In Brief: Patrick Reed builds a 2-shot lead at Bethpage Black
Golf: Patrick Reed’s place in the Ryder Cup is looking better with each round at The Barclays, and so are his prospects of winning.
Even with a careless finish Friday at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., Reed rode a fast start to a 3-under 68 and a two-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo and Rickie Fowler going into the weekend of the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.
The Barclays is the final tournament for Americans to earn one of the eight automatic spots on the Ryder Cup team. Reed, who has gone 55 tournaments worldwide since his last victory, came into the week at No. 8.
At the moment, that’s no longer a concern.
“Really, I’m going into this week trying to win a golf tournament,” Reed said. “If I take care of me and do what I need to do this week, then Ryder Cup will take care of itself. So I’m not going into this week looking at it as, ‘Oh, I need to do this for the Ryder Cup.’ I’m going in this to think, ‘All right, I need to go win a golf tournament.’”
Reed was at 8-under 134.
Sauers, Triplett share Boeing Classic lead: U.S. Senior Open champion Gene Sauers eagled the par-5 18th hole for a 7-under 65 and a share of the Boeing Classic lead with Kirk Triplett in Snoqualmie, Washington.
Coming off his breakthrough victory two weeks ago in Ohio, the 54-year-old Sauers played the four par-5 holes in 5 under with the eagle and three birdies. He won three times on the PGA Tour.
Triplett had five- and four-hole birdie streaks at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. Also 54, he followed a bogey on the 11th – his second hole of the day – with five straight birdies and added a birdie on 18.
Triplett won the American Family Insurance Championship in June in Wisconsin for his fifth victory on the 50-and-over tour.
Jutanugarn shoots 64 to take Canadian lead: Ariya Jutanugarn had five birdies in a six-hole stretch and shot an 8-under 64 to take a three-stroke lead in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in Priddis, Alberta.
A week after withdrawing from the Rio Olympics because of a left knee injury, the 20-year-old Thai star played 20 holes at Priddis Greens. She bogeyed the par-5 18th for a 68 in the completion of the delayed first round, then made eight birdies in her bogey-free second round.
South Korea’s In Gee Chun and Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow were tied for second. Chun closed birdie-eagle for a 67. Meadow had a 69.
Aviators win first World Tennis title
Tennis: Ryan Harrison won a doubles match after qualifying for the U.S. Open to help the San Diego Aviators win their first Mylan World TeamTennis title in New York.
Darija Jurak, Shelby Rogers and Raven Klaasen each won twice in the Aviators’ 25-14 victory over Orange County at historic Forest Hills Stadium at The West Side Tennis Club.
Harrison beat Henri Laaksonen 6-3, 6-2 at nearby Flushing Meadow to earn a spot in the U.S. Open main draw, then rushed over to Forest Hills.
Radwanska advances to New Haven final: Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska breezed through her Connecticut Open semifinal in New Haven, Conn., routing two-time defending champion Petra Kvitova 6-1, 6-1.
Radwanska, who will be seeded fourth next week in the U.S. Open, was never challenged. The Polish star won the first five games of the first set and the first four in the second against her Czech opponent.
The 27-year-old will be looking for her second title of the year after winning the Shenzhen Open in China in January.
She will face the Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the final.
Top leagues win big after UEFA changes
soccer: In a power shift toward Europe’s wealthiest clubs, UEFA has agreed to give more guaranteed Champions League group-stage places to the four highest-ranked leagues. Spain, Germany, England and Italy each get four slots from the 2018-19 season.
UEFA also promises that annual prize money to the 32 group-stage teams – worth $1.49 billion this season – will be “increased significantly” for the three seasons through 2021.
UEFA announced the deal after months of talks with the influential European Club Association, whose members raised an old threat of breaking away to form a closed Super League dominated by the rich and storied elite.
Logano wins another NASCAR Sprint Cup
Nascar: Joey Logano won the pole at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan– and lately at this track, that’s been a pretty good indicator of things to come.
It’s Logano’s third pole in 16 Cup races at MIS, and the previous two times he won the pole, he also went on to win the race. That includes his victory at Michigan in June.
In fact, three of the last four race winners at Michigan also took the pole – Logano this year, Matt Kenseth last August and Jeff Gordon in August of 2014.
Philadelphia Soul win 2nd ArenaBowl title
Miscellany: Dan Raudabaugh threw six touchdown passes and the Philadelphia Soul won their second ArenaBowl title, beating the Arizona Rattlers 56-42 in Glendale, Arizona.
Raudabaugh was 20 of 36 for 278 yards. Shaun Kauleinamoku led the Soul in receiving with eight catches for 11-0 yards and three touchdowns.
Philadelphia improved to 2-2 in championship games. The Soul beat San Jose in 2008 and lost to Arizona in 2012 and 2013.
Arizona’s Nick Davila was 23 of 38 for 281 yards and four TDs.
Van Genechten wins, Contrador crashes at Vuelta: Jonas Van Genechten of Belgium sprinted to win the Spanish Vuelta’s seventh stage in Puebla de Sanabria, Spain, after Alberto Contador crashed near the finish line.
Contador’s front wheel caught on another bike in a tight pack making a turn, sending him and other riders into the temporary barrier marking the course’s final kilometer.
The seven-time grand tour winner, including three Vuelta titles, said his Tinkoff team would assess his health on Saturday morning.
Wade’s cousin fatally shot: A family spokesman says a cousin of Chicago Bulls NBA star Dwayne Wade has been fatally shot while pushing a baby in a stroller on the city’s South Side.
Pastor Edward Jones says 32-year-old Nykea Aldridge was walking to register her children for school.
Chicago police say Aldridge was killed when two males walked up and fired shots at a third man, hitting Aldridge in her head and an arm. Police say she wasn’t the intended target and that the baby wasn’t hurt.