Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Off the wire
GOLF
Pair lead Byron Nelson
James Hahn birdied the final hole Thursday for a 6-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead with Ricky Barnes in the AT&T Byron Nelson at Irving, Texas. Matt Kuchar, Jhonattan Vegas, Jason Kokrak and Cameron Tringale shot 66, and top-ranked Dustin Johnson topped the group at 67, a stroke ahead of fourth-ranked Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, the No. 6 player competing in his hometown event. Masters and defending Nelson champion Sergio Garcia had three bogeys on the front nine and just one birdie in a 73 that left him tied for 93rd. Brooks Koepka, who lost to Garcia on the first playoff hole at the TPC Four Seasons a year ago, joined Johnson and five others at 67.
Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) shot even-par 70. Bryce Molder (Conway) had a 4-over 74.
Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) had a 5-over 75.
Thompson out front
Lexi Thompson had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch and finished with a 6-under 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Kingsmill Championship at Williamsburg, Va. Playing her third tournament since losing the ANA Inspiration in a playoff after being penalized four strokes for a rules violation that a TV viewer spotted, Thompson had a one-stroke lead over U.S. Solheim Cup teammates Gerina Piller and Brittany Lincicome and young American Angel Yin. Thompson played her opening nine in even par with a birdie on No. 11 and a bogey on No. 17, then birdied No. 1 and Nos. 3-7 on Kingsmill Resort’s River Course. Top-ranked Lydia Ko was two strokes back at 67 along with Sarah Jane Smith and Giulia Molinaro. Defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn shot a 72. Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 2-under 69. Emily Tubert (Razorbacks) had an even-par 71.
Four-way tie at Regions
Scott McCarron eagled the par-5 18th hole for a 7-under 65 and a share of the first-round lead Thursday in the Regions Tradition at Birmingham, Ala., the first of the PGA Tour Champions’ five majors. Lee Janzen, Jeff Sluman and Miguel Angel Jimenez joined McCarron atop the leaderboard at Greystone. Sluman and Jimenez closed with birdies, and Janzen had a run of six birdies and a bogey from holes 10-17. McCarron was left with a short eagle putt after his approach bounced off the grandstand on No.
18. Kenny Perry, the 2014 winner, was a stroke back along with David Frost, Fred Funk, Scott Parel, Marco Dawson and Tommy Armour III. Defending champion Bernhard Langer opened with a
69. Glen Day (Little Rock) shot a 2-under 70. John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks), coming off a victory in the Insperity Invitational, shot a 71.
Anguiano ahead by 1
Mark Anguiano had a 9-under 62 for a one-stroke lead Thursday over Stephan Jaeger, Andrew Yun and Blake Adams at the Web.com’s BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greenville, S.C. Anguiano’s 62 ties the lowest 18-hole score on the Web.com Tour this season and beats his previous low round of 66. He had nine birdies, including five in a six-hole stretch on the back nine at Furman University Golf Club. Zack Fischer (Little Rock) had a 6-under 65 and tied for eighth. Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 4-under 67. Both played the Thornblade Club for their first round. Matt Atkins (Henderson State) had a 3-under 69 at The Preserve at Verdae course.
Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks),
Andrew Landry (Razorbacks) and
Taylor Moore (Razorbacks) each had a 3-under 68 at Furman University Golf Club. Ethan Tracy (Razorbacks) had a 3-under 69 at The Preserve at Verdae.
BASEBALL Freeman fractures wrist
Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman suffered a fractured left wrist when he was hit by a pitch and is expected to miss about 10 weeks. Freeman was hit by Toronto’s Aaron Loup during the fifth inning of an 8-4 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday night. X-rays taken afterward at SunTrust Park were inconclusive. Freeman had an MRI and other tests on Thursday. The Braves said those tests showed the fracture. Freeman was Atlanta’s most productive hitter. He was hitting .341 and tied for the major league lead with 14 home runs.
Pillar suspended for slur
Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar was suspended two games Thursday for yelling an anti-gay slur at a Braves pitcher. The Blue Jays suspended Pillar without pay shortly after he apologized in a statement, saying he was “completely and utterly embarrassed” by the word he directed at Jason Motte. Pillar was angry at Motte for allegedly quick-pitching him to get a strikeout that ended the seventh inning in Wednesday night’s 8-4 loss to Atlanta. He will forfeit approximately $6,066 of his $550,000 salary, with the money donated to charity. He also will pay an undisclosed fine.
Quicker games sought
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledges games have slowed even more this season, and Major League Baseball will meet with players in an attempt to find a solution. The average time of a nine-inning game is a record 3 hours, 5 minutes — up from 3 hours last year and 2:56 in 2015, Manfred’s first season as commissioner. Manfred said Thursday after an owners’ meeting that baseball has “probably gone backwards a little bit.” Management proposed making changes for this year, such as installing pitch clocks and limiting trips to the mound by catchers, but the players’ union would not agree. Management can implement changes unilaterally with one year advance notice.
European games in ’19?
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday he remains hopeful the sport can play regular-season games in Europe for the first time in 2019. Major League Baseball had hoped to have European games in 2018, possibly between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at London’s Olympic Stadium, but decided there was not enough time to get plans in place. “It’s something we’d really like to do in 2019,” Manfred said. “I can’t tell you we are going to do it. I can’t give you a percentage, but we do think it’s time, whether it’s 2019 or shortly thereafter, that we play in Europe.”
Facebook to carry games
Facebook will carry a live game nationally each Friday starting with Colorado at Cincinnati this week. The Facebook package of 20 games will use the broadcast feed of one of the involved teams. The Twitter feed of a game each Friday, which started April 7, will be moved to Tuesdays. Commissioner Rob Manfred said the deal with Facebook is important for Major League Baseball “in terms of experimenting with a new partner in this area.”