Jamal Murray took the blame for Denver’s home loss to the lowly Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, then delivered the game-winner at Charlotte two nights later. The young guard saved the Nuggets from another unacceptable defeat, and now they turn their sights on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tyrrell Hatton lost his swing on his back nine without losing his head, a small victory. He battled through a tough test at Bay Hill on Friday and was only surprised by what he saw when he finished. His tidy short game was strong enough to carry him into a share of the lead with Sung Kang going into the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Related: Leaderboard | Morikawa takes over top spot for consecutive cuts “I just didn’t have a clue where it was going,” Hatton said after a 3-under 69 in a wind that came out of the opposite direction. “Just happy to get in the clubhouse with no damage done, really.” Kang birdied four of his last seven holes for a 68. Rory McIlroy made a mess of No. 8 and felt he made Bay Hill harder than it was — and it was plenty difficult — for a 73 that still left him within two shots of the lead. Matt Every thought it was awesome that his 65 in the opening round was 20 shots better than his previous round on the PGA TOUR. Not so awesome was being 18 shots higher the next day, an 83 that allowed him to join the wrong list in PGA TOUR annals by going from the 18-hole lead to the weekend off. He missed the cut by one shot. “I really didn’t see this coming, to be honest,” said Every, who is rarely anything but honest. “But it happens. It kind of happens to me quite a bit.” His last three rounds on the PGA TOUR dating to a week ago at the Honda Classic: 85-65-83. He was he first player since Camilo Villegas in the 2013 Honda Classic to go from the first-round lead to a missed cut. Talor Gooch fared a little better. He followed a 67 with an 80 and made the cut on the number. Phil Mickelson, who opened with a 77, drilled a 5-iron from 239 yards away over the water to 7 feet for an eagle on the par-5 sixth to get on the cut number with three holes to play. He finished with a double bogey and missed the cut for the fourth time this year. It’s the first time in 25 years Mickelson has missed four cuts before The Masters. “I thought it was a really hard golf course, and I enjoyed the challenge of trying to play on these type of conditions,” Mickelson said. “And I’m a little frustrated that I haven’t gotten off to the start his year I would like. I’m not discouraged. I don’t feel like I’m that far off.” Henrik Stenson also opened with a 77. He also battled back to give himself a chance to make the cut. And he also took double bogey on his final hole to miss the cut for only the second time in 12 appearances at Bay Hill. The average score was 74.08, the highest at Bay Hill since the opening round of 2011. And it left a 69-man field for the weekend that is up for grabs. Hatton and Kang were at 7-under 137, the highest score to lead at Bay Hill in 10 years. Danny Lee had the low round of the day, a 67, that left him one shot behind. McIlroy, The Honda Classic winner Sungjae Im (69) and Harris English (70) were two strokes behind at 5 under. Another shot back was a group that included Patrick Reed, who had another 70 in his bid to win his second straight tournament. Hatton is making up for lost time from an accident in the oddest of places. He was walking in from the Par 3 Tournament at The Masters three years ago when it was halted by storms and slipped on pine straw, injuring his right wrist as he braced for the fall. He tried cortisone shots to buy time, and he finally felt the only option was surgery last November. The Englishman was out longer than he expected, but he returned in Mexico City by tying for sixth in the World Golf Championships event, and now he has a share of the 36-hole lead at Bay Hill. McIlroy was happy to still be in range. His round looked as though it might come undone when he got caught up in the trees to the right of the eighth fairway and made double bogey, this after a three-putt bogey from long range on the par-3 seventh. He birdied his next hole, limited the mistakes to only one bogey on the back nine and wound up in good shape. “It was a grind. I think I made it more of a grind than I needed to,” McIlroy said. “Conditions were tricky, greens are getting firm, wind was out of a different direction today, so that made things a little interesting, too. … I’m still right there in the golf tournament.”
In the wake of the Astros scandal, the league is extra sensitive to the rules. But what about a rarely enforced one about pitchers using substances to better grip the ball?
ORLANDO, Fla. – A year ago, Collin Morikawa was finishing up his collegiate career at Cal. Today, he’s already a PGA TOUR winner (Barracuda Championship) and stands on the precipice of his first start in THE PLAYERS Championship next week. His wild ride got even wilder still at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard on Friday. RELATED: Leaderboard While Tommy Fleetwood was shooting his second straight 76 to end his TOUR-leading made-cuts streak at 33, Morikawa, who turned 23 last month, carded a 1-under 71 to reach 3 under overall, four back of co-leaders Tyrrell Hatton (69) and Sung Kang (68). With Morikawa’s 21st straight made cut, and with Fleetwood’s off-week at Bay Hill, Morikawa takes the No. 1 spot on the TOUR’s consecutive cuts list. “A little bit,� Morikawa said, when asked if he was surprised. “It’s not easy out here, and every week you’ve got to go in, be prepped, you can’t let up. These courses will bite back.� Exhibit A: Fleetwood was coming off a week in which he contended to the bitter end at The Honda Classic, so his 8 over total, five on the wrong side of the cut line, was a surprise even to him. His last missed cut on TOUR came at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. Friday also marked his first missed cut in 48 worldwide starts. “Just a bad week, really,� he told golfchannel.com afterward. “It was going to happen eventually. It was just poor on most fronts this week. It’s disappointing.� Morikawa’s round included an eagle at the par-5 16th hole, where his second shot stopped 5 ½ feet from the pin. He said he was aware of being the new No. 1 on the cuts list, and added that he and his caddie, J.J. Jacovac, joke about chasing the 142 straight cuts by Tiger Woods (1998-2005). Some believe that record may never be broken. “I want to get to the next level of contending every week, not just making cuts and finishing whatever,� Morikawa said. “For me, it’s what can I pinpoint, where can I save a shot or two or three through the tournament, because it really matters out here. It makes a big difference. “Me and J.J.,� he added, “we laugh about whatever Tiger’s at, one forty-something. Why not? For me, I just have to keep doing the things I need to do to play my golf, even if it’s a course that doesn’t necessarily fit my eye or my game. It’s what the best players do.�
Karl-Anthony Towns has not played since Feb. 10, after an MRI revealed a broken wrist. He will be reevaluated in two weeks.
The Saints plan to make a move on the contract of Taysom Hill and place a first-round tender on the restricted free-agent quarterback, a source says, meaning another team would have to give up a first-round draft pick to sign him away.
