Hurley, Power share lead in rain-delayed Wells Fargo
WILMINGTON, N.C. >> Once the rain finally stopped, the wind took over Friday in the Wells Fargo Championship. Billy Hurley III and Seamus Power of Ireland did their best to figure out the strong gusts and wound up atop the leaderboard at the end of a long day.
The second round started three hours late because of a violent storm that dumped nearly 2 inches of rain on Eagle Point, and 65 players had to return Saturday morning to complete the round.
Hurley hit a 4-iron from 174 yards that came up 15 yards short, and he managed to get up-and-down to cap off a strong finish for a 3-under 69. Power shot a 71 and joined Hurley at 5-under 139.
John Peterson’s last hole was a birdie on the par-5 12th hole. He was at 5 under and had six holes to play Saturday morning. Francesco Molinari of Italy, who opened with a 66, also was at 5 under and had seven holes remaining.
Dustin Johnson couldn’t get off the golf course fast enough. In his first tournament since a slip down the stairs knocked him out of the Masters, Johnson opened with a tough par save and a birdie to get within two shots of the lead until dropping shots on a pair of par 3s, getting out of position off the tee on the reachable par 5s and ending with a third bogey on No. 13.
Johnson was 2 over for his round, five shots out of the lead. THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS >> It didn’t take Tom Lehman long to find his groove at The Woodlands.
Lehman birdied six of his first nine holes, including four straight before the turn, en route to an 8-under 64 on Friday and the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Insperity Invitational.
That matched the 58-yearold Lehman’s lowest opening-round score on the senior circuit.
Kirk Triplett and 63-yearold Jay Haas were tied for second at 67.
Soccer: Messi wins appeal, ban lifted
ZURICH >> Argentina captain Lionel Messi was cleared by FIFA on Friday to play in the next three World Cup qualifiers after a ban for insulting a referee’s assistant was lifted.
Messi already served one match of the four-match ban that was imposed when the FIFA disciplinary committee gave its ruling hours before Argentina’s 2-0 loss in Bolivia in March.
FIFA said its appeal committee considered Messi’s behavior “reproachable” for verbally abusing a linesman late in a 1-0 win over Chile on March 23. But the panel concluded the “evidence available was not sufficient to establish to the appropriate standard” required for the disciplinary committee to impose the initial suspension.
Olympics: Coates coasts to win
IOC vice president John Coates’ first test of his Australian Olympic Committee presidency in nearly three decades turned out to be not much of a contest.
Coates will serve another term as AOC chief after easily beating former field hockey gold medalist Danni Roche 58 to 35 in an election during the AOC’s annual general meeting in Sydney on Saturday.
It was the first time Coates had faced an election since he became president in 1990, and came amid an acrimonious campaign.
Tennis: 15-year-old claims French wild card
PARIS >> Amanda Anisimova has won the Roland Garros wild card challenge and will compete in the French Open in her Grand Slam main draw debut. Anisimova, 15, accumulated the most points in the wild card challenge by reaching back-to-back singles finals at USTA Pro Circuit events in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., and Dothan, Ala.