GOLF
Johnson leads by 3
Trish Johnson shot an even-par 72 on Tuesday to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Senior LPGA Championship, the first major championship for senior women, at French Lick, Ind. The 51-year-old Englishwoman opened with a double bogey and had three birdies and a bogey on French Lick Resort's Pete Dye Course. She had a 5-under 139 total. Johnson won the Legends Tour Championship last year at French Lick, beating Juli Inkster on the sixth hole of a playoff. The eight-time European Solheim Cup player won three times on the LPGA Tour and 19 times on the Ladies European Tour. Michele Redman was second after a 69, and Lorie Kane (70), Liselotte Neumann (71) and Carolyn Hill (74) followed at 1 over.
Spieth returns to Open
Jordan Spieth is returning to the Australian Open from Nov. 23-26 at The Australian Golf Club in an attempt to win the Stonehaven Cup for the third time in four years. Golf Australia made the announcement Wednesday. Spieth, 23, won the Australian Open at The Australian in 2014 with a 63 on the final day. He narrowly missed a playoff at the same venue in 2015 when he finished tied for second with Adam Scott, a shot behind Matt Jones. He won the Australian Open last year at Royal Sydney after a three-way playoff. Spieth credited his victory at The Australian in 2014 with giving him confidence for a stellar 2015, which included victories at the Masters and U.S. Open and a rise to No. 1 in the rankings.
MOTOR SPORTS
Jones to replace Kenseth
Matt Kenseth is out at Joe Gibbs Racing, which will replace the oldest fulltime driver in NASCAR's top series with rising star Erik Jones next season. Kenseth is 45. Jones turned 21 in May. The Jones promotion is part of a changing of the guard in NASCAR, which is seeing middle-aged drivers being replaced by future stars. Kenseth is a stalwart in the series and a star for Toyota, which partnered with Kenseth when he joined Gibbs in 2013. He is 11th in the standings and in his 18th Cup season. He said last weekend there was no opportunity for him to return to Gibbs. Jones is a Gibbs development driver and on a one-year loan to Furniture Row Racing. He's 14th in the Cup standings.
Richmond to get overhaul
Richmond International Raceway is now Richmond Raceway and is due for $30 million in fan-centric redevelopment over the next 15 months. Track President Dennis Bickmeier and International Speedway Corp. CEO Lesa France Kennedy made the announcements Tuesday. The redeveloped infield will include a covered garage for teams to work on their cars while fans can watch up close in a fenced-off walkway, two suites for fans and an 80-person club with rooftop access near a new victory lane. The project will begin after the September NASCAR race and conclude in time for the September race next fall.
British GP threatened
The future of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is under threat after the circuit's owners triggered a break clause in its contract. The British Racing Drivers' Club said the 2019 British Grand Prix will be the last at Silverstone unless F1 owner Liberty reduces the race fee. The BRDC said in 2015 it lost 2.8 million pounds (now about $3.5 million) and 4.8 million pounds in 2016. The annual fee for the race has increased from 11.5 million pounds in 2015 to 16.2 million pounds in 2016. The BRDC said "it is no longer financially viable ... under the current terms."
Penske bringing Acuras
Roger Penske will return to sports car racing next year with two Prototype DPi entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Team Penske will partner with Acura Motorsports for the two-car effort. Penske will field Acura ARX-05 Daytona Prototype international entries. No driver lineup was announced, but Penske will need four full-time drivers. He's openly said he'd like three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and two-time Indy winner Juan Pablo Montoya to be part of the program. Castroneves is coming off a win Sunday at Iowa -- his first victory in three years. He's also second in the IndyCar standings. Team Penske last competed in IMSA from 2005 through 2009. The team won the P2 class championships in the American Le Mans Series between 2006 and 2008 and fielded a Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series entry in 2009.
BOXING
Mayweather, McGregor on tour
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor have thrown their first verbal jabs. The undefeated boxer and the Irish UFC champion kicked off the four-city promotional tour for their Aug. 26 bout Tuesday, facing off in front of 11,000 fans in downtown Los Angeles. McGregor and Mayweather traded clever insults and profane boasts with their familiar flair as they begin to sell a boxing match that could be much more entertaining before the opening bell. McGregor was the crowd favorite as he promised to flatten an aging fighter. But Mayweather rose to the promotional challenge, leading his own fans in a call-and-response that derided the mixed martial artist as "easy work!" Although Mayweather, 40, acknowledged his skills have declined, he said he has "more than enough" to beat a rookie boxer.
Mayweather owes IRS $22M
The IRS said boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. still owes $22.2 million in taxes from 2015, the year he earned his biggest payday with a blockbuster fight against Manny Pacquiao. A notice of a federal tax lien filed against the undefeated fighter, nicknamed "Money," shows the balance unpaid as of March 6. The document was filed with county officials in Las Vegas in April. Mayweather's tax troubles come as he gets ready to come out of retirement to fight against Irish MMA star Conor McGregor in August. The lien for 2015 is just the latest in a series of tax liens filed by the IRS against Mayweather over the past decade. Mayweather's tax attorney did not immediately return a request seeking comment on Tuesday. Mayweather said in a Facebook post that he paid the IRS $26 million in 2015, and that he's sure he would have been notified much sooner had there been any "real discrepancies."
HORSE RACING
Diane Nelson dies
Diane J. Nelson, a multiple graded-stakes winning jockey who rode over 1,000 winners while capitalizing on her good looks with a modeling career, has died. She was 54. Nelson died July 5, according to a post on the Moloney Family Funeral Homes of New York's website. There was no cause of death listed and no obituary. A memorial service was held Monday at Mother Teresa Tribute Center at Nassau Suffolk Crematory in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York. Nelson was the sixth female jockey in North America to reach 1,000 winners. She had 1,095 victories from 9,905 career races and purse earnings of $19,106,392, according to Equibase. Nelson was one of the elite women jockeys in the sport, although she never rode in any of most prestigious Triple Crown or Breeders' Cup races. She rode regularly on the highly competitive New York circuit, where at times she was the lone woman. Nelson's career began at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack on Feb. 27, 1986. She rode her last race at the same track on Jan. 20, 2007. She won eight graded stakes races in her career, including the Grade 1 Prioress Stakes with Acey Deucey in 2005 at Saratoga.
TRACK AND FIELD
Jim Bush dies
Jim Bush, who guided UCLA to five NCAA track and field championships during his 20 years coaching the Bruins, has died. He was 90. The university said Bush died Monday. No cause was given. Bush coached the Bruins from 1965-84, winning seven conference titles along the way. Among his standout athletes were 400-meter runners Wayne Collette and John Smith, triple jumper Willie Banks, hurdlers Greg Foster and Andre Phillips, high jumper Dwight Stones and shot putter and discus thrower John Brenner. Bush coached 30 Olympians in his career and served as head track and field coach at the 1979 Pan American Games. He was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1996. In outdoor dual meet competition, Bush had a record of 152-21, including 10 undefeated seasons. Before Bush's arrival in Westwood, UCLA had never beaten USC in a dual meet. During his tenure, the Bruins beat their crosstown rival 13 times.
Sports on 07/12/2017