Former Dawg’s putter has bite
MEMPHIS — Brendon Todd’s putter is more than making up for any lack of power off the tee at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Todd shot a 5-under-par 65 Friday at TPC Southwind to carry a two-stroke lead into the weekend at this World Golf Championship. “I have not hit the ball as crisply the first two days and maybe some other tournaments this year, but I’ve probably putted the best of any tournament this year so far,” said Todd, 35, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour who was an All-American during his time at the University of Georgia. “I’m really excited about how I played and looking forward to the opportunity this weekend.” Todd trailed reigning tournament champion Brooks Koepka by two strokes after Thursday’s opening round. He quickly erased that deficit and took the lead to himself with a bogey-free, five-birdie round that had him at 11-under 129 after 36 holes. Rickie Fowler closed with birdies on his final two holes for a 67 and was in second, two strokes ahead of Koepka (71), Chez Reavie (67) and South Korea’s Byeong Hun An (65). Spain’s Jon Rahm shot a 74 and was tied for 62nd in his first event at No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Justin Thomas, who could go back to No. 1 in the world with a win, was seven strokes back and tied for 12th after a 70. Rory McIlroy’s bid to return to the top spot may have to wait until the PGA Championship next week in San Francisco. He shot a 66 but was 10 strokes back and tied for 33rd.
FOOTBALL
› KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee senior defensive lineman Darel Middleton no longer faces charges of domestic assault and public intoxication for an incident with his girlfriend in February. Middleton faced a date in Knox County General Sessions Court in August, but the misdemeanor charges have been dismissed. His attorney, Gregory P. Isaacs, confirmed the dismissal first reported Friday by the Knoxville News Sentinel. Middleton was arrested Feb. 29 after fighting with a friend. The arrest warrant said Middleton shoved his girlfriend twice as she tried to break up the fight and she scraped a knee. Middleton later said he was seeing alcohol counseling. The 6-foot-7, 305-pound junior college transfer started six of 13 games and made 28 tackles in 2019, his first season with the Volunteers.
› The Pac-12 announced Friday that it has set Sept. 26 as the start date for its 10-game, conference-only football schedule, joining the Southeastern Conference in pushing back its season by three weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Pac-12 announced July 10 it would eliminate nonconference games to give its 12 member schools a better chance to manage complications and disruptions caused by the health crisis. The plan approved by university presidents adds an additional cross-divisional game to each team’s slate, creates two open dates and moves the conference championship game back two weeks from Dec. 4 to Dec. 18 or 19. The title contest, originally set to be played for the first time at the new NFL stadium that will be home to the Las Vegas Raiders, will now be hosted by the division winner with the best record. The two-year deal with Las Vegas and the Pac-12 will instead begin in 2021, league commissioner Larry Scott said.
HOCKEY
› The first step towards closing the NHL’s most unique season begins today with the start of the expanded 24-team playoffs in two Canadian cities: Edmonton for the Western Conference and Toronto for the Eastern Conference. A nine-day slate of a potentially 52 games — depending on the results of the eight best-of-five series — will begin with the Carolina Hurricanes facing the New York Rangers at noon in Toronto. The top four teams in each conference, meanwhile, will play round-robin series to determine seeding for the first round set to begin Aug. 11. The Stanley Cup will be awarded some two months from now — if all goes as planned.