Off the wire
Kim, Putnam in lead
Michael Kim and Andrew Putnam teamed to shoot a 3-under 69 on Friday to take the lead at the Zurich Classic at Avondale, La., into the weekend. The format switched to alternate shot for the second round, with one player hitting the tee shots on even-numbered holes and the other on odd numbers. Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, who lost in a playoff last year, were a stroke back after a 70. Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar shot a 67 at TPC Louisiana to pull within four shots of the lead. Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer missed the cut after making double bogey on the final two holes. The teams of Andrew Landry (Arkansas Razorbacks)-Talor Gooch, John Daly (Dardanelle, Razorbacks)-Rory Sabbatini and David Lingmerth (Razorbacks)-Danny Lee did not make the cut. After bestplay play today, the final round will be played in alternate shot.
McNealy at top again
Maverick McNealy remained alone in the lead Friday after a 1-over 73 in the second round of the Web. com Tour’s United Leasing and Finance Championship at Newburgh, Ind. McNealy takes a 7-under 137 and a 1-stroke lead over Chris Thompson and Ethan Tracy (Arkansas Razorbacks) into the weekend. Wyndham Clark and Matt Harmon were tied for fourth at 5 under. Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) and Taylor Moore (Razorbacks) were tied for ninth with Jose de J. Rodriguez at 2 under. Cappelen shot a 72 and Moore a 70. Patrick Sullivan (Maumelle, UALR) and Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) did not make the cut.
Wallace leads by 1
Matt Wallace shot a 2-under 70 Friday to take a one-stroke lead into the third round of the China Open golf tournament at Beijing. The Englishman had a two-round total of 9-under 135 on the Topwin Golf and Country Club course. Tied for
second in the European PGA Tour event were American Kim Sihwan (66), Nacho Elvira of Spain (67) and Australian Jason Scrivener (69).
Nadal’s streak continues
Rafael Nadal defeated Martin Klizan 6-0, 7-5 to extend his winning streak on clay and reach the Barcelona Open semifinals on Friday. Nadal started well but needed to save three set points to close out
the match for his 17th consecutive victory on the surface. The topranked Spaniard has won 42 consecutive sets on clay. Nadal will next face David Goffin, who defeated Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2. In the other semifinal, Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain — who defeated second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-3, 7-6 (4) — will play against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 63rd-ranked Greek who got past third-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3, 6-2.
Self on reform panel
Kansas’ Bill Self will be one of two active college basketball coaches who will help create new NCAA proposals following the announcement of the Commission on College Basketball’s reform recommendations earlier this week. Self, along with St. Joseph’s Phil Martelli, is a member of the 15-person Division I men’s basketball oversight committee, which will be asked to create legislative rule changes that can be voted on by the NCAA Board of Governors in August. Self’s program has been directly impacted by the recent FBI probe, which led to the NCAA creating an independent commission to study how college basketball could address its biggest issues. According to a superseding FBI indictment released earlier this month, the mother and a guardian of two unidentified Kansas student-athletes — believed to be Billy
Preston and Silvio De Sousa — are said to have benefited from illegal payments, which were made without the knowledge of the university.
Bayne: Health fine
Trevor Bayne said Friday his multiple sclerosis isn’t a factor in the former Daytona 500 winner sharing some of his races with Matt
Kenseth. Roush Fenway Racing hired Kenseth this week to split races in the No. 6 Ford with Bayne. The two-time Daytona 500 winner has been tasked with mentoring Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while helping Roush get back to a consistently competitive level. Bayne is scheduled to race Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. He took no questions on Friday at Talladega but made a statement outside his Roush hauler to address the Kenseth hiring, which amounts to a demotion. He assured reporters that he’s “100 percent” healthy, adding that: “I am as fit physically, mentally and spiritually as I have ever been to do my job well.”