Bryce Harper is getting his wish. At least for one weekend this month. In March 2016, Harper, the Washington Nationals’ superstar outfielder, said in an ESPN interview that baseball is “tired.” “It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself,” the then-23-year-old
Raiders CB Conley refutes having shin splints
Felix Hernandez said he has received a PRP injection in his sore right shoulder, and is now waiting for clearance to begin playing catch and rehabbing from the bursitis that sent him on the 10-day disabled list last weekend. The veteran Mariners ace thinks he can be back sooner than the doctor’s diagnosis of a 3-4 week absence.
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts, EE.UU. (AP) — El comisionado de la NFL, Roger Goodell, asistió el jueves al partido de pretemporada de los Patriots de Nueva Inglaterra.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The volunteer had just arrived for his shift at the new par-3 fourth hole at Quail Hollow. Standing along the front rail of the grandstands, he was surveying the green, waiting for the next three players to arrive in Thursday’s first round of the PGA Championship. He wondered what he had missed. At that point, not much. Of the first 66 players with morning tee times who had completed that hole, none had made a birdie. On the flip side, there had been 22 bogeys. The temperature was rising and the fans sitting behind him were getting restless. “I heard a comment about the green,â€� the volunteer said, nodding to the undulations that contributed to the lack of fireworks. “They said they didn’t realize North Carolina had elephants until they saw the two that were buried here.â€� Consider it gallow’s humor. The 184-yard hole, which had not existed until last summer when renovations to Quail Hollow included the creation of three new holes, didn’t exactly receive rave reviews in its debut on the big stage. Grayson Murray: “Definitely not like the other 17.â€� Tony Finau: “A little dicey … not my favorite green.â€� Brooks Koepka: “A little too shallow … and too undulating.â€� Gary Woodland: “That pin today was brutal.â€� Englishman Paul Casey said simply, “Not a fan.â€� Murray, whose 3-under 68 leaves him tied for third behind leaders Thorbjorn Olesen and Kevin Kisner, was in the first group to play the fourth hole. He bogeyed it, as did playing partners Peter Uihlein and Rich Berberian Jr. Murray noted that Uihlein’s 7-iron hit two feet left, pin-high … and rolled down the back of the green. “That’s a little absurd, maybe,â€� Murray said. Patrick Reed said he hit a full 7-iron. “I launched it to the moon and I pushed it from where my line was right at the flag,â€� Reed said. “Landed three yards short of the hole and still went over the green.â€� David Lingmerth was the 70th player to complete the hole Thursday – and the first one to make a birdie, rolling in a putt from 16 feet, 7 inches. Ultimately, he would be the only player in the morning wave to make a birdie, with 24 bogeys and one double bogey made by those first 78 players. The hole was more accommodating in the afternoon, with Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau, Graham DeLaet, Danny Lee and Byeong Hun An making birdies. An had the longest putt, at 34 feet, 5 inches. Fowler had the closest, just outside 6 feet. Joost Luiten found the best way to solve the green – by not having to putt on it. His 6-iron took one bounce, hit the flagstick and dropped in for a hole-in-one. It’s the 40th ace at the PGA Championship since 1970. But even Luiten, the guy with the most success on No. 4, understands the concerns. He also sees room for improvement. “I think if (the ball) missed the flag, I would’ve been over the green,â€� Luiten said. “I think that’s what they mean. There’s almost no way you can stop that ball on that green, especially not on the right side. As soon as it goes past the pin, it just rolls off. It’s a tough pin. It’s a small target and I just got lucky that it bounced in the hole. Sometimes you need a bit of luck in this game. “I think the green is a bit too severe. If they flatten out that green a little bit, it’s a bit more fair. It’s a better par 3 that way.â€� Perhaps we should have seen this coming. Earlier this week, Frank Nobilo previewed the hole on the Golf Channel. His succinct assessment? “I don’t think this will be the players’ favorite hole.â€� Given all the grumbling, the fourth hole – created last year when course designer Tom Fazio took land that previously had been the par-5 fifth hole – surprisingly was not the most difficult Thursday. Playing to a stroke average of 3.288, it ranked seventh overall. Even the two par-3s on the back nine were more difficult. Of course, both are significantly longer, the 13th more than 20 yards, the 17th more than 40 yards. So what is the issue with the new fourth hole? The focus is on those elephant humps, which some suggest take up too much space on the green and are too severe, making for small targets. There are few flat areas to stick a pin; Thursday’s location was so close to the bunker on the right side that “from the tee box, it looks like it’s in the bunker,â€� Finau said. “Visually, it’s hard to hit at that hole.