June 28, 2020 7:24 am
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Brendon Todd and Dustin Johnson each shot career-low 61s at the Travelers Championship on Saturday, leaving Todd with a two-stroke lead over the 2016 U.S. Open champion. The 34-year-old Georgian, playing a couple holes behind Johnson, had a chance at the tournament’s second 60 of the week but missed a 10-foot putt to the left on the 18th hole. He finished with a 54-hole score of 192, 18 under par, after shooting 66-65 the first two rounds. Johnson, who is looking for his 21st win on tour, also has improved each day, opening with a 69-64. Both shot bogey-free rounds, with Todd making five birdies on the front nine and Johnson five on the back.
June 28, 2020 7:28 am
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Kevin Harvick hit pause on that victory swirl of scorched rubber and billows of smoke at Pocono Raceway. Sure, Harvick needed to save the engine for a repeat run in the same Ford and a shot at a weekend sweep in a Cup Series twin bill. He stood on his car alone again in victory lane in front of another race with barren grandstands and the only noise at the track just a few cheers from his Stewart-Haas Racing crew. Harvick snapped an 0-for-38 drought at Pocono, taking the checkered flag Saturday at one of two tracks where victory had eluded him. Harvick won the first of two NASCAR Cup races in front of no fans this weekend at Pocono and will start 20th on Sunday with the field set by inverting the lead-lap finishers.
June 27, 2020 3:42 am
Longtime Canon-McMillan High School girls soccer coach Dave Derrico has resigned. Athletic Director Frank Vulcano Jr. says the resignation was approved by the school board Thursday night. Vulcano says “Dave was a State Champion coach that will be missed by the players and school district. He gave a lot of his time to make our program one of the top girl’s soccer programs in the state”. In his letter, Derrico says “recent events and changes have caused me to examine life’s costs which I have steadfastly borne through the years with the team. After a great deal of soul searching and some heartache, I feel that I cannot serve with the same high level of devotion and personal commitment that I have demonstrated in the past and the level of commitment that the Canon-McMillan players deserve”. Derrico had served as assistant or head coach of the program for more than twenty years. His resignation is effective immediately.
June 27, 2020 3:49 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton says he’s tired of hosting video conference calls with his players and is ready to get back to work as the MLB plots a return next month. Shelton is tackling a series of issues he couldn’t have imagined when the Pirates hired him last winter. Shelton must help his players navigate the 108-page safety protocol designed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He’s also in the process of finding ways to support players who may want to speak out about social justice issues. The Pirates begin spring training 2.0 at PNC Park on July 1.
June 27, 2020 3:52 am
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) – Phil Mickelson figures age might be an asset. Playing his first tournament since turning 50 this month, the five-time major champion shot a 7-under 63 on Friday in the Travelers Championship to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend. First-round leader Mackenzie Hughes followed an opening 60 with a 68 to drop into a second-place tie with 23-year-old Will Gordon, who led most of the day after shooting an early 62. Two more players withdrew because of the coronavirus Friday – Denny McCarthy for a positive test, and Bud Cauley, who tested negative, but decided to pull out after playing alongside McCarthy on Thursday. There have been seven COVID-19-related withdrawals.
June 27, 2020 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) — The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have finalized terms of the deal that will allow the league to restart the season at the Disney World campus near Orlando, Florida next month. The league and the union made the announcement Friday. Many of the details were already known, such as how “stringent health and safety protocols” would be in place for the 22 teams that will be participating, that no fans will be present and that games will be held in three different arenas at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. The league says 16 players tested positive for coronavirus in the first wave of mandatory tests done in preparation for the restart of the season. Those 16 players were part of a pool of 302 tested on Tuesday. Tests are continuing for all 22 teams that will be participating in the restart.
June 27, 2020 3:50 am
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) – Pocono Raceway is set to hold two NASCAR Cup Series races this weekend without any fans. One race is Saturday, and the race on Sunday comes with a twist. The field for Sunday’s race will be set by inverting the lead-lap finishers from race No. 1. Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are 5-1 favorites on Saturday.
June 26, 2020 3:49 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NFL has canceled the Hall of Fame game that traditionally opens the preseason and is delaying the 2020 induction ceremonies for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Aug. 6 exhibition game in Canton, Ohio, between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers is the first on-field event the league has canceled during the pandemic. It will now be played on Aug. 5, 2021. Enshrinements for 20 men scheduled for this year now will occur on Aug. 7, 2021. The 2021 inductees will go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame the next day. NFL owners are conducting a virtual meeting Thursday in which the preseason schedule will be discussed. It’s possible the league will reduce the number of exhibition games to two per team from the usual four.
June 26, 2020 3:53 am
Churchill Downs says the rescheduled Kentucky Derby and Oaks will run this fall with spectators under strict guidelines to limit crowd density for the race that annually attracts more than 100,000. The 146th runnings of the Oaks for fillies and the Derby were postponed from May 1-2 to Sept. 4-5 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It marked the first time since 1945 that horse racing’s marquee event was not run on the first Saturday in May. Churchill Downs has run its delayed spring meet without spectators.
June 26, 2020 3:51 am
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) – Mackenzie Hughes shot a career-low 60 to take the early lead at the Travelers Championship. The 29-year-old Canadian flirted with 59 Thursday as the PGA Tour tried to switch its focus back to golf amid growing concerns about the coronavirus. TPC River Highlands is no stranger to low scores – Jim Furyk shot a tour-record 58 there four years ago. Hughes was bogey-free and made a 30-foot putt on his second-to-last hole to get to 10 under. But he left his 40-foot birdie try short on the last hole. It was good enough for a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy among the early starters.
