Off the wire

GOLF

Ko leads LPGA; Fassi fourth

Lydia Ko ran off four consecutive birdies to start her round and finished with birdies on her last two holes for a 6-under 65 and a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the Marathon Classic. Ko is a two-time winner at Highland Meadows. The former No. 1 player in women’s golf has been winless in her last 44 events worldwide, which has dropped her to No. 55 in the world. Ko is at 13-under 129. Jodi Ewart Shadoff is one shot back at 130. Former University of Arkansas golfer Maria Fassi is in fourth place with a 9-under 133. Stacy Lewis (Razorbacks) is at 2-under 140. Alana Uriell (Razorbacks) finished with a 145 and missed the cut.

MOTOR SPORTS

Zane Smith earns a first

Zane Smith scored the first Truck Series win of his career Friday night with a last-lap pass in double overtime at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. Grant Enfinger tried to win the race as the leader on four previous restarts, but a slew of cautions spoiled his race. Enfinger was the leader on the restart in a second two-lap overtime shootout when he surged to the front with a push from Austin Hill. But he then attempted to block Hill, and contact between the two trucks caused Enfinger to spin. Christian Eckes moved into the lead with a lap to go and tried to win his first career race when Smith passed him for the win. The victory for Smith, a 21-year-old in his first season at NASCAR’s national level, locked the California native into the Truck Series playoffs. Five spots remain up for grabs, with former series champion Johnny Sauter below the cutline after a crash with teammate Enfinger with 16 laps remaining. Smith has seven top-10 finishes this season driving a Chevrolet for GMS Racing. He joined Sheldon Creed as first-time winners this season in the Truck Series. Eckes finished second, followed by Tanner Gray, Tyler Ankrum and Todd Gilliland.

FOOTBALL

Washington releases Guice

The Washington Football Team released running back Derrius Guice on Friday after he was charged in multiple domestic violence incidents. The Loudoun County sheriff’s office told The Associated Press that Guice was arrested on one count of strangulation, three counts of assault and battery, and one count of destruction of property. Strangulation is a Class 6 felony in Virginia. Guice, 23, turned himself in and was released on $10,000 bond, according to the sheriff’s office. Washington selected Guice in the second round of the 2018 draft out of LSU.

Niners sign defensive lineman

The San Francisco 49ers have signed defensive lineman Dion Jordan to a one-year contract. The Niners announced the deal Friday to add another former first-round pick to their talented line. Jordan was the No. 3 overall pick by Miami in 2013 but has never lived up to his billing because of injuries and substance abuse problems. He has been suspended 32 games over his career for violating NFL rules on substance abuse and performance-enhancing drugs and has also had two operations on his knee. Jordan has 101/2 sacks in 50 career games with the Dolphins, Seahawks and Raiders.

Saints add linebacker

The New Orleans Saints have signed linebacker Nigel Bradham and activated linebacker Kaden Elliss from the club’s reserve/covid-19 list, General Manager Mickey Loomis said Friday. The 6-2, 241-pound Bradham is an eight-year veteran out of Florida State who began his NFL career as a 2012 fourth-round draft choice by Buffalo. He spent his first four seasons with the Bills and past three with Philadelphia. He started all 12 games in which he played for the Eagles last season and made or assisted on 63 tackles. He also had an interception and forced fumble.

Lions waive Daylon Mack

The Detroit Lions waived defensive tackle Daylon Mack. The team announced the move Friday. The NFL’s transaction report listed the move with a failed physical designation. The Lions acquired Mack off waivers from Baltimore last weekend. Mack was a fifth-round draft pick by the Ravens last year out of Texas A&M.

TENNIS

No. 1 seed reaches semifinals

Top-seeded Petra Martic and fourth-seeded Anett Kontaveit advanced to the semifinals of the first tour-level event in five months at the Palermo Ladies Open on Friday in Palermo, Sicily. Martic beat qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), then Kontaveit defeated Italian teenager Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 4-6, 6-1. The other semifinal will feature Fiona Ferro of France against local favorite

Camila Giorgi of Italy. Ferro eliminated two-time Palermo champion

Sara Errani 6-4, 6-1. Giorgi saved two match points in the second set before rallying past seventh-seeded

Dayana Yastremska 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 after nearly three hours.

U.S. Open loses top-10 players

Two more top-10 women — Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens — will miss the U.S. Open, joining No. 1 Ash Barty in skipping the Grand Slam tennis tournament during the coronavirus pandemic. The fifthranked Svitolina, a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows a year ago, said on social media she doesn’t feel comfortable traveling. No. 7

Bertens wrote on Instagram that one of her concerns is the need to be quarantined upon returning to Europe after the U.S. Open, which runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13.

HOCKEY

Islanders clinch series

Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, and the New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to clinch an NHL best-of-five preliminary round playoff series in four games on Friday in Toronto. Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal had a goal and assist each in a game the Islanders never trailed. … In other games Friday, Brad Richardson

scored on a rebound in overtime, Darcy Kuemper stopped 49 shots, and Arizona advanced in the postseason for the first time in eight years with a 4-3 victory over Nashville. … Artturi Lehkonen flipped a shot past Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry

with 4:11 remaining to lift Montreal to a 2-0 victory and clinching the Canadiens’ first playoff berth in three years. … Brandon Saad, Matthew Highmore and Dominik Kubalik

scored, and Chicago beat Edmonton 3-1, knocking the Oilers out of the postseason tournament.

BASEBALL

Ex-Angels employee charged

A former Los Angeles Angels employee has been charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in connection with last year’s overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, prosecutors in Texas announced Friday. Eric Prescott Kay was arrested in Fort Worth, and made his first appearance Friday in federal court, according to Erin Nealy Cox, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Kay was the Angels’ director of communications, and he served as their public-relations contact on many road trips. He was placed on leave shortly after Skaggs’ death, and he never returned to the team.