The rain was over, but this morning thick fog at Churchill Downs kept some Kentucky Derby contenders away from the track until tomorrow again. Plus Que Parfait breezed, but there was no official time due to the fog. Check out comments and photos for the Derby and Oaks horses, probable starters for the rest of the Derby weekend stakes, and more.
HILTON HEAD, S.C. – A year ago, C.T. Pan had a great chance to win the Wyndham Championship. Pan stood on the 18th tee that Sunday, tied with Brandt Snedeker, only to watch forlornly as his drive sailed right, hitting the cart path and bouncing out of bounds. Pan ended up making double bogey while Snedeker rolled in a birdie putt and picked up the ninth win of his career. The 27-year-old from Chinese Taipei got another opportunity realize his life’s dream on Sunday at the RBC Heritage, and this time Pan didn’t let the opportunity slip away. On an afternoon of attrition at Harbour Town, Pan held steady down the stretch, grabbing the lead with a birdie at the 16th hole, then gutting out pars on the final two holes. His 67 left Pan at 12 under and one stroke ahead of Matt Kuchar, the FedExCup leader who finished two groups ahead and applied pressure when he birdied the 72nd hole. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Winner’s bag | Updated FedExCup standings And as he sat in the media center wearing the RBC Heritage’s trademark tartan jacket, Pan later acknowledged that the near-miss at Sedgefield last year played a big role in Sunday’s victory. “It definitely changed my perception on the last couple of holes down the stretch of what I should do,â€� he said. “The last three holes I would say I played really well here, a lot of good shots just because I told myself I need to focus on the details, the little things, and just stay in present. … “And that’s something I didn’t do at Wyndham.â€� The little things, like studying the final-round pin placements on Saturday night so he’d be comfortable with the shots he’d need to hit. Pan wanted to make it through the first four holes in even par, which he did, then fire at the pins from Nos. 5-13, which he also did, playing those holes in 4 under. “And that’s how I snuck on the leaderboard,â€� said Pan, who moves to No. 26 in the FedExCup standings with the win. “And I’m just happy I executed my strategy very well there.â€� Pan also made a point of getting to the course by 9 a.m. Sunday – four-and-a-half hours before his tee time – to work out the kinks after an adventurous third-round 69 that includes six birdies, four bogeys, an eagle and a double bogey. “Yesterday, my wife is not happy with my round,â€� Pan said with a smile. “It was too colorful for her.â€� Michelle Pan, who had made a short-lived appearance as her husband’s caddy in Greensboro, wasn’t on hand to share in his joy at Harbour Town on Sunday, though. She was in Houston serving as the host of the at the C.T. Pan Junior Championship at The Clubs of Kingwood. Pan, who honed the skills that earned him a scholarship to the University of Washington on the AJGA  circuit from 2007-2010, had planned to be there, too. But he hadn’t finished higher than 42nd in his nine previous starts, and Michelle urged her husband to play in Hilton Head instead. “Just listen to your wife and you will have a good life,â€� Pan said. The AJGA event concluded on Saturday and Pan was thrilled to find out that one of the 10 aspiring golfers he brought over from Chinese Taipei won the girls division. “So, this is one of the best weekends that I’ve ever had,â€� Pan said. Inspiring the next generation of golfers in his home country is important to Pan, who is the youngest of six children. He first started playing at an abandoned driving range where he and his brother and his late father, an elementary school teacher, would create holes with makeshift pin flags. By the time Pan was 7, he was competing in local junior tournaments and he was able to play at the local course where his mother still works as a caddie. Pan’s father could see that his son had talent, and he encouraged him every step of the way. A second-place finish at the 2006 Asian Games attracted attention in the United States and soon Pan was headed to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He was 15 and he spoke virtually no English when he arrived in the Sunshine State. But Pan was nothing if not driven, and he knew his father was right. “He told us that he believed this sport has a really good potential in the future,â€� Pan said. “And obviously I didn’t know anything back then. And it was right time when with Tiger, it was ’96, I believe, when Tiger coming up like crazy. He’s still crazy. “But, yes, my family is a big part of my golf career. … So I just miss a lot of my family, this W.â€� The win has opened a lot of doors for Pan, who joins T.C. Chen as the only players from Chinese Taipei to win a PGA TOUR event – and the first in 32 years. He’s much closer to his goal of playing in the season-ending TOUR Championship after finishing 35th and 88th in his first two seasons. “Hopefully, this year I’ll do something special, just like this win, to secure it,â€� Pan said. Oh, and there’s that invitation to Augusta National that he’ll get in the mail early next year. Pan and his wife had watched on TV with great interest as Tiger Woods won the Masters on Sunday, and now they’ll get to experience it first-hand. “She was like, hey, I’m not patient at all, so you better get me there as soon as possible,â€� Pan recalled. “And she doesn’t want to caddie for me anymore in tournaments. She only wants to caddie for the Par-3 events. “So now I can fulfill my promise.â€� Pan’s victory Sunday also will certainly put him on Ernie Els’ radar screen as he contemplates his International Presidents Cup team – if the 2018 Olympian wasn’t there already. “It would be my biggest honor to play under Captain Els,â€� he said. “… And back home in Taiwan, I mean, we don’t have a Ryder Cup in Asia. And I just feel it’s kind of unfortunate for the golf fans back home in Asia. “And I think the Presidents Cup will be something like that. And it will inspire more kids to play golf or inspire more people to follow golf.â€� Just like he did on Sunday at Harbour Town.
