Stricker’s daughter wins
Bobbi Stricker scored the first major victory of her young golf career Tuesday, and it was a big one.
Stricker, the daughter of PGA star Steve Stricker and a member of the Wisconsin women’s golf team, held on to win the Badger Mutual Insurance Women’s Amateur at the Brown Deer Park Golf Course.
Stricker followed her career-low 7-under-par 66 in the first round Monday with a closing 76 for a 4under 142 total in the 36-hole event. It was good for a two-shot victory over Eastern Kentucky golfer Mikayla Hauck of Cottage Grove (69-75).
The victory gave Stricker an exemption into the Symetra Tour PHC Classic. The stop on the LPGA’s developmental tour is scheduled for Aug. 10-12 at Brown Deer Park.
Stricker was a four-time WIAA Division 1 state girls tennis qualifier at Waunakee High School and didn’t start playing competitive golf until the summer following her senior year.
NFL
The Minnesota Vikings locked up another core player with a long-term contract Tuesday, signing wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a five-year extension and moving the star of the “Minneapolis Miracle” pass into the NFL’s top 10 highest-paid players at his position.
Diggs has yet to post a 1,000-yard or 100-catch season, but his ability was on full display when he turned a sideline catch into a 61-yard touchdown as time ran out to lift the Vikings to victory over New Orleans in last season’s playoffs.
The new deal is valued at $72 million plus an additional $9 million in possible incentives, according to a person with knowledge of the contract.
TENNIS
Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki pulled out of the Citi Open in Washington because of an injured right leg.
After practicing on-site Monday, Wozniacki said her leg is “just something that has been nagging a little bit, but hopefully it’ll be fine.”
She won her first Grand Slam title in January at Melbourne to return to No. 1 in the rankings. She is currently No. 2.
CYCLING
Vincenzo Nibali will return to training in a few days after undergoing back surgery following a crash in the Tour de France.
Nibali broke his 10th vertebra on the famous climb up to Alpe d’Huez on July 19 when a fan caught their camera strap on his handlebars.
The Bahrain Merida team said its 33-year-old rider “has undergone a successful surgery” at the La Madonnina clinic in Milan.
NBA
The NBA and WNBA will now share official data with MGM Resorts International, a major win for the leagues as they prepare for the anticipated growth of sports betting across the country.
The Las Vegas-based casino giant will pay the NBA for that data to use in determining outcomes of various bets. The NBA’s stance has been that getting accurate stats to bettors is critical so players know what they’re betting on and so casinos will know when to pay out, and MGM Resorts is the first casino to make an arrangement with the league for those numbers.
“I know the value of data,” MGM chairman and CEO James Murren said. “To be able to have the official NBA data for sports bettors around the world is very valuable.”