Off the wire
GOLF Leishman leads BMW
Marc Leishman left his clubs in the garage during his week break from the FedEx Cup playoffs and it didn’t make a difference. He had 10 birdies in his opening round of 9- under 62 and built a two- shot lead in the BMW Championship at Lake Forest, Ill. Leishman finished third two weeks ago at the TPC Boston and moved to No. 7 in the FedEx Cup. His goal is to get into the top five going into the final event at the Tour Championship. Jason Day, playing for the first time using a high school friend as his caddie, was 7 under for his last 11 holes and shot 64. Jamie Lovemark and Charley Hoffman also opened at 64. Jordan Spieth had a bogey- free 65, while Phil Mickelson shot 66.
Uihlein ahead by 1
Peter Uihlein shot a 9- under 62 on Thursday in the opening round of the Web. com Boise Open at Boise, Idaho. He was one stroke ahead of Alex Cejka after a bogey- free round. Cejka had a hole- in- one on the par- 3 17th. Ted Potter Jr. and Ryan Armour are two shots behind the leader after shooting 7- under 64s. Taylor Moore ( Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 5- under 66. Austin Cook ( Jonesboro, Razorbacks) had a 67. Andrew Landry ( Razorbacks) and Ken Duke ( Arkadelphia, Henderson State) each had a 2- under 69. Tag Ridings ( Razorbacks) shot a 70. Matt Atkins ( Henderson State) had a 1- over 72. Ethan Tracy ( Razorbacks) had a 73.
Pair leads at KLM
Bernd Wiesberger and Richard Finch have shot 5- under- par 66s to share the clubhouse lead after a rain- shortened opening round at the KLM Open at Spijk, Netherlands. The leaders were among the early starters on Thursday and avoided the worst of the wind and driving rain that later flooded fairways and forced a suspension of play at the par- 71 The Dutch course. The first round will resume early today. The man who beat Wiesberger into second place at the KLM Open last year, Joost Luiten, also started early but could not master the tricky conditions and slumped to a 4- over 75 that will leave him struggling to make the cut today. Luiten opened his round with four consecutive bogeys. Pep Angles ( Central Arkansas) started late and only managed three holes before play was suspended.
Evian to re- start today
Rain and strong winds forced the final women’s golf major of the season to be suspended with plans to re- start today as a 54- hole event. LPGA Tour Commissioner Michael
Whan said the little play achieved Thursday at the Evian Championship at Evian- les- Bains, France, will be scrapped. Whan announced the abandonment at 2: 30 p. m. local time after a four- hour suspension. He said “some people will definitely not like it, but I will take the brunt of that.” No player had completed nine holes when play stopped on the wind- swept course overlooking Lake Geneva. At the time, topranked So Yeon Ryu of South Korea and Jessica Korda were leading at 2 under. Whan said re- starting today is the “cleanest, fairest, most competitive” option.
BASEBALL Duffy to start Sunday
Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy is likely to start Sunday’s series finale in Cleveland, Manager Ned Yost said before Thursday’s game against the Indians. Duffy threw a side session Thursday after throwing a three- inning, 46- pitch simulated game Monday in Kansas City. “He got after it good,” Yost said. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow and the next day.” Duffy was diagnosed with a “low- grade pronator strain” in late August after pitching through discomfort for four to five starts. He has spent the last two weeks resting and rehabbing in an attempt to return from the disabled list this month. Duffy was scheduled to appear Tuesday in Overland Park, Kan., Municipal Court on an August DUI citation, but court records show that appearance has been rescheduled to 8 a. m. Oct. 20.
Fiers suspended
Houston Astros pitcher Mike Fiers
has been suspended five games for throwing a fastball over the head of Los Angeles Angels infielder Luis
Valbuena in an act of retaliation. Major League Baseball also fined Fiers an undisclosed amount. Since Fiers did not appeal, the penalty began with Thursday night’s game between the AL West- leading Astros and playoff- contending Angels. On Wednesday, Valbuena homered to cap a five- run first inning off Fiers. It was Valbuena’s 20th home run of the season, and the ex- Astros player celebrated with a big bat flip. The next time Valbuena came up, Fiers threw a pitch at least 2 feet over his head that sailed to the backstop. Plate umpire Cory Blaser warned both benches. After the game, Fiers said he took Valbuena’s bat flip as “disrespect.”
FOOTBALL Hurricanes hit road
When No. 17 Miami goes back to work next week, the Hurricanes will be hitting the road. The Hurricanes announced Thursday that they will be practicing in Orlando when the team reconvenes from a nearly twoweek break caused by Hurricane Irma and its impact on the Miami area. The Hurricanes play host to Toledo on Sept. 23, and are expected to be in Orlando for the bulk of the week leading up to that game. Miami has not practiced since Sept. 5 because of the storm. Miami’s game at Arkansas State was canceled, and its game at Florida State was rescheduled to Oct. 7 because of the storm. Undergraduate classes at Miami will not resume until Sept. 25 because of storm damage on campus and other issues.
GameDay in NYC
ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast from Times Square on Sept. 23, the first time the popular pregame road show travels to New York City. ESPN announced the Times Square site for GameDay on Thursday. The network said the show will highlight New York’s college football history and “modernday fandom.” Also, Lee Corso, 82, will make his 299th head- gear pick during the broadcast. It’s the 81st location in 25 years for the show that visits mostly college campuses for the week’s big game. That Saturday is light on big games — No. 6 Washington at Colorado, No. 1 Alabama at Vanderbilt and No. 4 Penn State at Iowa. The GameDay set will be located between 43rd and 44th streets. ESPN said the set will be constructed two days before and taken down immediately after the show.
SOCCER U. S. ranking drops
The United States has dropped two places in the FIFA rankings to No. 28 as it struggles to qualify for the World Cup. In qualifiers this month, the Americans lost 2- 0 at home against Costa Rica and then tied 1- 1 at Honduras. The United States is fourth in the CONCACAF qualification standings heading into the final two matches. If the Americans can’t take one of the region’s three automatic qualification places for Russia next year, they will have to face an Asian confederation team in the playoffs in November.
WNBA Lynx, Sparks win Game 2s
Newly crowned MVP Sylvia Fowles scored 25 points to lead the Minnesota Lynx to a 93- 83 victory over the Washington Mystics in Game 2 of their WNBA semifinal series Thursday night. Fowles made 12 of 16 shots and the Lynx shot 51 percent from the floor to take a 2- 0 lead in the best- of- five series. Maya Moore had 22 points and five assists, and Rebekkah Brunson added 11 points and 10 rebounds in a back- and- forth game at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena. Elena Delle Donne and Kristi Toliver each scored 25 points for the Mystics. Washington led by two with five minutes to go, but was outscored 20- 8 the rest of the way. Game 3 is Sunday in Washington. Candace Parker had 24 points and 13 rebounds — showing no effects of an ankle injury — to help Los Angeles beat Phoenix in Game 2 of their WNBA semifinal series at Long Beach, Calif. Parker injured her ankle in the warmups before the Sparks’ Game 1 victory, but she still played in that game and returned to her usual form in Game 2 at the Pyramid. The defending champion Sparks have won nine games in a row and can sweep the best- of- five series Sunday in Arizona. Nneka Ogwumike added 18 points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles. Diana Taurasi led Phoenix with 19 points, and Brittney Griner had 16 points.