UFC's doping policy, granted a retroactive therapeutic use exemption to Justino for a diuretic commonly used as a masking agent for steroids. Justino failed a doping test in December, but claimed the result was caused by a prescribed medication for an endocrine disorder. USADA accepted her explanation and granted retroactive permission to use the substance.
BASKETBALL
NBA warns Texas
The NBA is warning Texas over a proposed "bathroom bill" targeting transgender people that is similar to a North Carolina law that prompted the league to move the All-Star Game out of that state. The NBA on Friday joined the NFL in suggesting that Texas will be overlooked for future big events if lawmakers pass a bill requiring people to use bathrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said an environment where people are treated "fairly and equally" weighs heavily when the league chooses host locations. Texas has three NBA teams and has hosted three All-Star Games since 2006. Charlotte was originally supposed to host the All-Star Game on Sunday. But the NBA moved the game to New Orleans after North Carolina adopted its "bathroom bill" last year.
WRESTLING
USA takes silver
Bickering between the United States and Iran over President Donald Trump's controversial executive order concerning immigrant and refugee travel nearly sank the Americans' trip to the highly anticipated World Cup freestyle championship. But the U.S. wrestlers finally made it to Kermanshah, Iran, and they reached Friday's gold medal match. Their dramatic comeback fell just short, however. The U.S. squad settled for second place, as the host nation posted a 5-3 victory to claim gold. The Americans dropped their first four matches of the tournament's final, before Olympic champions Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder helped mount a comeback. The U.S. team trailed 4-3 entering the day's winner-take-all final match, where Nick Gwiazdowski was foiled by Iran's Komeil Ghasemi, 5-0.
'The Animal' dies
WWE Hall of Fame member George "The Animal" Steele, whose given name was William James Myers, has died at age 79. WWE announced Friday the death of Steele, who was living in Florida. The Detroit native had tweeted and blogged in recent months about his declining health. He dealt with Crohn's disease, a digestive disorder, for several years. Sporting a bald head, hairy back and green tongue, Steele was famous for his signature move of sinking his teeth into the turnbuckle pads around the ring. At a Boston Red Sox game in 2012, he pretended to take a bite from the baseball before throwing out a ceremonial first pitch. Steele was once a Detroit-area high school teacher and coach who received a master's degree from Central Michigan.
Steele appeared in the Tim Burton movie Ed Wood, playing Swedish wrestler and actor Tor Johnson.
Sports on 02/18/2017