â€� Players are forced to carry the three bunkers guarding the front of the green, but with the back of the green sloping down, shots struck in the middle were rolling into either the fringe, the first cut or even the thick second rough. With a firm putting surface, players were having trouble holding the green with their mid-irons. “When the greens are firm, it’s going to be hard to hit the green at all,â€� said Jim Herman. “I was able to hit it today. I had to really press the issue hitting an 8-iron. It’s probably a 7-iron club to get it all the way back there. But if anything’s landing near it, it was just going to go over. It’s just going to be a challenge all week.â€� Said Koepka, who bogeyed the hole after finding the right-hand bunker: “I think if they had the green a little bit flatter, it would have been a little bit better.â€� So would any player come to the fourth hole’s defense on Thursday? How about one of the Quail Hollow members, say, the guy with a U.S. Open win on his resume? Sorry. Webb Simpson even acknowledged the hole’s shortcomings. “I think they knew once they put it in that maybe it was a little too undulating, to be honest,â€� Simpson said after signing for a 5-over 76 that he called “disappointing.â€� Added Simpson: “It’s a beautiful hole. They did a good job with the trees and bunkering. But yeah, I think if they soften it a little bit, it will be a good thing.â€� Who knows, maybe that work will begin soon. But it won’t happen this week. So are there any potential changes for the next three rounds? The pin will move around, but only to a limited number of spots it can go. Perhaps a change in the tees will provide some relief. “Our group was kind of feeling like if you move the tee up 20 yards, instead of being a soft 6 or full 7, if it’s a 9-iron you probably can stop it close,â€� Reed said. “I’m sure they are going to mess around with that tee a little bit too,â€� Murray added. “Maybe we’ll hit a wedge in one day. If we have a wedge in our hand, it’s fine.â€� Whatever the set-up is for the rest of the week, players know there’s nothing they can do about it. Koepka, for one, will not lose sleep about No. 4. “I don’t really care that much, to be honest with you,â€� he said. “Everyone’s got to play it. So it doesn’t really bother me.â€� Give Herman the last word. “No reason to get supercritical about it. You’ve got to hit the shots. We’ve got wedges. We can get up and down.â€�
Brooks Koepka has already won the U.S. Open this year. After one day, he’s put himself in position to contend for his second major win of the year.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Notes and observations from Thursday’s first round of the PGA Championship where Thorbjorn Olesen and Kevin Kisner each birdied the 18th hole to grab a share of the lead at 67. The two own a one-stroke lead over Grayson Murray, Gary Woodland, U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka, D.A. Points and Chris Stroud, who won last week’s Barracuda Championship. Murray playing a home game Grayson Murray was born, raised and still lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, which is only two-and-a-half hours from Charlotte. Until this week, though, the 23-year-old had never played Quail Hollow Club. Considering the significant changes to the course made last summer, though, maybe it was good for Murray to come to the PGA Championship flying blind, so to speak. After all, the 68 he shot in the first round that included a 32 on the extremely challenging back nine left him one stroke off the lead. Murray shot 83-81 at the 2013 U.S. Open in his only other major appearance. “This course is very tough,â€� Murray said. “I played about as good as I could. I had some putts that could have dropped but that’s how golf is. I’m very pleased with the round today.â€� That 7:20 a.m. start came early. But maybe it was only fitting that a native North Carolinian hit the opening tee shot of the first PGA played in the state since the 1974 event at Tanglewood. And he had plenty of fans urging him on as the round progressed. “It was nice to have a lot of friends and family out there supporting me,â€� he said. “You hear, ‘Go Grayson, let’s go.’ It’s good motivation for me.â€� Murray didn’t even know he was in the PGA field until two weeks ago when the rookie won the Barbasol Championship. He also vaulted from 124th to 58th in the FedExCup with the win and locked up a two-year exemption and trip to Maui for the SBS Tournament of Champions in January. “People ask me was it a relief or excitement,â€� Murray said. “And it was excitement. … Getting that first win was huge confidence-wise. “I can’t say how hard it is to win out here. I can’t stress it — what these guys do, what Jason Day or Rory or Jordan or Hideki, people take that for granted. It’s unbelievable. Hopefully I can be in that category in the next year or two and be in their shoes. “Right now, I’m just trying to get that second one.