James Harden and Russell Westbrook are expected to travel on their own to Orlando after not joining the team on its flight Thursday, sources said. One Rockets member who did make the trip: coach Mike D’Antoni.
The Big Ten’s announcement Thursday that it will play a conference-only schedule this fall has affected one NFL team. The Packers were scheduled to host a game between Wisconsin and Notre Dame on Oct. 3. They no longer will. It will save wear and tear on Lambeau Field. The Packers had requested a road game [more]
Texas Tech has signed 7-foot-1 Russian center Vladislav Goldin, the eighth player that has signed with the Red Raiders, joining four transfers and three high school signees.
DUBLIN, Ohio — Collin Morikawa didn’t get rattled by his first missed cut as a pro or his first time playing Muirfield Village. Morikawa finally had a forced weekend off two weeks ago after 22 consecutive cuts to start his PGA TOUR career, three short of the standard set by Tiger Woods. He bounced back Thursday in the Workday Charity Open with a 7-under 65 for a one-shot lead over Adam Hadwin. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Canadian duo starts strong | How to give Muirfield a second identity It was a quiet day of work, typical for the PGA TOUR with no spectators allowed in the return from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. It was never more evident at Muirfield Village, which typically has enough fans to frame just about every hole. Morikawa goes about his work quietly in any circumstances, and he was dialed in from the start of a relatively calm and steamy afternoon on the course Jack Nicklaus built. His shot into the par-5 fifth settled 3 feet away for eagle. All but one of his birdie putts was inside 12 feet. The only setback was a bogey from the fairway on the 18th. “It’s a beautiful track. It’s a very tough course, obviously, but you just have to map your way around it,” Morikawa said. “You’ve got to be really smart. If you’re not in the fairway, you’ve got to make sure you play smart. I was playing smart but I felt good with my irons, so I was able to attack some pins when they were accessible.” He liked it so much that Morikawa is even more excited about spending two weeks at Muirfield Village. For the first time in 63 years, the PGA TOUR will have tournaments on the same course in consecutive weeks. The Workday Charity Open fills a void this year for the John Deere Classic, which decided to cancel earlier this year and will return in 2021. The second week at Muirfield Village — the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide — was supposed to be the first with fans since the PGA TOUR returned June 11. That plan was scrapped at the last minute and it was clear how much work went into it. There were signs for spectator parking along the streets outside the club. Concession and hospitality tents were a few days away from being completed. There was no point taking them down, because sound travels when no one is around. Rory Sabbatini found out the hard way. He was at the top of his swing for his opening tee shot when a volunteer some 80 yards away laughed in conversation. Sabbatini flinched, sent his drive well to the right and he stood looking at the volunteer, too far away to realize what had happened. Jon Rahm was in a perilous spot in juicy rough left of the 14th green, facing a downhill chip toward the water. He took a full swing for a flop shot, it came out softly and raced down the green and into the cup for a birdie. That hole — that shot — is best known for when Tiger Woods chipped in for par on his way to victory in 1999. Rahm was a 4-year-old in Spain at the time, but apparently he has seen enough video of the shot that as he stood to the side of the green, he smiled and said of the empty theater, “Just like when Tiger did it.” Phil Mickelson made plenty of noise, at least for nine holes. Lefty was 4 under at the turn and narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the 11th. He made bogey from the bunker. He missed a 5-foot par. He needed two chips from 25 feet to get on the 14th green. He hit in the water for double bogey on the 16th. He shot 41 on the back for a 73. Brooks Koepka played for the first time since withdrawing from the Travelers Championship two weeks ago after his caddie tested positive for the coronavirus. He used PGA TOUR winner Marc Turnesa as a caddie for this week, which might be a short week. Koepka opened with a 74. Most of the good scoring came in the morning. Hadwin had five birdies over his last eight holes for a 66. Nick Taylor, a new father who chose to stay home in Canada for an extra month after the tour resumed, had an eagle at No. 11 and kept bogeys off his card for a 67. He was joined by past Muirfield Village winner Hideki Matsuyama. Keegan Bradley had a 69 and was among 35 players who shot in the 60s. One shot summed up the environment at PGA TOUR events at the moment. He hit a 6-iron on the par-3 fourth hole for an ace, and didn’t even know it. “There was probably five or six people up by the green, and no one did anything,” Bradley said. “We walked up to the green, I fixed my ball mark. I’m looking all over the green for it. And someone just goes, `It’s in the hole,’ like really casually. It was just bizarre.” And it will be that way for two weeks.