Mock drafts are like noses, everyone has one. The same 25 or so names pop up in everyone’s forecast of the 2019 NFL Draft, with only slight variations to the order. Poll a few NFL scouts and analysts to name the top quarterback, wide receiver, offensive tackle, cornerback or safety in this class
Gordon Hayward delivered in a big way for the Celtics on Sunday. The 29-year-old forward came off the bench and tallied a team-high 20 points in Boston’s 110-106 win over the Pacers. He also added three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block as his team secured a sweep in Indiana.Next “
San Antonio Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Sunday for recklessly throwing the basketball toward a referee and into the stands during a playoff loss. DeRozan was whistled for a technical foul and ejected for the incident, which came with 5:01 remaining in the fourth quarter
NEW YORK — Boban Marjanovic’s lowered his 7’3″, 290-pound body onto a chair in front of his locker, draped the branches that he calls arms down toward the floor and, with his pencil-length fingers, begun pulling on the laces weaved through his size-20 shoes. This is how stories about Boban—like
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — C.T. Pan took advantage of Dustin Johnson’s back-nine struggles to win the RBC Heritage for his first PGA TOUR victory. The 27-year-old Pan, from Taiwan, closed with a 4-under 67 on Sunday at Harbour Town Golf Links for a one-stroke victory over Matt Kuchar. Pan finished at 12-under 272. Johnson, the third-round leader in his home-state event, had a 77 to tie for 28th at 4 under. He played a five-hole stretch in 7 over, making bogeys on Nos. 11-13 and double bogeys on Nos. 14-15. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Winner’s bag  Pan took the lead for good with a 9-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th. Kuchar closed with a 67. Patrick Cantlay, Scott Piercy and Shane Lowry tied for third at 10 under. Cantlay and Piercy shot 69, and Lowry had a 70. Pan headed to the practice range after the round to keep ready in case of a playoff, then raised his arms in triumph when told he’d won. He earned 500 FedExCup points, $1,242,000, and a PGA TOUR exemption through the 2020-21 season. Pan won twice on the PGA TOUR Canada-Mackenzie Tour in 2015 when he turned professional. He’s finished second twice in PGA TOUR events, once at the Farmers Insurance Open in 2017 and last year at the Wyndham Championship. Johnson, the 20-time PGA TOUR winner, carried a one-shot lead into the final round and the South Carolina native seemed a strong bet to add the Palmetto State’s only TOUR stop to his trophy case. But Johnson never found a rhythm early and lost all hope with his uncharacteristic drop off. He had a birdie on the fifth to keep on top. Johnson’s collapse started mildly with a bogey on the par-3 seventh hole. It took full flight on the back nine. Johnson’s frustrations were in full display on the par-4 13th when his approach went into the bunker, a foot or so from the wooden-board facing. He barely got it out and shook his head. He flew his tee shot into the water on the par-3 14th to drop two more shots. Johnson added a second double bogey on the par-5 15th, a hole he had birdied the first three rounds. Johnson waved to the stands on the 18th when he closed with a birdie. Lowry, who had three bogeys over his final six holes Saturday to lose a lead he held much of the week, appeared to regain his earlier form with birdies on the second, fifth and sixth holes to take a two-shot lead. But a bogey on the straightforward, par-4 ninth — Lowry had birdied it two of the first three rounds — dropped him back. He stubbed a pair of chips on the 12th hole and took double bogey. Lowry scratched back within a shot of Pan with a birdie on the 14th, but could come no closer. Kuchar, the 2014 winner at Harbour Town, put together a charge of five birdies to tie Pan for the top. But a bogey on the par-3 17th following a tee shot into the bunker ruined his chances of a second tartan jacket. Cantlay looked like a second strong weekend — he went 64-68 his final two rounds at the Masters to tie for ninth — might bring him victory as he tied for the top with consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th holes. He had a chip from just off the green on the 18th for a tying birdie, but did not come close.
Colin Kapaernick isn’t the only player that the NFL did dirty. Remember Michael Sam? The football player from the University of Missouri who had won Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year, won the ESPY’s Arthur Ashe award for courage and was one of GQ’s Men of the Year. Sam
Tournament favorite Dustin Johnson has some company at the top of the leaderboard, as his solo lead quickly became a four-way tie Sunday.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge was placed on Major League Baseball’s 10-day disabled list on Sunday with an abdominal injury. The 26-year-old American suffered the left oblique injury in the sixth inning of Saturday’s 9-2 home victory over Kansas City. Yankees manager Aaron Boone called
