July 19, 2019 3:55 am
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) – Tiger Woods arrived at Royal Portrush on Sunday morning. Now he tries to avoid leaving Friday afternoon from the British Open. Woods, Rory McIlroy and others who got off to a rugged start faced a daunting task trying to make the cut on a links course with ever-changing conditions and a steady challenge. Woods didn’t make a birdie until the 15th hole in his opening round of 78, his worst start in a British Open and third-highest score in a major championship. McIlroy played reasonably well except the start (quadruple bogey) and finish (triple bogey) in his round of 79. J.B. Holmes set the pace with a 5-under 66 and played Friday morning under a mostly blue sky and mild wind. That could change without notice.
July 18, 2019 3:42 am
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) – Darren Clarke never hit a tee shot at Royal Portrush quite like this. The silver claret jug on display next to him, Clarke hit the opening tee shot Thursday as the British Open returned to Irish soil for the first time in 68 years. And then it got even better for Clarke, the 50-year-old from Northern Ireland who now calls Portrush home. He holed a 15-foot putt for birdie to start his round. Clarke won the Open in 2011 at Royal St. George’s and did not hesitate when the R&A asked if he would be willing to be the first to play. He hasn’t received such a hearty reception on the opening tee since The K Club in Ireland in 2006 for the Ryder Cup.
July 16, 2019 3:49 am
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – Former boxing champion Pernell Whitaker has died at age 55 after he was hit by a car in Virginia. Police in Virginia Beach say Whitaker was a pedestrian when struck by the car Sunday night. Whitaker was an Olympic gold medalist and welterweight champion. He was regarded as one of the greatest defensive fighters. He won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and made his pro debut on national television. He was fighting for a major title by his 17th fight, a loss to Jose Luis Ramirez that he would avenge the next year.
July 15, 2019 3:50 am
SILVIS, Illinois (AP) – Dylan Frittelli picked up his first PGA victory by taking the John Deere Classic by two strokes over Russell Henley. The South African closed with a bogey-free 7-under 64. He finished 21 under for the tournament and earned a spot in this week’s British Open. Frittelli opened with rounds of 66, 68 and 65 to begin Sunday two strokes back. Henley shot a tournament-best 61. Andrew Landry was 18 under after a 69.
July 14, 2019 7:49 am
WIMBELDON, England (AP) – Simona Halep figures her past problems in Grand Slam finals allowed her to come through against Serena Williams at Wimbledon. Halep lost the first three times she appeared in a major final, twice at the French Open and once at the Australian Open. But now the 27-year-old Romanian has won two in a row – last year at Roland Garros, and Saturday at the All England Club, where she made only three unforced errors while beating Williams 6-2, 6-2 in 56 minutes. Halep made only three unforced errors, a remarkably low total and 23 fewer than Williams. Halep says her losses “helped me for sure to be different” on this occasion. This is the third consecutive Grand Slam final lost by Williams as she tries to equal the all-time record with 24 major trophies.
July 13, 2019 10:22 am
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) – Simona Halep was not focused on trying to prevent Serena Williams from winning a 24th Grand Slam title. All Halep cared about was winning Wimbledon for the first time. Pretty much perfect from start to finish, Halep beat Williams 6-2, 6-2 in stunning fashion in the final at the All England Club on Saturday. The whole thing took only 56 minutes.
Halep made only three unforced errors, a remarkably low total and 23 fewer than Williams.This is the third consecutive Grand Slam final lost by Williams as she tries to equal the all-time record with 24 major trophies. She was the runner-up to Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon a year ago.
July 12, 2019 3:42 am
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) – Simona Halep stands between Serena Williams and her 24th Grand Slam championship. Williams has reached Saturday’s Wimbledon women’s singles final for the 11th time by mowing down Barbora Strycova, 6-1, 6-2 in Thursday’s semifinal. The 37-year-old Williams needed just 59 minutes to move one match victory closer to her eighth championship at the All England Club. Williams was limited to just 12 matches this year before reaching Wimbledon. Her game has gotten better with each round of the tournament, and she converted four of her five break points to make quick work of the unseeded Czech. Halep is in the Wimbledon final for the first time following a 6-1, 6-3 rout of Elina Svitolina on Centre Court. Halep broke Svitolina three times in the first set, and then again to take a 4-3 lead in the second. She won the match with another break in the final game. Williams has won nine of her 10 meetings with Halep, including a victory at the Australian Open this year. The men’s semifinals are Friday as second seed Roger Federer takes on No. 3 Rafael Nadal (nah-DAHL’) after top-ranked Novak Djokovic faces No. 23 Roberto Bautista Agut.
July 12, 2019 3:40 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The National League Central is providing Major League Baseball a needed dose of pennant fever. All five teams are separated by just 4 1/2 games coming out of the All-Star break. The other five divisions have at least a 5 1/2-game gap between first and second. Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon says the division is tight because all five teams are trying to win. That includes upstart Cincinnati and resilient Pittsburgh, which are in the thick of the race with the Cubs, Milwaukee and St. Louis.
July 11, 2019 1:29 pm
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) – Serena Williams will play in the Wimbledon final for the 11th time and will be looking for her eighth title at the All England Club. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion beat Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals on Centre Court. Williams converted four of her five break points, while Strycova failed on all three of her chances. The 11th-seeded American, who lost in last year’s final, will face Simona Halep in Saturday’s championship match. Williams needs one more major title to equal the all-time record of 24 set by Margaret Court.
July 11, 2019 3:54 am
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. (AP) – Former New York Yankees pitcher and controversial baseball author Jim Bouton has died at age 80. Throwing so hard that his cap flew off his head, Bouton was 21-8 with six shutouts in 1963, his second season in the majors. He went 18-13 with four more shutouts in 1964 before winning a pair of World Series games against the Cardinals that fall. But his playing career was forever eclipsed by his 1970 book “Ball Four,” the first tell-all baseball memoir that angered many in the game’s establishment. It chronicled his 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros, but it also detailed Yankees great Mickey Mantle’s carousing, and the use of stimulants in the major leagues. He was ostracized by players and management for exposing those secrets, waiting decades to be invited to a Yankees Old Timer’s game. Bouton’s family said he died Wednesday at the home he shared with wife Paula Kurman. He fought a brain disease linked to dementia and was in hospice care. Bouton also had two strokes in 2012.
