Jet lag can’t stop Hatton
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Tyrrell Hatton felt grumpy from not getting much sleep, and then he felt he was in a dream when he was 5 under through the opening five holes of the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek. The reality of Thursday was that even coming off an emotional BMW PGA Championship win at Wentworth Club and a long trip from London across eight time zones, Hatton hadn’t lost his touch with the clubs. The 29-year-old Englishman tied the course record of 7-under-par 65 for a oneshot lead over Russell Henley and Xander Schauffele, with Tyler Duncan and second- ranked Jon Rahm another stroke back. “It’s fair to say I’m pretty tired at the moment,” said Hatton, who now has five wins on the European Tour and won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March for his lone PGA Tour victory. “Still struggling a little bit with jet lag. As you can tell by my voice, picked up a little bit of a sore throat on the way over. Today was a long day. Very happy with my score, and I just need to try and get back to the hotel, have a good rest and hopefully sleep better than I did last night. And fingers crossed for another good day.” Hatton posted the lowest competitive round at Shadow Creek, mainly because this is the first PGA Tour event at the prestigious club. Top- ranked Dustin Johnson, not playing this week because of a positive test result for COVID-19, had a 65 during a casual round in 2015. Baylor School graduate Harris English was tied for 55th after a 75, one shot behind the 46th-place logjam that included four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, who showed plenty of rust in his first tournament round since taking two months off to let his ailing left hip rest and recover.
BASKETBALL
› HOUSTON — Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is stepping down on his own accord, a little more than a year after sparking a rift between the NBA and China by posting support for antigovernment protesters in Hong Kong. Morey said he made the decision to spend more time with his two college- aged children, who are taking a year off from school during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to “see what other potential challenges could be out there.” The Rockets announced the move Thursday night, and Morey said he’s leaving the team Nov. 1. Tilman Fertitta, who has owned the Rockets since 2017, said Morey told him of his decision about a month ago — the day the team got back to Houston from the NBA bubble in Florida. “Daryl is one of the premier GMs in the league, and I’m disappointed … (but) Daryl made it real clear he wasn’t staying here forever,” Fertitta said in an interview with The Associated Press. “When I bought the team, he told me that. And he decided this is the time that he wants to change his life.” Fertitta added that Morey is helping him through a transition that will promote vice president of basketball operations Rafael Stone to GM.
FOOTBALL ›
Former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden was released from a hospital Thursday after being treated for COVID-19. Bowden family friend Kim Shiff said the 90-year-old College Football Hall of Famer was back home after a weeklong stay at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. He was hospitalized Oct. 6, three days after testing positive. He had received word of the positive test a few days after returning to his Tallahassee home from a lengthy hospital stay for an infection in his leg. Bowden told the Tallahassee Democrat earlier this week he was “doing good” and expected to be released soon. Bowden coached Florida State for 34 years and is second on the career victories list in major college football with 357, behind only the late Joe Paterno of Penn State. Bowden’s Seminoles won national championships in 1993 and 1999.