Press Box: Sports Recap
IN BRIEF
AUTO RACING: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona by 20 seconds for his second straight Formula One victory, increasing his championship lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Valtteri Bottas secured a 1-2 for Mercedes, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third and Vettel fourth.
GOLF: Joakim Lagergren of Sweden won his first European Tour title with a playoff victory over Mike Lorenzo-Vera at the Sicilian Open in Sciacca.
HOCKEY: Patrick Kane scored twice for the second straight game and added an assist to lead the U.S. to a 9-3 victory over Norway for its sixth straight win at the world championship in Herning, Denmark. Defending champion Sweden also recorded its sixth win, downing Switzerland 5-3, while Finland was upset by Germany 3-2 in overtime. The Czech Republic beat France 6-0 for its second consecutive shutout.
NFL: Chuck Knox, who coached the Rams to three straight NFC championship games and also led the Seahawks and Bills, died at 86. Nicknamed “Ground Chuck” for his run-first offenses, Knox was the coach of the year in 1973, 1980 and 1984. He went 186-147-1 in 22 seasons. Knox won five straight NFC West titles with the Rams from 1973-77, and he returned in 1992 for the franchise’s final three seasons in Los Angeles before the move to St. Louis. The Pennsylvania native left the Rams in 1978 for the Bills. After five seasons, he took over the Seahawks and immediately led the franchise to its first playoff berth and the AFC title game. He spent nine years there.
SOCCER: Champion Manchester City became the first club to amass 100 Premier League points after Gabriel Jesus scored a stoppage-time winner for a 1-0 win at Southampton. Pep Guardiola’s squad ended the season a record 19 points ahead of second-place Manchester United . ... Liverpool routed Brighton 4-0 to qualify for the Champions League. Mohamed Salah scored, giving him 32 goals, a record for a 38-game EPL season . ... Swansea was relegated after its 2-1 loss to Stoke, ending a seven-year stay in the Premier League . ... Arsene Wenger managed Arsenal for the last time after 22 seasons, winning 1-0 win at Huddersfield . ... Juventus won a recordextending seventh straight Serie A title in Milan with a 0-0 draw against 10-man Roma . ... Barcelona lost 5-4 at Levante despite Philippe Coutinho’s hat trick, ruining the champion’s bid to become the first team to finish a Spanish league season without a loss under its current format . ... Neymar was named the French League’s player of the year . ... Roberto Mancini will leave his job as Zenit St. Petersburg manager ahead of an expected appointment with the Italian national team.
TENNIS: Playing his first match since February, three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka lost to 55th-ranked Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome. Wawrinka is struggling to regain his form after surgery on his left knee. Also, Jack Sock beat David Ferrer 6-3, 6-4, Ryan Harrison eliminated Yuichi Sugita 7-6 (5), 6-3 and Sam Querrey lost to Peter Gojowczyk 6-2, 7-6 (7) . ... Alexander Zverev beat Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4 to win the Madrid Open in Spain for his second title in a week.