GOLF
Trio shares lead
Sam Ryder, Adam Schenk and Keith Mitchell each shot 7-under 64 on Thursday to share the firstround lead in the Web.com Tour Finals’ Albertsons Boise Open. Ryder birdied the first four holes and five of the first six at Hillcrest Country Club. The 26-year-old former Stetson player, 31st on the Web.com Tour regular-season money list, bogeyed the ninth, birdied the 12th and eagled the par-5 16th. Schenk had nine birdies and two bogeys. The 24-year-old former Purdue player was 40th on the Web.com Tour money list. Mitchell eagled the par-4 ninth and had six birdies and a bogey. The 24-year-old former Georgia player was 70th on the Web.com Tour money list. Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) and Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Razorbacks) each shot 3-under 68. Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) had a 1-under 70. Matt Atkins (Henderson State) shot a 1-over 72. Zack Fischer (Little Rock) had a 3-over 74 and Andrew Landry (Razorbacks) had a 5-over 76. The tournament is the second in the four-event series and features the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and some non-members with enough PGA Tour money to have placed in the top 200 in the FedEx Cup had he been eligible.
Pair out front
South Koreans In Gee Chun and Sung Hyun Park shot a 8-under 63 on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Evian Championship, the last of the LPGA Tour’s five majors, at Evian-Les-Bains, France. Topranked Lydia Ko’s bid to defend her title — and win a third career major by the age of 19 — got off to a rocky start with a 70. Chun, the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open champion, said she felt nervous after missing the cut at the tournament last year but hardly let it show. While Ko’s play was patchy, with a bogey and only two birdies, second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand had a triple bogey in a 73. American Annie Park had an eagle and five birdies to match China’s Shanshan Feng at 64. American Angela Stanford had a 65, and South Koreans So Yeon Ryu and Eun-Hee Ji shot 66. Former Arkansas Razorback Stacy Lewis shot a 1-under 70. Gaby Lopez (Razorbacks) had a 3-over 74.
Play suspended
Defending champion Rikard Karlberg of Sweden shot a 7-under 64 to top the leaderboard in the suspended first round of the Italian Open at Monza, Italy. Thunderstorms delayed play and many player were unable to finish before dark at Golf Club Milano next to Monza’s Formula One circuit. Sweden’s Robert Karlsson and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui shot 64.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Commemoration set
Penn State detailed plans Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of Joe Paterno’s first victory as hundreds of the late coach’s former players made their way back to State College for a private reunion, marking a milestone that has emerged as a sensitive issue for the university and people critical of Paterno’s role in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Athletic Director Sandy Barbour said Thursday that commemorations during Penn State’s game Saturday against Temple would focus on Paterno’s commitment to student-athletes and academics. The statement did not mention the scandal or address the backlash that sparked immediately after the athletic department announced before the season started that it would formally honor the anniversary. Paterno coached at Penn State for 46 seasons, becoming college football’s winningest coach. But the coach was fired by the school’s board of trustees shortly after Sandusky, who was his defensive coordinator, was arrested in November 2011 for child sexual abuse. Paterno died in January 2012 of lung cancer.
NFL
Influence review sought
House Republicans are calling for an independent review of allegations the National Football League sought to improperly influence a government study into the link between football and brain disease. GOP leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee said in a letter sent Thursday to the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general that a thorough assessment is needed to ensure the integrity of the process for awarding research grants. The committee’s top Democrat issued a report in May that said the NFL tried to strong-arm the National Institutes of Health into taking the project away from a prominent researcher who the league believed was biased.
Stadium plans advance
A plan to build an NFL stadium in Las Vegas and lure the Raiders from Oakland crossed a major hurdle Thursday when a Nevada oversight committee voted unanimously to recommend $750 million in public funding for the project. The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee recommended raising the hotel tax in the Las Vegas area to help pay for a 65,000-seat domed venue that was promoted and would be partially financed by billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. Proponents still need to win over the governor, the Legislature and three-quarters of NFL owners to make the project a reality, but it’s a significant milestone for a city that’s never had a professional football team and has been hammering out the particulars of the Raiders deal for months. The Adelson family plans to put $650 million toward the stadium, which would also be home to UNLV football, while the Raiders plan to kick in $500 million. Sands representative Andy Abboud said the Adelsons were in China on Thursday to open a $2.9 billion Parisian Macao casino and probably asleep when the vote came, but he texted them the news. Opponents question whether it’s appropriate to put public dollars toward a project spearheaded by Adelson, one of the richest men in the world. They’re also wary of the bonds used to finance the project, which could put taxpayers on the hook to cover stadium debt in an economic downturn.
TENNIS
Local favorite moves on
Local favorite Kurumi Nara upset third-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo. Nara secured the victory when she broke Putintseva’s serve in the final game of the second set and will next face Jana Cepelova of Slovakia. In other matches, sixth-seeded Shuai Zhang of China overpowered Naomi Osaka of Japan 6-3, 6-2 to book her spot in the last eight. Zhang saved four of five break points she faced and will next meet Varvara Lepchenko of the United States. In other second-round matches, Alison Riske of the United States beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-3, 6-1, and Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland defeated Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
BASKETBALL
Cavs order Blatt ring
David Blatt is getting one more parting gift from the Cavaliers: a championship ring. Blatt was fired at the midpoint of the Cavs’ championship season, but the team has ordered a ring for him, too, multiple sources confirmed to the Beacon Journal. He is now the head coach of Darusafaka Dogus in Turkey. Blatt went 83-40 in parts of two seasons with the Cavs and in 2015 guided them to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games. He was replaced by Tyronn Lue after going 30-11 last season. Under Lue, the Cavs became the first team in NBA Finals history to erase a 3-1 deficit and win the championship. Current coaches and players will receive their rings on Oct. 25, the same night the team raises the city’s first championship banner in 52 years.