FEDEX CUP BEGINS, BUT FOCUS ON RYDER CUP QUALIFYING
farmingdale, n.y.» Patrick Reed shot 5-under-par 66 on Thursday to share the lead with Martin Laird at The Barclays.
The start of the FedEx Cup playoffs, with a $10 million bonus waiting at the end, was more about a cup that doesn’t pay a dime. A dozen or so Americans are still in the mix to make the Ryder Cup team. Qualifying ends after this week for the top eight, and then Davis Love III has four captain’s picks over the next month.
Reed is winless this year and holding down the No. 8 position in the Ryder Cup standings.
• Tom Lewis flirted with the first 59 in the European Tour. He had to settle for a 9-under 62 and a three-way tie at the Made In Denmark tournament in Farso. Lewis made three bogeys over his last five holes and shared the lead with Thomas Pieters and Joakim Lagergren.
• Chella Choi shot a 7-under-65 to lead the suspended first round of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in Priddis, Alberta.
• Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Janet Moore of Centennial earned medalist honors for the second consecutive year at the Colorado-based qualifying tournament for the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, shooting an even-par 72 at The Club at Codillera Valley Course in Edwards. That was the best score by six strokes from the field of 39.
Sharper gets another sentence
B new orleans» Making clear that she thought the sentence was a light one, a Louisiana judge formally imposed a 20-year prison sentence on former NFL star Darren Sharper, who last week was sentenced by a federal judge to 18 years and four months in a drug and rape case with victims in four states.
Defense attorney Billy Gibbens said that the two sentences are essentially the same, when credit for time served and other factors are considered. The sentence follows Sharper’s guilty pleas in state and federal courts in New Orleans, and pleas of guilty or no contest to similar charges in Arizona, California and Nevada — all the result of a multijurisdiction plea deal that once called for a sentence of about nine years.
Early this year, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo rejected that sentence as too light. She imposed the 18-year, four-month sentence last week.
Sentenced to nine years already in Arizona, Sharper still faces formal sentencing in California and Nevada. He is expected to serve his sentence in federal custody.
Two suspended for Cornhuskers.
Nebraska receiver Brandon Reilly and safety Nate Gerry will be suspended from the Cornhuskers’ season opener against Fresno State on Sept. 3.
Reilly was the Cornhuskers’ second-leading receiver last season, catching 40 passes for 754 yards and four touchdowns. Gerry made 79 tackles and intercepted four passes last season, both team highs.
Tennessee in U.S. title game
B south williamsport, pa.» Zach McWilliams hit a grand slam in the fourth inning as Goodlettsville, Tenn., beat Bowling Green, Ky., 8-4 to advance to Saturday’s Little League World Series U.S. championship against Endwell, N.Y.
• Seum Kwon had two home runs and three RBIs, Sangheon Park struck out nine and South Korea beat Mexico 7-0 to advance to the international championship game against Panama.
Footnotes.
Canada chose Sidney Crosby as its captain for the World Cup of Hockey. … Arizona acquired prospect Lawson Crouse and veteran Dave Bolland’s contract from the Florida Panthers for two draft picks. Arizona sent a 2017 third-round pick and a conditional 2018 second-rounder that could become another 2017 third to Florida. … Texas gave men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart a oneyear contract extension and a $100,000 per season pay raise. Smart will earn $3 million next season, and his contract now runs until 2023.