Furyk falters, now 2 behind Els going into Pebble Beach finale

Jim Furyk wasted a fast morning start with a dismal finish Saturday at Pebble Beach in the second round of the PGA Tour Champions’ Pure Insurance Championship.

Ernie Els then missed a chance to build a big lead in the afternoon, giving Furyk a reprieve and letting Fred Couples and many others get into contention.

Trying to join Arnold Palmer and Bruce Fleisher as the only players to win their first two starts on the senior tour, Furyk followed his opening 8under 64 with a 73 to drop two strokes behind leader Els — as close as he could have realistically hoped when he staggered off the 18th green.

“I’ve got a chance to go out and win a golf tournament, so I’ve got to look at the bright side and not dwell on 17 and 18,” said Furyk, The Ally Championship winner last month in Michigan in his tour debut.

Els shot a 70 to get to 9under 135. He was even par through 14 holes with a birdie and bogey, then birdied the par3 fifth and par5 sixth to take the lead.

“It was pretty tough because we started on the back nine and the wind was really up, and playing the back nine in a north breeze, a lot of the holes were going into the wind and club selection got very tricky,” Els said. “A little scrappy today, but very happy to carve out a 70 and hang on to the lead.”

Dicky Pride was second at 8 under after a 70. Furyk was another stroke back with Couples (67), Retief Goosen (68), Cameron Beckman (72) and Stephen Leaney (72). Mike Weir had a 65 — the best round of the day — to get to 6 under.

Mel Reid shot a 7under 65 on her 33rd birthday to take a twostroke lead over defending champion Hannah Green into the final round of the LPGA Tour’s Cambia Portland Classic.

Reid closed her bogeyfree afternoon round with a birdie on the par4 18th at Columbia Edgewater. Winless on the LPGA Tour, the English player had a 12under 132 total in the event reduced to 54 holes because of poor air quality caused by wildfires.

ELSEWHERE Harvick holds off Busch at Bristol

Kevin Harvick steamrolled his way into the second round of the playoffs by holding off Kyle Busch on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee for his seriesbest ninth victory of the season.

Harvick denied the reigning Cup Series champion his first win of the season when he took the lead a little more than 100 laps from the finish and held off every challenge from Busch the rest of the way. Busch furiously tried to catch him as the two weaved their way through lapped traffic, but Harvick held firm in the No. 4 Ford for StewartHaas Racing.

Only six cars finished on the lead lap in a tepid event at the 0.533mile bullring revered for bumping and banging. Track officials sold all 30,000 tickets allowed — making Bristol one of the largest sporting events since the pandemic — and the spectators crowded the fence as Harvick celebrated his second win of the playoffs.

Soccer: In MLS, Ryan Hollingshead scored in the 86th minute, Franco Jara had two goals and visiting FC Dallas beat Sporting Kansas City 32 . ... Haris Medunjanin scored on a corner kick in the 85th minute and FC Cincinnati beat the host New York Red Bulls 10 . ... Sean Johnson had seven saves for his third shutout in the last four games and New York City played the host New England Revolution to a 00 draw.

Manchester United began its English Premier League campaign with a 31 home loss to Crystal Palace. Also, Eddie Nketiah came off the bench to score an 85thminute winner as Arsenal beat West Ham 21 for a second straight victory.

American midfielder Gio Reyna, 17, scored his first Bundesliga goal to help Borussia Dortmund beat Borussia Monchengladbach 30 in their league opener.

Goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris had four saves and the visiting Orlando Pride, playing their first game in nearly a year, played to a scoreless draw with the North Carolina Courage in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Orlando did not play in the NWSL’s Challenge Cup tournament in Utah this summer because several players tested positive for the coronavirus and the team withdrew.

Tennis: Rafael Nadal’s first tournament in seven months ended with a 62, 75 loss to Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open in Rome. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic earned a verbal warning for smashing his racket on the red clay midway through a 63, 46, 63 win over German qualifier Dominik Koepfer.

In women’s highlights in Rome, topseeded Simona Halep reached the last four when Yulia Putintseva retired midway through their match due to a lower back injury. Halep will face twotime Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza, who beat U.S. Open runnerup Victoria Azarenka 36, 63, 64.