British Open | Woods tries to make cut at rainy St. Andrews
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — Tiger Woods arrived at St. Andrews in shorts and a hoodie. He might also need an umbrella. The second round of the British Open began under a light rain. That is likely to take some of the fire out of an Old Course that was so fast that it make the rounds go atrociously slow. Of greater concern to Woods is making up ground. His 78 in the first round was good to beat only seven other players. Three of them were past champions in their 50s. Woods figures he needs a 66 to make it to the weekend.
Royals beat Jays 3-1 with 10 unvaccinated players absent
TORONTO (AP) — The Kansas City Royals overcame the absence of 10 unvaccinated players to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1. Double-A callup Angel Zerpa pitched five solid innings in his first major league start and Bobby Witt Jr. hit a tiebreaking home run for Kansas City. Nate Eaton homered in his major league debut as the Royals won for the fifth time in six games. Players who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19 aren't allowed to enter Canada. Among the Royals who stayed home were All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi, two-time All-Star Whit Merrifield, future cornerstones Kyle Isbel and MJ Melendez and outfielder Michael A. Taylor.
Suns match Pacers' offer for Ayton, keeping nucleus intact
PHOENIX (AP) — Deandre Ayton finally has his new deal from the Phoenix Suns, who simply weren’t willing to let him get away for nothing. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Suns quickly decided to match a $133 million, four-year offer sheet that Ayton agreed to earlier Thursday with the Indiana Pacers. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Suns had not publicly announced the decision. The move means the Suns keep their nucleus of Ayton and the All-Star backcourt of Devin Booker and Chris Paul. The trio pushed Phoenix to the NBA Finals in 2021.
Dry conditions on course lead to slow play at British Open
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — The dry conditions at the British Open turned a beautiful day for golf into a long slog for many of the players. The moderate temperature and average wind during the first round on the east coast of Scotland combined to make the dry fairways lightning fast. That in turn made play ploddingly slow. Rory McIlroy says “there’s a lot of crisscrossing and waiting on other greens and waiting on greens to clear because the drivable par 4s.” The Old Course has many shared greens and even some shared fairways. The seventh hole doglegs right across the middle of the 11th. Both pins are on the same green.
WNBA's Griner gets support at trial from character witnesses
KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — The drug possession trial of WNBA star Brittney Griner has resumed, with the head of the Russian club she plays for in the offseason and a teammate from that squad testifying in support of her character and what she has meant for women’s basketball in the country. Griner, who pleaded guilty last week, did not testify as expected at the third day of the trial. She has been detained in Russia since February, and the U.S. government is under pressure at home to do more to secure her freedom. Her guilty plea could be an effort to expedite the court proceedings so any negotiations about a prisoner exchange could move forward.
Coe: 'Inconceivable' Russians would be allowed at worlds
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The leader of global track and field said it would have been “inconceivable” to have allowed Russians into this week’s world championships given the country’s war against Ukraine. At his news conference on the eve of the championships, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said there was no budging from the position the federation took shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Belarus, an ally of Russia in the war, is also banned from the worlds. Coe noted that World Athletics was one of the first federations to reach a position and that it won’t change “for the foreseeable future." He says that's because of the challenges involved in getting the 22 Ukrainian athletes who qualified for worlds safely to the championships.
Big 12 changes coming after one last season with 10 schools
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Big 12 is going into its final season as a 10-team league. Oklahoma and Texas are still in the conference before eventually leaving for the Southeastern Conference. The Big 12's four new additions won't join the league until next summer. New Sooners coach Brent Venables says he wants to keep the focus on the 2022 season, and not what will happen after that. Oklahoma will try to bounce back after having its record streak of six consecutive Big 12 titles snapped last season. Texas is coming off a 5-7 record in coach Steve Sarkisian's first season.
US advances to W Championship final against Canada
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — The U.S. women’s national team will play Canada in the final of the CONCACAF W Championship for a spot in the 2024 Olympics. The United States beat Costa Rica 3-0 in the semifinals on Thursday night, on goals from Emily Sonnett, Mallory Pugh and Ashley Sanchez. Canada downed Jamaica 3-0 in the late game to advance to earn the other spot in Monday’s championship. The four teams finished atop their groups to qualify for the region’s berths at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. The winner of the W Championship additionally earns one of the region’s spots in the Olympics.
Hammer thrower changes nations to US, eager for track worlds
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The hammer thrower from Ohio went to the Tokyo Games representing Nigeria last summer. Before she even got to throw, Annette Echikunwoke was informed she couldn’t compete for not meeting anti-doping testing requirements in the lead-up to the Games. An administration error through the federation. It led her to switch countries and her application was approved the day before her event at U.S. championships. She finished third to earn a spot at the world championships and compete wearing the red, white and blue.
Becky Hammon thriving in first season as coach of the Aces
NEW YORK (AP) — When Becky Hammon knew it was time to leave the NBA last winter after being an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs for eight seasons, she was faced with a tough choice. She had to choose between the two WNBA franchises she once played for, and both lobbied hard to make her their head coach. Hammon says she is very comfortable with the decision and hasn't looked back since arriving in Nevada. She had been a candidate for a few NBA head coaching jobs over the last few years, but never got them. She also had received some college offers in the past, as well as other assistant jobs in the NBA, but turned them down.