DeChambeau leads a holiday golf event shaping up to be much more
This holiday event in the Bahamas is taking on a little more meaning for Bryson DeChambeau seeking a small measure of revenge and for Collin Morikawa pursuing a more noble goal of reaching No. 1 in the world.
One week after getting whipped by Brooks Koepka in Las Vegas at their madefor-TV match, DeChambeau made five birdies in a sixhole stretch around the turn at Albany and overcame a late double bogey from a wild drive for an 8-under 64. That was good for a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the Hero World Challenge.
The group one shot behind included Koepka, of course, who made a 12-foot par putt on the final hole for a second straight 67.
They won’t be in the final group on Saturday, though DeChambeau would appear to relish that chance. “That would be sweet,” he said to Golf Channel.
Koepka shrugged and said, “I already proved everything.”
Morikawa, newly engaged and not one for petty battles, made a strong move on the back nine with a birdiebirdie-eagle sequence until falling victim to the tough 18th, playing into a strong breeze. His bogey led to a 66, but he was right where he needed to be.
“Just got to use that momentum for tomorrow,” he said.
NFL ARIANS URGES NFL LOOK AT VACCINATION STATUS
>> Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians would like to see the NFL expand an investigation of the COVID-19 vaccination status of two players on his team to include other rosters around the league.
Responding publicly for the first time to the league
suspending wide receiver Antonio Brown and safety Mike Edwards for three games for misrepresenting their status with fake vaccination cards, Arians said Friday those may not be the only cases of their kind in the league.
“The league did their due diligence and we move on,” Arians said after practice. “I will not address these guys for the next three weeks. They’ll just be working out, and we’ll address their future at that time. Other than that, there’s really nothing to say.”
NBA BLAZERS EXECUTIVE OLSHEY DISMISSED AFTER PROBE
>>
The Portland Trail Blazers fired Neil Olshey, the team’s president of basketball operations and general manager, after an investigation into workplace conduct.
The Blazers promoted director of player personnel Joe Cronin to interim GM.
The team said in a statement that Olshey was dismissed for violating its code of conduct. The Blazers had hired an outside firm last month to investigate workplace environment concerns stemming from allegations of misconduct involving Olshey.*
The team will not discuss the investigation.
College football NOTRE DAME PROMOTES FREEMAN TO REPLACE KELLY
>> Notre Dame has completed a whirlwind coaching search that never seriously left campus, promoting defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to coach of the Fighting Irish.
Freeman, 35, takes over less than a week after Brian Kelly’s surprising departure for LSU with the Irish still in contention for the College Football Playoff.
Notre Dame posted a video on social media of Freeman being introduced to the team at a morning workout for the first time as head coach.
Skiing OLYMPIC CHAMPION GOGGIA DOMINANT IN DOWNHILL; SHIFFRIN 26TH
>> Reigning Olympic champion Sofia Goggia of Italy won the first downhill race of the women’s World Cup season by a whopping margin of nearly 1 1/2 seconds, with Breezy Johnson second and her American teammate Mikaela Shiffrin back in 26th.
Goggia dominated the course on a sunny afternoon without wind, finishing in 1 minute, 46.95 seconds for her ninth career World Cup victory in downhill.
She was the discipline champion last season — accumulating four consecutive wins before a right knee injury in January forced her to miss the world championships — and at this point must be considered the favorite to claim another gold medal in Beijing when the Winter Games start there in two months.
Soccer
COACH: US TAKES COLD BETTER THAN EL SALVADOR, HONDURAS >> Gregg Berhalter thinks American players will adjust to a freeze with ease.
The U.S. picked Columbus, Ohio, for its World Cup qualifier against El Salvador on Jan. 27 and St. Paul, Minnesota, for its Feb. 2 match against Honduras, games wrapped around a Jan. 30 meeting with Canada in Hamilton, Ontario.
“We know a large portion of our guys are playing in Europe. They’re playing in cold weather right now,” the U.S. coach said Friday. “They should be able to adapt pretty nicely . ... If it’s tough for us, and we have guys playing in Europe in cold weather, what’s it going to be like for Honduras, whose coming from Honduras mid-week, coming from 85-, 90-degree temperatures?”
Wanting to minimize travel and draw a pro-U.S. crowd, Berhalter decided to avoid the Eastern seaboard and Florida. He said of Washington, D.C.: “You can’t play there. It would be a home game for El Salvador.”
January highs in Columbus average 53 degrees Fahrenheit (12 Celsius) and lows average 35 degrees (2), while the average Feb. 2 high in the Twin Cities is 25 (minus-4) and the average low is 9 (minus-13).