Jori Lehtera felt like a bit of an afterthought in the trade that sent Brayden Schenn to the St. Louis Blues and some significant picks to the Philadelphia Flyers. While he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford that the news brought out both good and bad emotions, the 29-year-old believes that he’ll benefit on the ice.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Ryan Armour shot a career-best 9-under 61 on Friday for a share of the lead with Webb Simpson after two rounds at the Wyndham Championship. Armour and Simpson were at 13-under 127 halfway through the PGA TOUR’s final event of the regular season. Simpson shot a 64. Henrik Stenson was a stroke behind them after a 66. Ollie Schniederjans and Vaughn Taylor and were 11. Schniederjans shot 63, Taylor had a 66. First-round leader Matt Every followed his 61 with a 72 to slip six strokes off the lead. The field at Sedgefield Country Club is once again full of players trying to force their way off the bubble and qualify for the postseason. The top 125 players on the points list earn berths at THE NORTHERN TRUST next week in New York. At No. 187 on the list, Armour isn’t even close to the bubble. “Could turn your life around,” Armour said. “I had some goals at the beginning of the week. I knew where I stood and, you know, right now the goals are attainable.” The 41-year-old who has yet to win on tour and has bounced between the big tour and the Web.com Tour throughout his 14-year professional career, had nine birdies — five on his first nine holes, then four in a row on Nos. 5-8 — to quickly climb the leaderboard. His round was two strokes better than his previous best of 63 nine years ago in Milwaukee. Simpson, a North Carolina native who won here in 2011 and named his third child Wyndham, put himself in position to contend for his first victory since 2014. He had four birdies on the first six holes of his back nine, pulling even with Armour at 13 under after his birdie on the par-5 15th. “Keep making birdies, stay aggressive and know that there’s plenty of good golfers behind me,” Simpson said. “I got to keep the hammer down.” Stenson, who started on the back nine, offset his lone bogey of the round — he missed a 15-foot par putt on the par-4 18th — with three birdies during the four-hole span between Nos. 4-7. “The game plan is there,” he said. “I got the set-up in the bag to give me those numbers off the tee that we need and it’s just about going out there and playing, continue making birdies and giving myself birdie chances. It’s a low scoring golf course … keep it going.” Among bubble players, No. 125 Geoff Ogilvy played his way to the weekend late in his round. He had birdies on five of his final six holes to move to 4 under for the tournament — good enough to help him beat the cut line of 3 under. And No. 141 Johnson Wagner had the shot of the tournament so far, with an albatross on the par-5 fifth, using a 5-iron to hole out his 215-yard second shot from the right fairway. It was the first albatross at the tournament since Fabian Gomez had one on No. 15 in 2011. “I had a bunch of family that’s up by the green and they started going bananas,” Wagner said. “Pretty clear it had gone in.” Wagner shot a 64 to move to 9 under. Some others weren’t so fortunate: No. 129 Daniel Summerhays was at even par while No. 126 Cameron Tringale was 1 under.
Albert Pujols’ first-inning home run, the 609th of his career, moved the Angels slugger into a tie with Sammy Sosa for eighth on the all-time list.
Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer was scratched from his start Friday night against the Padres at Petco Park. Matt Grace got the start in his place.
