PGA:
Defending champ Jordan Spieth has picked up where he left off last year as he opened with a 6-under-66, good for a two-shot lead after the first round of the Masters. New Zealand's Danny Lee and Shane Lwry are tied for second. Paul Casey, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia are among those three shots off the lead. Rory McIlroy needs to win the Masters to complete a career Grand Slam. McIlroy was going along smoothly but bogeyed three of his final four holes to finish 2-under 70, four shots off the lead.
Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit the ceremonial first tee shots to officially open the 80th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. But the warmest applause was reserved for Arnold Palmer, the 86-year-old honorary starter who didn't even hit a shot but is still considered the King by the Augusta patrons.
NBA:
In the NBA, Miami beat Chicago 106-98, Phoenix topped Houston 124-115, Atlanta won against Toronto 95-87, Minnesota defeated Sacramento 105-97, and it was Golden State over San Antonio 112-101.
NHL:
In the NHL, Boston beat Detroit 5-2, the Islanders topped the Rangers 4-1, Tampa Bay doubled up New Jersey 4-2, Montreal beat Carolina 4-2, Pittsburgh won against Washington in overtime 4-3, Toronto beat Philadelphia in overtime 4-3, Ottawa bested Florida 3-1, Nashville skated by Arizona in overtime 3-2, Dallas beat Colorado 4-2, St. Louis trumped Chicacgo in overtime 2-1, Calgary defeated Vancouver 7-3, Los Angeles bested Anaheim 2-1, and it was Winnipeg over San Jose 5-4.
Henrik Lundqvist has been voted the New York Rangers' most valuable player for this season, a franchise-record eighth time he has won the award. The goaltender also was honored by media regularly covering the team from the 2006-07 season through 2012-13. Lundqvist has a 35-20-7 record, along with a 2.46 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage and four shutouts in 64 appearances this season.
MLB:
In baseball, in the American League, the Yankees beat Houston 8-5, the White Sox bested Oakland 6-1, Baltimore doubled up Minnesota 4-2, and it was the Angels over Texas4-3. The Boston at Cleveland game was postponed due to rain.
In the National League, Cincinnati blasted Philadelphia 10-6, Miami beat Washington 6-4, San Francisco doubled up the Dodgers 12-6, and it was the Cubs over Arizona 14-6.
The home opener for the Pawtucket Red Sox has been postponed due to rain and wet grounds. The game was scheduled for last night at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket. The Triple-A team was scheduled to play the Buffalo Bisons. The team says the home opener will now be played today at the regularly scheduled start time of 6:15 p.m.
NCAA:
Number 1 overall seed Quinnipiac held off Boston College 3-2 last night to reach the NCAA hockey championship game for the second time in four seasons. Michael Garteig made 34 saves. Kevin McKernan and Andrew Taverner scored in the opening period, and Landon Smith added a power-play goal that made it 3-1 in the second period, setting the stage for Garteig to shine when the Bobcats needed him. Quinnipiac will play North Dakota, which eliminated Denver 4-2, in the Frozen Four championship Saturday night.
UConn's 11th women's basketball championship will be celebrated on Sunday in what has become a traditional parade through Hartford. Governor Dannel Malloy's office says the victory parade will begin at 1 p.m. at the state Capitol and end at the XL Center, the downtown basketball arena, where a rally is planned.
Princeton University has fired its men's lacrosse coach after he elbowed an opposing player. The university says the move to terminate Chris Bates came after a review of the incident that took place during a game at Brown University on Saturday. He had been put on leave earlier this week. A video shows Bates hitting a Brown midfielder with his elbow as the player was running off the field.
A University of Vermont alumnus is going to become the school's next athletic director. Jeff Schulman will assume the position on July 1st, after the retirement of Bob Corran. Schulman is a 1989 graduate. He joined the athletic department in 1993 and has served as the senior associate athletic director for the last 12 years.
Gonzaga sophomore Domantas Sabonis has decided to skip the rest of his college career and declare for the NBA draft. He will not hire an agent, leaving open the possibility he could return to school. The 19-year old son of former NBA player Arvydas Sabonis is Gonzaga's all-time leader in career field goal percentage at .632. The 6-foot-11 forward was an honorable mention on AP's All-America list this season after averaging 17.6 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
In other college basketball notes:
— Maryland forward Robert Carter Jr. will skip his senior season to enter the NBA draft. The school says he intends to sign with an agent. Carter played one season with the Terrapins after transferring from Georgia Tech. He averaged 12.3 points, shot 55 percent and led the team with 6.9 rebounds a game.
— Indiana center Thomas Bryant says he will return for his sophomore season and not declare for the NBA draft. The 6-foot-10 Bryant averaged 11.9 points and 5.8 rebounds this past season and led the Big Ten Conference during the regular season by shooting 68.3 percent from the field.
NFL:
The New England Patriots have signed unrestricted free-agent defensive lineman Markus Kuhn. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The 6-foot-4, 303-pound German player spent four seasons with the New York Giants, making 10 starts and playing in 39 games. He has 48 total tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and two fumble recoveries, one that he returned for a touchdown.
New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner has been called up to the U.S. Rugby Sevens for a tournament in Hong Kong as he tries to make the team that will play in the Rio Olympics. Ebner was named an injury replacement for sprinter Carlin Isles yesterday. A rugby All-American at Ohio State, Ebner was a sixth-round draft pick by the Patriots in 2012.
New York Jets receiver Brandon Marshall says he feared for his life as he fled a Manhattan nightclub four years ago. An emotional Marshall testified in federal court yesterday, denying at a civil trial that he punched a woman who sued him for unspecified damages. He was never criminally charged.
At the age of 23 linebacker A.J. Tarpley of the Buffalo Bills has announced his retirement after just one season. In making the announcement Tarpley cited the two concussions he sustained last season. Tarpley said it was hard decision to make but that he is walking away from the game, "to preserve my future health." The Bills signed veteran offensive lineman Fernando Velasco to provide some depth.
In other NFL news:
—Oakland's Raiders have signed free-agent safety Reggie Nelson. He gives the Raiders a replacement for retired Pro Bowler Charles Woodson. The 32-year-old Nelson tied for the NFL lead with eight interceptions last season for Cincinnati.
Olympics:
Organizers on Friday unveiled four designs shortlisted to become the official logo of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The designs were selected from 14,599 entries in a contest open to the public.
The Tokyo organizing committee said the public will have a week to 10 days to give their opinions of the designs either online or by postcard. Those opinions will be considered during the final review by the Emblem Selection Committee which will cast ballots on April 25.
The logo with a majority of votes will be presented to the organizing committee's board of directors the same day before being made public. The first proposed logo by Japanese designer Kenjiro Sano was scrapped over allegations of plagiarism because of its similarity to the logo of a theater in Belgium.
Doping:
The Russian sports minister says no one will face criminal charges over the worst doping scandal in the country's history. A report in November by a World Anti-Doping Agency commission alleged systematic, state-sponsored drug use in Russian track and field and a widespread cover-up of doping.
The former head of the Russian track federation was also accused of a role in extorting 450,000 euros ($500,000) from a marathon runner and was later banned for life from global track and field.
Sports minister Vitaly Mutko tells Russian sports portal Sportfakt that Russian prosecutors "carefully examined the report in question and did not find a single legally supported fact to open any kind of case." The WADA report led to Russia being suspended from all international track and field, including the Olympics.
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