A tradition that became popular in international soccer has become a staple of NFL postgames in recent years, but it might not be allowed during the 2020 season.
DUBLIN, Ohio – It’s safe to say the members at Ledgeview Golf and Country Club in Abbotsford, British Columbia, have quite the rooting interest in this week’s Workday Charity Open. Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor – who played their junior golf at Ledgeview – have put themselves squarely in the mix with rounds of 66 and 67, respectively, on Thursday. They’re chasing Collin Morikawa, who leads the tournament after a bogey-free 65 in the first round at Muirfield Village. RELATED: Full leaderboard | How to give Muirfield Village a second identity The 32-year-old Canadians – Taylor is the elder by six months – often roomed together on the road during their early years on the PGA TOUR. Each is married now, and both became fathers in the last year: Taylor’s son was born last October while Hadwin’s daughter arrived in January. For Hadwin, who tied for fourth at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, Thursday’s round was his eighth straight in the 60s and tied his lowest at Muirfield Village, a course that hasn’t been very kind to him in the past. He’s played here five times previously and finished in the top 20 just once. “Obviously had a good week last week and kind of took that momentum into the round,” said Hadwin, who bogeyed his first hole Thursday but more than made amends with seven birdies. “Staying patient. It’s a golf course where you get too aggressive, it’ll sneak up on you pretty quick. “Even with softer conditions than what we’re used to, things aren’t running through fairways and greens are spinning and holding. You can be aggressive, but you get yourself on the wrong side of the hole, even though it’s sort of a tamer Muirfield Village than we may be used to, still a lot of slope on those greens. Just hitting good shots, quality shots to the right side.” Hadwin said his solid play has been building for a while even though he didn’t finish higher than a tie for 41st in his first two starts. Last week at Detroit Golf Club, he didn’t make the kind of rusty mistakes – balls hit out of bounds or in the water – that had marked his first two weeks back in action. “I felt like there were times where last week where I probably could have gotten a few more shots, but I really didn’t have any risk,” Hadwin said. “It was kind of a free-flowing, easy-type round and just not a lot of stress. When you can do that through multiple weeks, it helps a lot.” Hadwin’s buddy Taylor, though, didn’t know quite what to expect when he teed it up at Jack Nicklaus’ signature layout. He’s only played Muirfield Village twice and broken par just twice in six rounds. More to the point, though, the Workday Charity Open, which was essentially organized in a month after the John Deere Classic was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, marks Taylor’s first start since the TOUR resumed competition five weeks ago. “Obviously the break was great timing for a lot of reasons but have a bit of a cushion, take some more time off, I just really enjoyed being home,” said Taylor, who was grateful for the extra time with young Charlie. “… Yeah, I’m excited to get back out here and play, but it was nice to be home.” Taylor had picked up his second PGA TOUR win prior to the COVID-19 break, going wire-to-wire at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. He played twice more and got in one round at THE PLAYERS Championship before the TOUR’s showcase event – and the season – was shut down. “I didn’t have a lot of expectations,” Taylor said, thinking about his five-month break. “I’ve played a lot of golf the last month, month and a half, so I felt ready in the sense of playing, in that playing mode. My coach has been here, so I’ve been able to tweak a few things, but I feel pretty good. “I know competitive rust is definitely a thing I’ve had to struggle with in the past, but I’ve felt that I’ve played enough, so I felt good there, and I had no expectations, which is a good thing. So, everything is going well.” Taylor, who is tied with Zach Johnson, Aaron Wise and Hideki Matsuyama, didn’t make a bogey on Thursday. He shot a relatively quiet 35 on the front nine, then drained a 33-footer for birdie at No. 10 and a mere 3-footer for eagle at the 11th to get into the mix. He finished with a flourish, making a 3-footer for a final birdie at No. 18. “I drove it really, really well,” said Taylor, who hit 11 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. “… I felt like I put myself in play, which is keeping me out here not being a bomber. … I putted solid, and just overall everything was great.”
