Russell Westbrook, who rolled his ankle during Wednesday’s loss in Game 2 of the Wizards’ playoff series vs. the 76ers, is listed as questionable for Game 3.
With the Hurricanes on to Round 2 after an overtime thriller Thursday, the Knights and Wild look to join them on Friday. Get caught up here.
Two teams enter, one team moves on to face the Avalanche on Sunday. We debate the big questions ahead of Friday’s showdown.
Braves manager Brian Snitker backtracked on his prognosis for pitcher Mike Soroka, instead saying the right-hander will be re-evaluated in two weeks rather than miss the entirety of the 2021 season.
A food area at the home of the Chicago White Sox now is called La Russa’s Lounge after being named years ago in honor of a woman who sold beer and hot dogs for more than six decades.
FORT WORTH, Texas – Phil Mickelson stared down at his ball for several seconds. He switched clubs. A difficult shot from the deep bunker guarding Colonial’s 18th green would decide if his victory lap at the Charles Schwab Challenge would last two more days. The shot landed gently but rolled 10 feet below the hole. Mickelson needed to make that par putt to make the cut. His ball started left of his intended target and broke just below the hole, coming close enough that Mickelson jerked his knees straight and swung his putter between his legs as the ball burnt the edge. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Could Tiger and Phil both be at the Ryder Cup? A miss of mere millimeters sent Mickelson home early from the Charles Schwab Challenge, a tournament he has won two times. “I love this tournament and am sad I won’t be here for two more days,” Mickelson said. He shot 69 on Friday, four shots better than his score in a windy opening round. After his emotional win at last week’s PGA Championship, Mickelson was paired at Colonial alongside local favorite Jordan Spieth and defending champion Daniel Berger. It was Mickelson who received the largest cheers on many holes, even though Spieth played well enough to hold the 36-hole lead. Next up for Mickelson is an extended preparation for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Club in his hometown of San Diego. Mickelson isn’t playing the next two weeks so he can spend extra time preparing for the one major that stands between him and the career Grand Slam. Last week’s win in the PGA Championship was his sixth major title, but none of those wins have come at the U.S. Open. He has a record six runner-up finishes in the one major that has eluded him. The same short game that helped Mickelson win at Kiawah Island almost carried him across the cutline Friday. He hit just eight greens Friday but saved par several times to keep his weekend hopes alive. After making a bogey on his first hole, he made four birdies and no bogeys over his next 14 holes. That final birdie, at the par-4 15th, put him 3 under for the day and one inside the cut line. He failed to get up-and-down from greenside bunkers on both 16 and 18, however, and missed a 12-foot birdie putt on 17. Other players to miss the cut include Patrick Reed (68-74), Sungjae Im (71-71), Texas alum Scottie Scheffler (70-73), Lee Westwood (75-69), Cameron Champ (75-70) and Michael Visacki (77-72), the Monday qualifier who went viral at the Valspar Championship. He competed this week on a sponsor exemption.
Three players in the PGA TOUR University top-15 are in the top-10 after the first round of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club. Puwit Anupansuebsai (9th/San Diego State), Jonathan Brightwell (13th/Oklahoma) and John Pak (1st/Florida State) each shot 2-under 68 and are two strokes behind leader Cole Bradley (96th/Purdue). Anupansuebsai has top-two finishes in each of his last four starts, including back-to-back wins at the Mountain West Championship and the Kingston Springs Regional. His first-round 68 was his 13th consecutive round of par or better, and he has improved from 53rd to 9th in PGA TOUR University since the start of the calendar year. Brightwell and Pak continued their stellar springs on Friday, as well. A graduate transfer from UNC-Greensboro, Brightwell has five top-10s in eight starts this spring and is No. 13 in the U Ranking after starting the year No. 29. Pak has led PGA TOUR University from start to finish, and he has posted seven consecutive top-10s entering his final event as a Seminole. As the individual leaderboard changes this weekend, so will the PGA TOUR University projections as players vie for a top-15 finish. Based on the NCAA Championship’s Power determined by WAGR, the individual NCAA Champion will receive approximately 24.76 points. Consequently, seven players are mathematically capable of improving into the top-15. *Mathematically eliminated from top-15 contention because their maximum final points average with a victory is less than 15th-ranked Jovan Rebula’s final points average (931.42). After the conclusion of stroke play, the top-15 players in PGA TOUR University will earn membership on either the Korn Ferry Tour or Forme Tour. • The top-five finishers will receive Korn Ferry Tour membership and will be exempt into all open, full-field events beginning with the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation (June 10-13). • Players finishing 6th-15th will receive Forme Tour membership, starting with the L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club in Watkinsville, Georgia (June 23-26). The final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championship will be live on Golf Channel from 5-9 p.m. ET on Monday, May 31.
Highly touted freshman Makur Maker is entering the NBA draft, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Maker played in just two games for Howard, an HBCU, due to injury and the pandemic.
After leaving Thursday’s win in the second quarter, Bucks starting guard Donte DiVincenzo will miss the rest of the playoffs with a torn ligament in his left ankle.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said pitcher Mike Soroka will not make his return during the 2021 season after the right-hander had a setback in his recovery from a torn right Achilles tendon.
