Johnson pleased in his return from injury
Six weeks away from competition didn’t keep Dustin Johnson from extending one streak Thursday, with hopes of adding to another. Johnson showed more game than rust at the Wells Fargo Championship in Wilmington, N.C., where he missed only two greens — and plenty of putts — for a two-under-par 70 that left him four shots behind leader Francesco Molinari at blustery Eagle Point Golf Club.
It was Johnson’s 13th consecutive round at par or better.
Johnson wasn’t as flawless as he looked while winning three straight tournaments, though he had few complaints under the circumstances. It was his first time playing since he slipped in his socks down the stairs at his rental house in Augusta, Ga., hurting his back and knocking him out of the Masters.
“Since I hadn’t played in so long, I’m happy with the way I played,” Johnson said.
Molinari ran off five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the front nine and closed out his round with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-five 18th. That gave him a one-shot lead over Alex Noren of Sweden, J.B. Holmes, Grayson Murray and Brian Campbell.
Lydia Ko beat home favorite Ana Menendez, and the Jutanugarn sisters set up a second-round showdown in the Lorena Ochoa Match Play in Mexico City. The top-ranked Ko edged Menendez 3 and 2 on Thursday at Club de Golf Mexico in the event, which has switched from stroke to match play and from November to April.
Third-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn will face older sister Moriya in the second round. Ariya beat Amy Anderson 5 and 4, and Moriya topped Alena Sharp 2 and 1.
Ko will face Jennifer Song , a 3and-2 winner over Mi Hyang Li.
Michelle Wie routed Lizette Salas 6 and 5, and Cristie Kerr topped Brittany Altomare 2 and 1.
Defensive tackle Dominique Easley, who was a restricted free agent, signed a one-year, originalround tender to remain with the Rams for the 2017 season, a person with knowledge of the situation said. Easley was a first-round pick by the New England Patriots in 2014, but he was released after the 2015 season. He played in all 16 games for the Rams last season, recording 31⁄2 sacks. He will earn about $1.8 million this season, according to spotrac.com. — Gary Klein
Five-time Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings is looking for a new partner — and a new beach volleyball tour — after rejecting an exclusivity agreement with the AVP that would have locked her into the circuit through the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
In her first public comments since breaking with the biggest, richest and longest-running domestic tour, Walsh Jennings told the Associated Press that the deal lacked the vision to grow the game and was “a death sentence for our sport.” Among her complaints: an eight-stop circuit, with what she called minimal growth in prize money or the number of events, dooming athletes to live with their parents or take full-time jobs to support themselves.
AVP owner Donald Sun declined to respond to the comments. But when Walsh Jennings missed the deadline to sign before this week’s season-opening Huntington Beach Open, he told the AP: “I respect her decisions, and I wish her well.”
The decision to opt out of the AVP tour also means Walsh Jennings will split with April Ross, her partner in Rio de Janeiro when they won the Olympic bronze medal.
Brenden Sander tied a season high with 15 kills and Brigham Young upset second-seeded Long Beach State 25-20, 25-18, 25-23 in the NCAA volleyball semifinals at Columbus, Ohio. The Cougars will face Ohio State in the final on Saturday night.