Schauffele goes on birdie run to take lead at Shadow Creek
NORTH LAS VEGAS, NEV. » Xander Schauffele began his second round by missing a 4-foot birdie putt. That was hardly a sign of what was to follow Friday in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek.
Schauffele made putts as short as 3 feet and as long as 35 feet. He chipped in from
20 feet. He seemingly couldn’t miss during a two-hour stretch when he made seven birdies over eight holes, including six in a row, for a career-best 29 on the back nine.
His momentum slowed with the pace of play, and he settled an 8-under 64 for a threeshot lead over Tyrrell Hatton.
He was at 14-under 130 and now has the course record at Shadow Creek, which is hosting the CJ Cup for this year only because the COVID-19 pandemic made travel to South Korea impractical.
Hatton was headed for a rocky finish when he laid up into the rough on the par-5
16th that led to a second straight bogey. He rallied to close with a pair of birdies for a 68.
PGA Tour Champions postponed
RICHMOND, VA. »
The first round of the Dominion Energy Charity Classic was postponed Friday because of rain.
The 54-hole tournament at the Country Club of Virginia was to be Phil Mickelson’s second start on the PGA Tour Champions. He won his debut on the over-50 tour at Ozarks National in August.
Ulissi sprints to win Giro Stage 13
MONSELICE, ITALY » Diego Ulissi sprinted to victory at the end of the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia, and João Almeida held on to the pink jersey.
Ulissi, an Italian rider with UAE Team Emirates, launched his sprint with about 600 meters to go and edged Almeida and Patrick Konrad at the end of the mainly flat 119-mile leg from Cervia to Monselice.
Almeida, a Portuguese rider with Deceuninck-Quick Step, moved 40 seconds ahead of Wilco Kelderman and 49 seconds ahead of Pello Bilbao overall.
Heim wins race, Holmes bags title
KANSAS CITY, KAN. » Bret Holmes couldn’t chase down Cory Heim as the sun set on the ARCA Series finale at Kansas Speedway.
It didn’t really matter. The 23-year-old from Munford, Ala., won the series championship over Michael Self by finishing second Friday night. Holmes began the race eight points clear of Michael Self, who had mechanical issues that put him one lap down early.
Holmes won the July race at Kansas for his only ARCA win in 81 career tries, but he was remarkably consistent in making each of the 20 starts in the season. He finished in the top 5 in all but six races.
Joshua and Pulev reschedule fight
LONDON » Anthony Joshua will defend his world heavyweight titles for the first time this year when it was confirmed he will face Kubrat Pulev on Dec. 12 in London.
Joshua was first scheduled to meet Pulev in October 2017 in Cardiff but the Bulgarian withdrew with an injured shoulder. Pulev won six straight fights to become a mandatory challenger, but their June 20 bout was postponed because of the pandemic.
Zverev labors to reach semis
COLOGNE, GERMANY »
Top-seeded Alexander Zverev advanced to the Cologne Indoors semifinals by beating Lloyd Harris of South Africa 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 on Friday.
Zverev was leading 6-4, 1-0 but dropped two of his four service games as Harris forced the third set. He rebounded as Harris struggled with a leg injury and he closed out the match in 1 hour, 46 minutes.
The seventh-ranked Zverev next faces Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Spaniard defeated Dennis Novak 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Rublev, Shapovalov reach semis
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA » Andrey Rublev eased into the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open after defeating Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-1 on Friday.
The third-seeded Russian will play Denis Shapovalov for a place in Sunday’s final. Second-seeded Shapovalov defeated Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5. Hard-serving American Reilly Opelka, who beat defending champion Daniil Medvedev, was beaten by the seventh-seeded Borna Coric 7-6 (3), 6-3 in their quarterfinal.
Coric next faces 2015 champion Milos Raonic, who overcame the fourth-seeded Karen Khachanov 6-1, 7-6 (1).