Amateur, Senior defending champs both advance
BASEBALL: As of Wednesday, more than 28,000 Pirates fans had signed a petition on change.org asking Major League Baseball to force Pirates owner Bob Nutting to sell the team. Writing “we deserve better,” the petition’s starters aim to reach 35,000 signatures to protest the direction Nutting and the front office have taken the team during the offseason. The Pirates sent RHP Gerrit Cole to the Astros on Saturday, then sent OF Andrew McCutchen to the Giants, shedding the organization of $20 million in salary in the process . ... The Twins hired recently retired Justin Morneau asa special assistant. Morneau, who played 11 seasons with the Twins, will be involved in the amateur draft and be a resource for player acquisitions . ... Free-agent reliever Brian Duensing agreed to a two-year, $7 million deal with the Cubs.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Police are interviewing Washington State QB Tyler Hilinski’s friends and people who knew him to try to learn why he apparently took his life. Police Chief Gary Jenkins said officers have no apparent motive for the death of the 21-year-old athlete, who was found in his Pullman, Wash., apartment Tuesday along with a rifle and suicide note . ... Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens will be the chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee starting next season, and three new Power Five ADs are joining the 13-member panel. The other new panel members are Scott Stricklin of Florida, Todd Stansbury of Georgia Tech and Joe Castiglione of Oklahoma . ... Investigators are looking into whether NFL agent Brandon Smart violated North Carolina’s sports agents law by contacting Tar Heels senior OL R.J. Prince despite not being registered with the state. According to a search warrant, Smart contacted Prince last year to schedule a time to discuss “the NFL draft process.”
GOLF: The LPGA is returning to Los Angeles after a 13-year absence with a $1.5 million tournament in April. The HUGELJTBC Open will be played April 19-22 at Wilshire Country Club, which has hosted previous LPGA, PGA and Champions Tour events.
NFL: Patriots QB Tom Brady did not attend a scheduled AFC championship news conference because he was meeting with the team medical staff for a right hand injury. According to the Patriots’ first injury report of the week, Brady, who has never missed a playoff start during his 18-year career, was a limited participant in the practice held earlier in the day . ... The Steelers chose not to renew offensive coordinator Todd Haley’s contract after the AFC North champions were ushered out of the playoffs in a 45-42 divisionalround loss to the Jaguars. Haley spent six seasons with the team . ... The Jets fired offensive coordinator John Morton after just one season and will be looking for their sixth coordinator in eight years . ... The NFL will host a forum on women’s careers in football next week in Orlando, Fla., before the Pro Bowl.
SOCCER: Authorities said an Atletico Madrid fan has been hospitalized in serious condition after being stabbed before a match against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey. Madrid health officials said he was stabbed in the leg, arm and back, but no other details were made available.
The defending Amateur and Senior division champions each went the distance in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matches at the 86th Ione D. Jones/Doherty Women’s Amateur Championship at Coral Ridge Country Club.
Playing her first competitive round of this tournament, Alexa Pano sank a 4-foot par putt to halve the 18th hole and defeat Courtney McKim 1 up. An hour later, reigning senior champ Lisa Schlesinger, who never led until the 17th hole, halved the 18th for a 1 up victory over Susan West.
“It was a really tough match,” said Pano, 13, of Lake Worth, who was exempt from Monday’s qualifying round and had a bye for Tuesday’s opening round of match play Fort Lauderdale. “It was really back and forth.”
McKim, 27, of Raleigh, N.C., took a 1-up lead when she got up and down for par on the first hole and Pano three-putted from 40 feet. Pano squared the match on the next hole when she got up and down from a greenside bunker, and McKim bogeyed.
The match remained all square until Pano sank a 5-foot putt for birdie on the par-5 seventh. McKim evened the match when she got up and down after missing the par-3 eighth green to the right and Pano, whose tee shot rolled off the back of the green, missed her par putt.
Pano birdied ninth to regain the the par-5 lead.
Justin Thomas, fourth in the world rankings and reigning PGA champion, has committed to play in the upcoming Honda Classic.
Thomas, 24, a resident of Jupiter, is coming off a breakthrough season in which he won five tour events and was the FedEx Cup champion en route to being named Player of the Year.
“It’s something I know how hard it is to do because of how the deep the Tour is right now and how many great players there are and how guys are winning three, four, five times a year every year,” Thomas said. “It’s something that’s going to be tough to continue or tough to replicate in terms of last year. But I’m definitely going to give it my best.”
Thomas will be looking for more impact in this year’s Honda Classic, Feb. 19-25, after missing the cut last year at PGA National.
Two years ago he was in contention in the final round until a double-bogey on No. 17 ended his bid and he finished four shots behind winner Adam Scott.
Thomas started 2017 with back-to-back wins at the SBS Tournament of Pano went 2 up on McKim when she birdied the par-3 12th from five feet.
She held that lead until the par-3 16th. Both players hit their tee shots in bunkers, but McKim, whose ball was buried, blasted to a foot from the pin to win the hole with a par. After McKim got up and down to halve the 17th, Pano twoputted from 35 feet to halve the 18th and win the match.
The other top seeds in the Amateur division did not fare as well as Pano. Second seed Haeley Wotnosky of Wake Forest, N.C., lost 1 up to Noelle Maertz of Clark, N.J. Third-seeded Georgia Oboh of Riviera Beach lost 3 and 2 to Meghan Stasi of Oakland Park. And fourth-seeded Marie Arnoux of Miami lost 4 and 2 to Lexi Harkins of Crystal Lake, Ill. Harkins plays Pano in the semifinals starting at 8:48 a.m. Thursday, followed by Maertz and Stasi at 8:56.
Stasi, 39, the 2012 Doherty champ and a four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, was two down after three holes to the 17-year-old Oboh, but won the next four holes with pars and then won the ninth to go 3 up at the turn.
Schlesinger plays Therese Quinn of Jacksonville, a 5-and-4 winner over Marilyn Hardy of Magnolia, Texas, at 8:32. Senior medalist Sylvie Van Molle of France defeated Beatriz de Arenas of Guatemala 4 and 2. She plays 2017 finalist Terrill Samuel of Toronto, who beat Diane Lang of Weston, 5 and 4, at 8:40. Champions and Sony Open in Hawaii before struggling in three February events. He was 1-over par after two rounds at the Honda, which wasn’t good enough to advance to the weekend.
Thomas hit his stride later in a season that saw him move up from No. 22 in the world to as high as No. 3 during 2017 before settling in his current spot at No. 4.
He joined Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth as the only players since 1960 to capture five wins in a season, including a major, before the age of 25.
In 25 starts, he recorded a Tour-best 12 top-10 finishes (tied with Spieth) with 19 made cuts. Those performances led him to the Arnold Palmer Award as the Tour’s leading money-winner ($9,921,560).
The PGA Championship victory was obviously the highlight. He used a finalround 3-under 68 (including six birdies and three bogeys) to finish at 8-under and win by two strokes over Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed and Louis Oosthuizen at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
Tickets for the Honda Classic on sale at thehondaclassic.com or by calling 1-844-846-6328.