â€� Murray credits Josh Gregory, who used to be the golf coach at Southern Methodist, with helping turn his season around. He hired Gregory the week of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard and the results were almost immediate – he missed his fifth straight cut at Bay Hill but then made 10 in a row. “My short game has really elevated since I have been working with Josh,â€� Murray said. “My time management, I’m out here practicing for a purpose now.â€� And Murray has another purpose this week. He may be young and he may be less experienced than some but he knows he has the game to compete. “Honestly, that win took a lot of nerves off,â€� he said. “I’m freewheeling it now. … All the world class players are here, so I’ll have to play my A-plus game probably right now to win where some guys may be able to play their B-plus and win. “Hopefully I’ll be at that stage of my career soon.â€� Reed’s game coming around Patrick Reed came to Quail Hollow in a positive frame of mind, even if the rest of his body was a little fatigued. The 27-year-old is competing in his ninth straight event – on two continents, no less – this week at the PGA. Two of those, played in Scotland and Germany, were sandwiched around the Open Championship, all three of which counted toward his European Tour membership. The rest were in the good old USA. Reed showed no signs of being tired on Thursday, though, as he fired a 69 that left him two strokes off the lead. Reed, who has won five times on TOUR, has yet to post a top-10 in a major, with a tie for 12th at the 2016 Open Championship his best in 15 appearances. “I feel like it’s moving in the right direction,â€� Reed said when asked about his game. “I got to keep my energy level up. Being my ninth week in a row, you have to save your energy for tournament rounds.â€� Reed said he hadn’t planned on playing nine straight tournaments. But the 2016-17 campaign hasn’t been up to his standards with just two top-10 finishes, and Reed prefers to work on his game between the ropes rather than beating balls. “If I don’t feel like things are going exactly how I want to, I don’t want to go home and try to work on it at the range,â€� he explained. “I can go to the range and it the ball perfect every time. I want to fix it on the golf course. That’s why I have been playing a lot.â€� While Reed is 54th and safely in the FedExCup Playoffs that begin in two weeks at THE NORTHERN TRUST, where he will defend his most recent title, The Presidents Cup is a different story. The fiery Texan ranks 11th in the standings with the top 10 automatically qualifying and Captain Steve Stricker making two picks on Sept. 6. “Those team events are always on my mind,â€� Reed said. “The way you take care of those is go out and play good golf. I don’t sit there and focus on standings and what you need points-wise. “At the end of the day you win a golf tournament, it takes care of itself. That’s been the way I thought about I everything when it comes to World Ranking, FedExCup, the Playoffs, Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup, any of those team events. If you go out and play golf like you are supposed to, it’s going to take care of yourself. That’s all you can control.â€� Quail Hollow suits big-hitting Woodland To say Gary Woodland is a fan of the changes made at Quail Hollow might be something of an understatement. The new holes suit his eye and the 196 yards added by architect Tom Fazio pose no problems for him. “I hit more drivers now than I ever did,â€� said the man who ranks 14th on TOUR in distance off the tee. “… Almost like they did it for me, I think.â€� Woodland demonstrated his affinity for the course on Thursday with a 68 that left him one stroke off the lead. He made four birdies and dropped just one shot to par. Interestingly, the putter, which has been uncooperative this year, was the key to Woodland’s round. He came into the week ranked 182nd in Strokes Gained: Putting but finished the day ranked in the top 10. “I haven’t made putts in a long time,â€� Woodland said, adding that seeing birdies drop in his first seven holes set the tone. In an attempt to shore up his putting, Woodland worked with Brad Faxon early in the week and Steve Stricker on Wednesday. “I talked to two of the greats,â€� he said. “I picked up some things definitely.â€� Most of his conversation with the Presidents Cup captain on Wednesday focused on his setup. More importantly, Woodland was trying to let things happen rather than focus on the fundamentals. “The day before a major, it’s all about freeing it up,â€� he said. “We’re not trying to do too much. Just get comfortable was the big deal.
Bring on the drama! NBA gets it right with first slate of games
