Clifford returns for second run as Hornets coachClifford returns for second run as Hornets coach
Steve Clifford has agreed to a deal to return as the Charlotte Hornets’ coach.
Steve Clifford has agreed to a deal to return as the Charlotte Hornets’ coach.
The Pistons acquired veteran Kemba Walker on Thursday from the Knicks as part of a three-team trade involving the Hornets.
Li Haotong kept his 1-stroke lead at the BMW International Open as Ryan Fox moved up to second with a strong round of 8-under 64 on Friday.
Slugger Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees agreed to a one-year, $19 million contract, avoiding an arbitration hearing scheduled for Friday, sources confirmed to ESPN.
CROMWELL, Conn. – Rory McIlroy may have doomed his chances to win the Travelers Championship after a decidedly uneven, even-par 70. He is six behind 36-hole leader Xander Schauffele, who shot his second straight 63 (14 under). Although Schauffele will take a five-shot lead over five players into the weekend – including Patrick Cantlay (67), his partner in their win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – McIlroy’s misadventures at TPC River Highlands were equally eye-opening. The surprising lapse: a quadruple bogey at the 12th hole and double bogey at the drivable 15th. “It sort of came out of the blue,” said McIlroy, whose card also included seven birdies and one bogey. “I haven’t made a big number like that or couple big numbers like that in a long time.” Playing his fourth tournament in four weeks, McIlroy was always going to be fighting fatigue. He also has a cold and has said he hasn’t been comfortable with his fairway woods. Still, after an opening-round 62 he was still at it Friday, 5 under through 11 holes and in the lead at 13 under. Then it all went wrong. McIlroy hooked his tee shot out of bounds left on No. 12. After a penalty and hitting three from the tee, he blew his next effort into the right fescue, advanced his fourth shot into the greenside bunker, barely got his ball out of the sand, and took three to get down from there for an 8. It was McIlroy’s sixth career quad, and first since the 2021 PLAYERS Championship. “You know, when you hit a tee shot like on 12, the first one, the second one is pretty difficult,” he said, “and you’re sort guarding against the left one and I missed it right.” He used a fairway wood again at the 271-yard 15th hole, and that, too, led to problems. His tee shot would up on the fescue-covered hillside right of the green, and while he seemed to have averted disaster when his second shot stopped just short of the green, he bladed his third over the green and into the water. He took a drop, chipped up, and made an 11-footer to save double. It was a bizarre sequence for one of the best players in the world, but McIlroy chose to focus on the positives: seven birdies, his hot start to the round, and the 36 holes left in the tournament. “For whatever reason I haven’t been comfortable with my fairway woods the last couple weeks,” he said. “You know, I just hit three loose ones there, two on 12, and then the one on 15. That was really it. I played well the rest of the way. Obviously got off to that great start. “I thought I came back well,” he added. “I made a good putt for 6 on 15 and then birdied 16. Yeah, I should be closer to the lead. Feel like I let a lot of guys into the golf tournament because of it. But, you know, it’s still only two rounds. There are two rounds left and a lot of golf left.”
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Xander Schauffele shot his second straight 7-under 63 on Friday to take a five-stroke lead in the Travelers Championship. The Olympic champion shot a 31 on the front nine at TPC River Highlands with four birdies, then had a 32 on the back, making birdies on 11, 14 and 17. He has hit 33 of 36 greens in regulation and is the only player in the tournament without a bogey. His closest call came close at the par-3 16th, where he hit his tee shot found the rough behind a greenside bunker. “It plays really interesting with the wind swirling through there,” Schauffele said. “It was my least committed swing of the week and just really happy to get up and down there and save par.” Kevin Kisner (64), Nick Hardy (64), defending champion Harris English (65), Cam Davis (66) and Patrick Cantlay (67) were tied for second at 9 under. First-round leaders Rory McIlroy and J.T. Poston followed opening 62s with 70s to drop six strokes back. Cantlay, who shot a 60 at TPC River Highlands as an amateur in 2011, played in the same morning group as English. “(I’m) still right here in this tournament, and looking forward to the weekend,” Cantlay said. “I enjoy the challenge, and that’s all you can do in golf, is give yourself as many chances as you possibly can.” English, who won on the eighth hole of a playoff last year, is playing in his third tournament since returning in May from Valentine’s Day surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip. “The toughest thing is walking and playing,” English said. “I mean, I feel like back home I can go hit a bunch of balls on the range, but up and down these hills and being on your feet for five or six hours is the toughest part. It’s getting better and better, and I feel like the more I play competitive rounds out here, it’s just going to get stronger.” Hardy, starting on the back nine had four consecutive birdies on 16, 17, 18 and 1. He also is coming