Ryu, Kang lead Women’s British Open
Golf: South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu took a share of the lead in her Women’s British Open debut, birdieing the final hole Thursday for a 2-under-par 70 at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England.
South Korea’s Haeji Kang also opened with a 70, the highest leading score in the first round since the tournament became a major in 2002, in relatively calm conditions
The 22-year-old Ryu, the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open champion who won the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic last month, had five birdies and two bogeys. She won the Korean LPGA’s Hanwha Finance Classic last week.
The 21-year-old Kang had six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.
Australia’s Karrie Webb, the tournament winner in 1995, 1997 and 2002, was stroke back along with 16-year-old English amateur Charley Hull, Jiyai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Mika Miyazato, Stacey Keating, Lydia Hall, Vicky Hurst and Kate Kutcher.
• Smith wins record fourth Mid-Am title: Nathan Smith won the U.S. Mid-Amateur for the record fourth time in Lake Forest, Ill., beating Canadian hockey referee Garrett Rank 1-up in the 36-hole final.
Seattle investor gaining support
Basketball: Chris Hansen now has a ticket to shop.
The investor trying to build a new arena and bring the NBA back to Seattle said that the league has been closely watching what’s taking place in the Pacific Northwest and a renegotiated memorandum of understanding between Hansen and the City Council on the proposed arena goes a long way to easing the league’s concerns about Hansen’s plan.
“It means a lot to the NBA,” Hansen said. “They’ve been watching very close to what we’re doing. I think going in they were very skeptical we would get to this point given our history in Seattle.”
A council committee voted to advance the renegotiated agreement to the full City Council for a vote that is expected to happen Sept. 24. It still must receive full approval from the City Council and the King County Council.
Commissioner says lockout looming
NHL: Commissioner Gary Bettman maintains the league will lock out players Sunday if a new labor deal isn’t reached, and star player Sidney Crosby isn’t optimistic the season will start on time.
With both sides far apart and little time before the current deal expires at midnight EDT Saturday, the league’s board of governors met in New York as a group of more than 280 players gathered at a hotel a short distance away.
Following lockouts last year by basketball and football owners, Bettman says hockey management is determined to come away with economic gains, even if it forces the NHL’s fourth work stoppage since 1992.
Training camps are scheduled to open Sept. 21 with the season slated to start Oct. 11.
Huskers lure teams with big payday
College football: Nebraska is paying Arkansas State $1 million for playing at Memorial Stadium on Saturday – the highest amount guaranteed to an opponent for a game in Lincoln, Neb.
Nebraska paid Southern Mississippi $300,000 for the Sept. 1 opener, but the Huskers will play an away game against the Golden Eagles next year. Idaho State, a Football Championship Subdivision program, will earn $600,000 for visiting next week.
Last year, Ohio State paid Colorado $1.4 million and Alabama wrote Kent State a check for $1.2 million. Florida Atlantic is getting $1 million each for games at Georgia and Alabama this week and next.
The previous high guarantee paid by Nebraska was $800,000, to Western Kentucky and Idaho in 2010, and to San Jose State in 2008.
• Nicholls State, Oregon State reschedule: The season opener between Oregon State and Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La., that was postponed because of concerns over Hurricane Isaac has been rescheduled for Dec. 1.
Both schools agreed to the rescheduled game at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore. However, there is a mutual understanding that the game won’t be played if Oregon State is in the Pac-12 championship game or Nicholls State qualifies for the NCAA FCS playoffs.
Legendary UConn coach Calhoun retires
Men’s basketball: Jim Calhoun retired as Connecticut’s basketball coach, closing a 26-year career at the school where he racked up a total of 873 career wins, with thanks to everyone who helped him turn UConn from an athletic backwater into a national power that won three national titles.
The 70-year-old Calhoun – slowed by recent health problems, including a fractured hip last month – will take a transition appointment through next spring as a special assistant to athletic director Warde Manuel. When he is fully retired, Calhoun will become head coach emeritus.
Assistant coach Kevin Ollie, a point guard for Calhoun from 1991-95, will be the Huskies’ new coach. His contract runs through next April 4 and he will be paid $625,000.
WADA cautious on cycling amnesty
Miscellany: The World Anti-Doping Agency would consider an amnesty for riders who confess to drug offenses even though the proposal by cycling’s ruling body would take the sports world into “uncharted territory.”
WADA director general David Howman told The Associated Press he’ll wait to see more details of the amnesty suggestion put forward last week by UCI President Pat McQuaid in the wake of doping cases involving Lance Armstrong and other riders.
• Harvard cheating scandal not limited to sports: Harvard President Drew Faust said that athletes should not be singled out for blame in what is believed to be the largest cheating scandal in the school’s history. Nor are they being treated any differently in the investigation, she added.
“It is not about one student group,” Faust said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
In her first interview on the subject since the school revealed that as many as 125 students in a single class may have shared answers on a final exam, Faust said the “allegations go to the core of what is most valuable to us.”
• San Jose wins rights to Tracy: The San Jose Earthquakes have won a lottery for MLS’s rights to oft-injured forward Marcus Tracy.
The 26-year-old won the 2008 Hermann Trophy as the top college soccer player.