Henley putts his way to lead at Sea Island
GOLF: Russell Henley one-putted 10 greens at Sea Island and tied his personal best on the PGA Tour with a 7-under 63 to take a one-shot lead Friday in the McGladrey Classic at St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Henley opened with a bogey on No. 10 and was simply trying to keep warm in the chilly weather. The only 63 on his mind was whether the temperature would get that high. It did, and he got hot with his best club in the bag.
“After the first hole, I was just thinking, ‘All right, you’ve got to hang in there and just be patient and hopefully get something going.’ And I did,” Henley said.
Henley has won in each of his first two years on the PGA Tour.
• Cook, Dawson share Champions Tour lead: John Cook and Marco Dawson shot 7-under 65 to share the first-round lead in the Champions Tour’s AT&T Championship in San Antonio, the final full-field event of the season.
Cook won the event in 2007 and 2008 at Oak Hills.
• Heavy rain washes out play in Blue Bay LPGA: Heavy rain prompted cancellation of play in the Blue Bay LPGA, in Hainan Island, China, forcing tour officials to cut the inaugural tournament from 72 to 54 holes.
Jessica Korda topped the leaderboard after the first round at 6-under 66. The 21-year-old American is a two-time winner this season on the LPGA Tour.
Six other golfers were a stroke back, including Michelle Wie and Brittany Lang. None of the leaders had teed off when play was called off.
• Bishop out as PGA president: Ted Bishop has been removed as president of the PGA of America over a sexist tweet directed at Ian Poulter. Bishop had one month left on his two-year term.
Bishop was unhappy about comments Poulter made in his book about the Ryder Cup captaincy of Nick Faldo in 2008 and Tom Watson last month, and made derogatory comments on both Twitter and Facebook. In an email to the Associated Press, Bishop said he should have expressed himself differently, but did not apologize.
Coric upsets Nadal in straight sets to reach Swiss Indoors semifinals
TENNIS: Teenager Borna Coric upset second-seeded Rafael Nadal in straight sets to reach the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland.
Nadal, who struggled with appendicitis this month and was playing just his third tournament since Wimbledon due to a wrist injury, looked nowhere near his best while Coric was in sparkling form to win 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Coric next faces David Goffin after the Belgian beat fourth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada.
• WTA semis set; Williams retains No. 1 ranking: Serena Williams made the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Singapore and earned the year-end No. 1 ranking without hitting a ball on Friday.
Williams’ fortune was at the expense of Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova. Both won dramatic three-setters, but needed to win in two to retain a chance at the top ranking.
Today’s semifinals feature Williams meeting Caroline Wozniacki and Simona Halep facing Agnieszka Radwanska. Williams took the year-end top ranking for the fourth time.
Bruins’ Chara won’t need knee surgery, but will be out 4-6 weeks
HOCKEY: Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara tore a ligament in his knee and will miss four to six weeks.
General manager Peter Chiarelli said the 2009 Norris Trophy winner will not need surgery. Chara left Thursday night’s game against the Islanders in the first period.
• Stars edge Devils: Jason Spezza and Jamie Benn scored in a shootout and visiting Dallas beat New Jersey 3-2, extending the Devils’ NHL record for shootout losses to 18 straight.
Kari Lehtonen finished with 25 saves for the Stars. Benn notched his fifth goal in as many games and Patrick Eaves scored his first in regulation.
• Lightning beat Jets 4-2: Three players scored in the second period and Tampa Bay beat Winnipeg 4-2.
Ben Bishop made 40 saves for Tampa Bay, which has won three of four on a five-game road trip, and Steven Stamkos scored his sixth of the year in the first.
• Iginla leads Avalanche over Canucks: Jarome Iginla collected his first two goals and Colorado beat visiting Vancouver 7-3.
Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists and Erik Johnson had a goal and an assist for Colorado.
• Eberle paces Oilers past Hurricanes: Jordan Eberle had two goals and an assist and Edmonton beat visiting Carolina 6-3 for its third consecutive victory. Jesse Joensuu, Leon Draisaitl, Matt Hendricks and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers.
• Anaheim powers past Columbus: Corey Perry and Sami Vatanen scored power-play goals in the first period and the Ducks beat the visiting Blue Jackets 4-1 for their seventh consecutive victory.
John Gibson faced just 17 shots as the two-time defending Pacific Division champions improved to 7-1.
Magic guard Olapido will have surgery today for facial fracture
MISCELLANY: Magic guard Victor Oladipo will miss Orlando’s season opener and is out indefinitely with his second injury this month, a facial fracture suffered in practice Thursday. He will undergo surgery today.
The injury occurred when Oladipo, an All-Rookie team selection last season, took an inadvertent elbow during a practice drill. Oladipo has not played in the preseason due to a knee injury.
• Former 800 world champ Mulaudzi dies in car crash: Former 800-meter world champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi was killed in a car crash while traveling to a meet in Johannesburg on Friday. Mulaudzi was 34.
• Judge halts New Jersey’s sports betting plan: A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order after a request from the four major U.S. professional sports leagues and the NCAA to at least temporarily stop New Jersey from allowing legalized sports betting. The leagues’ lawsuit against the state to permanently prevent it from allowing sports betting will proceed.
• Chock, Bates take ice dance short: Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the Skate America ice dance short competition in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
The brother-sister combo of Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani were second, with Russians Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin in third.