Follow live: Yankees, Red Sox open crucial series at Fenway
Price’s throwing regimen halted by ‘stiffness’
• COURSE: Glen Oaks Club (Composite), 7,350 yards, par 70. Founded in 1924, Glen Oaks Club began on land carved out of the William K. Vanderbilt estate south of Long Island’s Lake Success. A need to expand in the late 1960s sent the club to a 250-acre site in Old Westbury, where Joe Finger was brought in to design three nine-hole loops. The layout remained largely unchanged until 2011, when members approved a major renovation and hired Craig Currier away from Bethpage State Park to oversee the project. The PGA TOUR came calling two years ago when seeking a site to step in for Liberty National, which was set as host until being awarded the Presidents Cup. The tournament course will draw from all three nines – Nos. 1-3 and 6-9 of the White course, Nos. 4 and 5 from the Red and the entire Blue layout. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 2,000 points. • CHARITY: The Tackle Kids Cancer program is the official charity of The Northern Trust, helping provide care for young patients and fund pediatric cancer research. Other donations are made to the American Red Cross, the YMCA of Long Island, The First Tee of Metropolitan New York and Birdies for the Brave. • FIELD WATCH: FedExCup points leader Hideki Matsuyama and new PGA Championship king Justin Thomas head a lineup currently set for 120 at the opening playoff stop. … Defending FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy is entered, after hinting of taking a long break after the PGA Championship to rest a rib flareup. … Masters champ Sergio Garcia will sit out the playoff opener for the third consecutive year, while Adam Scott is awaiting the birth of his second child. Brandt Snedeker (ribs), Scott Piercy and Dominic Bozzelli (both undisclosed) are the other absentees. … Summer winners Xander Schauffele (Greenbrier Classic) and Grayson Murray (Barbasol Championship) head up the list of dozen rookies expected to crack the 2017 playoff lineup. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Bob Gilder (1982 at Westchester CC), Jason Day (2015 at Plainfield CC). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Brandt Snedeker (3rd round, 2011 at Plainfield CC). • LAST YEAR: Patrick Reed picked up a playoffs victory and a Ryder Cup berth in one fell swoop, overcoming an early two-shot deficit to take control on the back nine and end a 55-start winless drought. An early bogey left Reed two shots behind Rickie Fowler at Bethpage Black, but he birdied three of his next four holes to pull even. He pushed in front with Fowler’s bogey at No.11 and never looked back, able to absorb a closing bogey for a one-stroke win over Sean O’Hair and Emiliano Grillo. The victory locked up a Ryder Cup return for Reed, who delivered a rousing performance in the U.S. win at Hazeltine. Fowler’s closing 74 dropped him to seventh and out of an automatic Ryder Cup spot, though Davis Love III later made him a captain’s pick. • STORYLINES: Matsuyama, Thomas and No.3 Jordan Spieth are separated by just 198 points atop the FedExCup points race, with a gap of 205 points down to Dustin Johnson in fourth. That quartet also stands as the only men to claim multiple victories during the regular season. … Thomas tees it up for the first time since becoming a major champion, which also happened to be his first top-25 finish since June. His first three wins of 2016-17 came in a 12-week span that bookended the Christmas break. … Though Johnson has cooled off since back-to-back-to-back wins just before the Masters, he’s been no worse than 17th since returning from the Open Championship. … At the back of the points list, entrants endeavor to crack the top 100 for a berth in the Dell Technologies Championship outside Boston. Typically, a half-dozen play their way into the second playoff stop from outside the top 100. • SHORT CHIPS: Jim Furyk, whose 34 FedExCup playoff starts are tied for No.7 all-time, won’t be around at all this year after failing to qualify for the postseason. He had just one top-10 finish in 18 starts. … Spieth last year became just the second defending FedExCup champion to make it all the way back to East Lake 12 months later, placing ninth in the final standings. Snedeker was the other, returning in 2013. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, noon-1:30 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (CBS). • PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). Saturday, 8:10 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured groups). Sunday, 8:20 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured groups). • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).
Friday afternoon, the Cubs beat the Blue Jays, 7-4. The winning pitcher for the Cubs was Jake Arrieta, as he worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out six and walking two. It was yet another very good outing for the Cubs’ right-hander. He’s overall having a good
Webb Simpson and Ryan Armour share the lead at 13-under par after two rounds at the Wyndham Championship.
The rookie driver for Furniture Row Racing won his first pole in his 27th series start. Rookie Erik Jones won his first-career Monster Energy Cup Series pole Friday, grabbing the top position for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops/NRA Night race. Jones’ first pole came in his 27th series start and on the strength
