Digest: Rocco Mediate opens 4-stroke lead in Senior PGA Championship
Golf: Rocco Mediate stretched his Senior PGA Championship lead to four strokes on Friday at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan, birdieing the final two holes for a 5-under 66.
The 53-year-old Mediate opened with a 62 on Thursday to tie the tournament and course records set by Kenny Perry in the 2012 final round on the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout. On Friday, Mediate started play on the 10th tee and birdied the par-4 16th and 18th. He added birdies on the par-5 fifth, par-4 eighth and par-5 ninth, leaving an eagle putt an inch short on the last. Mediate had a 14-under 128 total.
Bryce Molder leads at suspended Colonial: Bryce Molder had a one-stroke lead with three holes to play in the second round at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, when play was suspended because of darkness.
The start of the round was delayed 5 1/2 hours after thunderstorms overnight that lingered into the morning.
Jutanugarn leads Volvik: Ariya Jutanugarn remained in position for her third straight LPGA Tour victory, shooting a 4-under 68 to take a two-shot lead in the Volvik Championship at Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Navy’s Reynolds, Swain to play in NFL
Football: Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced that former Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds and fullback Chris Swain can defer their military service to play in the NFL. Carter made the announcement during his graduation speech to the academy in Annapolis, Maryland. As students cheered the news about their graduating classmates, Carter said: “Go get ’em.”
Reynolds was drafted in the sixth round by Baltimore. He is the NCAA’s career leader in touchdowns and finished his career with 88 TDs and 31 touchdown passes while leading Navy’s triple-option offense. The Ravens plan to use him as a running back, receiver and kick returner. Swain has signed with the San Diego Chargers.
Ravens general manager and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome applauded the decision, calling it “good news,” and congratulating Reynolds on his graduation.
Reynolds said in a statement released by the team that it was a “blessing” to hear the news from Carter.
Mississippi self-imposes scholarship cuts: Mississippi has self-imposed scholarship reductions in football because of NCAA violations. The university released its 154-page response to the notice of allegations received in January. The NCAA’s long-running investigation began in 2012 after a university probe discovered academic and recruiting misconduct involving the women’s basketball program. The investigation spread to the football and track and field programs.
The university’s self-imposed penalties include losing 11 scholarships over four years.
Huskies win, advance to Memorial Cup final
Hockey: Francis Perron and Martins Dzierkals scored in a 1:07 span midway through the first period and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies beat the Red Deer Rebels 3-1 in the Memorial Cup semifinal at Red Deer, Alberta. They face the London Knights in Sunday’s final. The Knights beat the Huskies 5-2 on Tuesday night to finish 3-0 in round-robin play and advance to the championship game.
Perron opened the scoring on a power play at 10:51 of the first, and Dzierkals connected at 11:58. Nikolas Brouillard made it 3-0 at 5:04 of the second on another power play.
Chase Marchand made 36 saves for Rouyn-Noranda, allowing only Luke Philp’s power-play goal with 6:26 left in the second. Red Deer beat Rouyn-Noranda 5-2 on Sunday in the four-team tournament.
Kessel fails to make U.S. roster: Two-time Olympic forward Phil Kessel failed to make the final cut for the United States’ World Cup of Hockey roster a day after helping the Pittsburgh Penguins reach the Stanley Cup Final.
Team USA filled the final four forward spots with Columbus’ Brandon Dubinsky, Toronto’s James van Riemsdyk, Tampa Bay’s Ryan Callahan and St. Louis captain David Backes. The remaining defense spots went to Colorado’s Erik Johnson, Columbus’ Jack Johnson and Washington’s Matt Niskanen.
Lynx hold off Fever rally in finals rematch
WNBA: Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus scored 12 points apiece and the Minnesota Lynx held off a late charge to beat the Indiana Fever 74-71 at Minneapolis in a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals.
Whalen had 10 points in the first five minutes and the Lynx (5-0) outscored the Fever 29-6 in the first quarter. Minnesota had its largest lead of 24 early in the second half, but the Fever rallied within 73-70 with 33 seconds left.
The Lynx were still up by three when they sent Tiffany Mitchell to the foul line with 3.5 seconds left. Mitchell made the first and missed the second intentionally, but the rebound went out of bounds off Indiana.
Stars edge Sky: Haley Peters scored all of her 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the San Antonio Stars rally from a 15-point deficit and beat the visiting Chicago Sky 79-78.
Monique Curry made three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points, while Kayla Alexander and Kayla McBride scored 10 apiece for San Antonio.
Phinney, Small make Olympic statement
Cycling: Taylor Phinney and Carmen Small won the U.S. time trial national championships, with both of the road cyclists making convincing statements for a spot on the team headed to the Rio Olympics.
Phinney covered the 31-mile course in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 45 seconds for his third title to win his third title. Tom Zirbel was 1:10 behind in second and Alexey Vermeulen was third. Phinney’s victory came two years after a crash during the road race at Nationals nearly ended his career.
Small covered the women’s 20-mile course in 42:32 to take the gold. Amber Neben was 22 seconds back in second place and Kristin Armstrong, the two-time and defending Olympic gold medalist, was more than a minute behind in third.
Kruijswijk crashes, Chaves leads: Steven Kruijswijk crashed into a snowbank on a dangerous descent and Colombian rider Esteban Chaves surprisingly took the overall lead in the Giro d’Italia following a wild 19th stage in Risoul, France.
Vincenzo Nibali won his first stage of this year’s race and moved up from fourth to second overall, only 44 seconds behind Chaves, with one more challenging leg to go before the 99th edition of the race ends in Turin on Sunday.
Shortly after coming over the foggy Colle dell’Agnello pass, the highest point of the race at an altitude of 2,744 meters (9,000 feet), Kruijswijk lost control on a left turn and collided with a big wall of snow. The Dutchman flipped forward in the air and landed hard on his back and left arm, causing some painful scrapes and dirtying his pink jersey.