back from injury after damaging the tendon is his left wrist in April. “I just was in great rhythm,” Hardy said. “That’s kind of been the name of the game for me since I came back. Just being in good rhythm. I think I’m swinging the club well and my mind is in a good spot.” Kisner had some good luck on 15 when his tee shot went right and rolled toward the course’s signature lake before getting hung up on a microphone cable, inches from the water. “Five shots is not insurmountable but I’m a going to need (Schauffele) to slow down a little bit,” Kisner said. Schauffele, played one group ahead of McIlroy, who was still leading by a stroke at 13 under before getting into trouble on the 12th hole. McIlroy hit his tee shot left and out of bounds into the woods, then found the deep rough to the right on his next shot. He put the ball into a green-side bunker from there, then chipped out short of the green and into the rough again, before finishing with a quadruple bogey. He left the hole trailing by three strokes and then found more trouble on the 15th. He went right on his tee shot, finding the high grass, then ran his third shot over the green, down the hill and into the water. He finished that hole with a 6. But he made birdie on 16, finishing with an even-par 70 when his birdie putt lipped out on 18. “I should be closer to the lead,” he said. “Feel like I let a lot of guys into the golf tournament because of it.” The last player to make a quadruple bogey and go on to win a PGA Tour event was Adam Scott at the 2016 Honda Classic. Scott put two shots in the water on the par-3 15th hole. The cut was at 2 under, with 2017 winner Jordan Spieth (1 over) dropping out with Sam Burns (even par), Zach Johnson (4 over) and Jason Day (6 over).
As camera technology continues to rapidly evolve, motorsports are finding new ways to show fans what drivers experience behind the wheel.
CROMWELL, Conn. – Harris English is making his third start after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip. He is also using a new putter grip – the same model that was so frayed it was deemed non-conforming in a minor kerfuffle at the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits last fall. Both changes are working out just fine, as the defending champion carded a second-round 65 to reach 9 under par halfway through the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. “Yeah, the hip is doing better,” said English, who on February 14 had the operation in Vail, Colorado, and didn’t play at all from the Sony Open in Hawaii (T55) to the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (MC) earlier this month. “The toughest thing is walking and playing. I mean, I feel like back home I can go hit a bunch of balls on the range, but up and down these hills and being on your feet for five or six hours is the toughest part.” The hip had bothered him for a while, and he had tried everything from injections to physical therapy. Finally, having won the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Travelers last season, English figured he had enough runway in terms of TOUR status to go ahead and fix it. “Yeah, more looking at the next ten years of golf,” English said. “I want to be playing out here for a long time. I just didn’t want to be hurt. Didn’t want to be playing hurt. It’s tough to compete even at 100% out here. There are a lot of good players and young guys coming up. “I was like, well, had two wins last year so I’ve got some status for the next few years. Might as well get surgery and get it behind me so I can get after the next few years.” As for his Ping Palm Lock putter grip, it’s the same model he used to win the Travelers in an eight-hole playoff against Kramer Hickok last year. In fact, he told John Peterson and JJ Killeen on the Fore the People podcast, he had been using it for close to 10 years when at the Ryder Cup last fall someone called in about two hours before his singles match against Lee Westwood. The grip was so frayed, the caller said, it might be non-conforming. A Rules official deemed it so, citing the frayed cloth at the butt end of the club. That’s when U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love III arrived with an X-Acto knife, cutting off the offending piece of grip and wrapping gauze around the incision to keep everything flush. The grip held up in his singles loss to Westwood, but English eventually had to abandon it. “Tried to play with it in Vegas (at the Shriners Children’s Open in October) and it was deemed damaged, I couldn’t play with it,” he said. “So, I took it off, put another grip on that I played with years ago trying to switch it up a little bit. “Just hadn’t really putted that great,” added the four-time TOUR winner. “Streaky putting and put the new Ping grip on this week and it’s worked out so far.” Using a new Ping Palm Lock, which he’d thrived with for years to the point of it being “all raggedy and torn up,” as he put it, English made over 141 feet of putts Friday. He took 27 putts for the second day in a row.
Slugger Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees agreed to a one-year, $19 million contract, avoiding an arbitration hearing scheduled for Friday, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Royals catcher Salvador Perez will have surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and has been placed on the 10-day injured list. The team said Perez is expected to return this season.