Quiet start for Phoenix Open
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Matthew NeSmith nearly made a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th and barely got a reaction from the few fans. Xander Schauffele flubbed a chip and couldn’t help but hear a surprised spectator’s reaction. With attendance at sunny TPC Scottsdale capped at about 5,000 — a fraction of the usual turnout but the most for a PGA Tour event since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — the Waste Management Phoenix Open opened Thursday with some very different sights and sounds. NeSmith started on No. 10 and went through 16 in the morning before many of the 2,000 allowed fans made their way to the stadium hole. “I got about six claps there and hit it to six inches,” NeSmith said. Schauffele had no trouble hearing the fan after the botched chip. “When there’s a lot of people it almost becomes white noise,” he said. “Out here, I chunked my chip and some guy was like, ‘Dang, he duffed it.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, you’re right, I just duffed the crap out of that chip.’” NeSmith and Mark Hubbard topped the leaderboard at 8-under-par 63, the 31-yearold Hubbard with his lowest score on the PGA Tour and with NeSmith, 27, matching his career low as each seeks his first victory. They were a stroke ahead of Sam Burns and Nate Lashley, and two in front of 53-yearold Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker. All three Baylor School graduates on the tour are in the field: Harris English and Luke List were in the group tied for 86th at 72, with Keith Mitchell (75) tied for 122nd.
BASKETBALL
› The University of Tennessee has paused team activities for women’s basketball due to COVID-19, and the Southeastern Conference announced that the Lady Volunteers’ next two games were postponed. The 18th-ranked Lady Vols (12-3), who have won three straight games, had been set to play Thursday night at No. 24 Mississippi State and Sunday afternoon at No. 7 Texas A&M. According to a release at utsports.com, the shutdown announced Wednesday came as a result of a positive virus test within the program, contact tracing and the resulting quarantine. The game at Texas A&M was originally set for Dec. 31 as the SEC opener for both the Aggies and the Lady Vols, but two days before that Tennessee had to halt team activities due to COVID-19. It was not rescheduled until last Saturday, and makeup dates for that game and the one against Mississippi State have not been announced.
› ATLANTA — Jordan Clarkson’s 23-point performance included five 3-pointers and helped the Utah Jazz protect the NBA’s best record with a runaway 112-91 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night. Bojan Bogdanovic had 21 points and Donovan Mitchell added 18 for Utah (17-5). Atlanta point guard Trae Young was held out with a bruised right calf; Rajon Rondo
made his second start of the season and did not score. Another starter, forward De’Andre Hunter (right knee), missed his third consecutive game for Atlanta, which lost for the third game in a row as the offense struggled without Young, who leads the Hawks in scoring this season. Against the Jazz, John Collins led Atlanta with 17 points and Huerter had 16.
HOCKEY
› SUNRISE, Fla. — Filip Forsberg scored in regulation and overtime as the Nashville Predators beat the Florida Panthers 6-5 on Thursday night. Forsberg also had three assists as Nashville stopped a twogame slide. Matt Duchene scored twice, and Calle Jarnkrok and Roman Josi had the other goals for the Predators, who were down 5-3 before Josi scored with 2:06 left in the third. Duchene then tied it with his second of the season with 56.8 seconds left in regulation. Forsberg skated in on a breakaway in overtime and beat Sergei Bobrovsky through the goaltender’s legs at 4:00. Bobrovsky finished with 35 saves. Juuse Saros started for Nashville and allowed five goals on 24 shots. Pekka Rinne
finished the game, making 12 saves.