Birdie binge puts Snedeker in BMW lead
Brandt Snedeker doesn’t get on a big run of birdies like this very often, so he wanted to make the most of it Thursday in the BMWChampionship at Lake Forest, Ill.
Snedeker had seven consecutive birdies on his way to an 8-under 63, giving him a one-shot lead over Zach Johnson in the third FedEx Cup playoff event.
Conway Farms had a good debut, too. The course north of Chicago yielded some low scores, including 66s by Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker.
And then there was Rory McIlroy, who might have ended his hopes of going to the Tour Championship with one round. He had a double bogey and a triple bogey for a 78. In other golf news:
The first day of play at the LPGA Evian Championship in Evian-les-Bains, France, was washed out after heavy rain soaked the course. Organizers will restart the round Friday.
Oracle loses two to New Zealand
Emirates Team New Zealand beat defending champion Oracle Team USA twice more, moving closer to taking the America’s Cup for the second time in 18 years.
Team New Zealand leads 6 to minus-1 and needs three more victories to claim the oldest trophy in international sports for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
Oracle Team USA, owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison, was docked two points in a cheating scandal. It couldn’t catch the Kiwis even after replacing tactician John Kostecki with British star Ben Ainslie, the most successful sailor in Olympic history.
The Kiwis continued their dominance sailing upwind on San Francisco Bay. They overtook Oracle Team USA on the third leg of Race 6 and won by 47 seconds. Barker led rival Jimmy Spithill the whole way in Race 7 to rout Oracle by 1 minute, 6 seconds.
Mexico names Vucetich coach
Victor Manuel Vucetich was hired as coach of the Mexican national team as it tries to recover from a pair of losses in World Cup qualifying and avoid missing the tournament for the first time in a quarter-century.
Vucetich, 58, fired by Monterrey last month after winning three consecutive CONCACAF Champions League titles, succeeds Jose Manuel De la Torre, who was fired after Friday’s 2-1 home loss to Honduras and replaced on an interim basis by Luis Fernando Tena, who led El Tri in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the United States. In other news:
The United States rose six places to 13th in the latest FIFA rankings, its highest position since July 2010. World and European champion Spain remained first for the 25th consecutive month, and Argentina rose two places to second after qualifying for its 11th consecutive World Cup.
Notre Dame great Tripucka dies
Frank Tripucka, who quarterbacked Notre Dame to a 9-0-1 record and a No. 2 ranking in 1948, has died. He was 85.
Kelly Tripucka, a former Notre Dame basketball standout, said his father died of congestive heart failure at his home in Woodland Park, N.J.
Tripucka was the ninth pick overall by Philadel- phia in 1949. He played for the Eagles, the Detroit Lions, the Chicago Cardinals, the Dallas Texans and the Denver Broncos.
Couch suspended by Tennessee
Tennessee coach Butch Jones said defensive lineman Maurice Couch will be ineligible for Saturday’s game against No. 2 Oregon while the university investigates allegations he was one of five Southeastern Conference players to receive improper benefits.
A Yahoo Sports report cited text messages and financial records of former Alabama defensive end Luther Davis, along with an unnamed NFL source who said Davis was a go-between for the players with NFL agents and financial advisers. Couch, a senior from Orlando, Fla., was the only active college player named in the report, which said Couch had received four payments totaling $1,350. In other news:
The University of Houston picked up a verbal commitment from Taaron Timmons, a defensive end/outside linebacker from Houston Austin High School. Timmons (6-4, 210) is the Cougars’ 20th football commitment for the class of 2014.
Spanoulis leads Greece by Spain
Greece rallied with a big fourth quarter to beat defending champion Spain 79-75 at Ljubljana, Slovenia, in the second round of the European championships. Vassilis Spanoulis led Greece with 20 points.
Goran Dragic scored 22 points to help Slovenia beat Italy 84-77.
Skeeters strike first but lose
The Skeeters scored three runs in the first inning but lost to York 4-3 in Atlantic League play at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.
Sugar Land scored its runs on a Jeff Dominguez double, a Brian Burgamy single and a Travis Scott groundout.
Jason Lane, who rejoined the Skeeters after a stint with San Diego’s Class AAA affiliate in Tucson, struck out six, walked none and gave up seven hits. He allowed all four of York’s runs.