Tiger’s back, but Finau steals thunder with 6-under 66
Tony Finau took advantage of slightly calmer afternoon winds on Thursday to claim a one-shot lead with a 6-under-par 66 during the first round of the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.
Ryan Palmer birdied three of his final five holes to close with a 67 and is one shot back.
Another shot off the pace are Gary Woodland and Brendan Steele, who posted the low round of the morning wave when winds were whipping across Muirfield Village Golf Club.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy put himself squarely in contention with a 2-under 70. He was in the marquee group of the day with Tiger Woods (1-under) and Brooks Koepka (even par)
Woods, competing in his first PGA Tour event since February, birdied his first hole of the day. He reached 2 under before a pair of bogeys halted his fast start. Woods did finish with a birdie on the 18th hole and will play in the morning wave today.
“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve played,” Woods said. “Got off to almost an ideal start and got a feel for the round early. I just didn’t make anything today. I had looks at birdies, but I really didn’t make much.”
Finau posted a field-best nine birdies during a Thursday round that also included a trio of bogeys. He shot a 5-under 31 on his back nine.
Woodland reached 5 under but the reigning U.S. Open champion saw his par putt on the 18th green slide right of the cup. While the whipping winds calmed a bit by the end of the day, Muirfield continued to provide a far different battle than it did for the Workday Charity Classic last week.
“Today was as tough a test as I’ve seen in a while because we haven’t played in wind really since we’ve been back from break,” Woodland said. “The golf course firmed up very nicely. You could tell it the last couple days, but it was a beast of a test today, and I’m happy with where I’m at.”
Several pre-tournament favorites struggled to manage the conditions. Bryson DeChambeau ripped a 423yard drive on the first hole, his 10th of the day. But that proved to be one of only two birdies in a 1-over round of 73.
FedEx Cup leader Justin Thomas, who lost in a playoff to Collin Morikawa on Sunday, is 2 over after a 74, along with Viktor Hovland. Morikawa struggled to a 76.
NBA
ZION WILLIAMSON LEAVES PELICANS FOR ‘FAMILY MEDICAL MATTER’ >> The New Orleans Pelicans say top overall draft choice Zion Williamson left the club to attend to an urgent family medical matter.
The Pelicans say Williamson intends to rejoin the team in the Orlando area for the resumption of the season, but the club did not specify when he would be able to return or whether he’ll miss any games. Williamson will have to quarantine again when he returns to Central Florida, a period that will last at least four days and could be significantly longer if he is not tested daily during his absence from the team.
HARDEN, CLEARED TO PLAY, MAKES DISNEY PRACTICE DEBUT >> NBA scoring leader James Harden of the Houston Rockets practiced with his team for the first time in more than four months, saying his arrival at the league’s restart bubble at Walt Disney World was delayed by family issues.
Harden came to Disney earlier this week, satisfied his league-mandated quarantine requirements and got cleared to participate.
College athletics
NCAA LAYS OUT PLAN FOR PLAYING BUT WARNS OF SURGING PANDEMIC >>
The NCAA handed down its latest guidelines for playing through a pandemic while also sounding an alarm: The prospect of having a fall semester with football and other sports is looking grim.
If the games can go on, the NCAA says college athletes should be tested for COVID-19 no more than 72 hours before they play, players with highrisk exposures to the coronavirus should be quarantined for 14 days and everybody on the sideline should wear a mask.
The nation’s largest governing body for college sports released an updated guidance Thursday to help member schools navigate competition.
“Today, sadly, the data point in the wrong direction,” Mark Emmert, the president of the NCAA, said in a statement. “If there is to be college sports in the fall, we need to get a much better handle on the pandemic.” BASKETBALL COACHES MOVE TO ELIMINATE STANDARDIZED TESTING >>
Men’s and women’s college basketball coaches are proposing the NCAA eliminate standardized testing requirements from initial-eligibility standards, calling exams such as the SAT and ACT “longstanding forces of institutional racism.”
The proposal Thursday came out of the new committee on racial reconciliation formed by the National Association of Basketball Coaches in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and other social justice initiatives. The committee is chaired by South Carolina coach Frank Martin and Harvard coach Tommy Amaker.
WEST COAST CONFERENCE DELAYS FALL COMPETITION >> The West Coast Conference Presidents’ Council announced the beginning of fall competition in all conference sports will not start until Sept. 24 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This decision includes the traditional fall seasons in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s
soccer beach golf, and women’s volleyball, women’s rowing, volleyball. men’s and softball women’s Baseball, and hold men’s their and traditional women’s seasons tennis, which in the spring, will not participate in a fall competition scheduled prior to Sept. 24. The men’s and women’s basketball competition seasons, scheduled to begin Nov. 10, are not impacted by this decision.
Baseball
NATIONALS GET SOTO, KENDRICK IN CAMP AFTER DELAY >> Middle-of-the-order batters Juan Soto and Howie Kendrick finally joined the Washington Nationals for summer camp and played in an intrasquad scrimmage, after missing nearly two weeks of workouts.
While the Nationals never explicitly announced why the key players were absent for the ramp-up to the regular season, there is a city rule mandating that anyone coming into contact with someone who had the coronavirus needed to self-quarantine for 14 days. Still missing: starting center fielder Victor Robles.
Soccer
AMAYA’S GOAL GIVES CINCINNATI A 1-0 WIN OVER ATLANTA >> Frankie Amaya scored his first career Major League Soccer goal in the 76th minute to give Cincinnati a 1-0 victory over Atlanta United in the MLS is Back tournament in Florida.
United was playing a player down after Jake Mulraney was sent off in the 26th minute with his second yellow card. Cincinnati struggled for much of the match to capitalize on the man advantage against the 2018 MLS Cup champions until Amaya’s goal.
In another game, Ayo Akinola scored three goals and Toronto FC beat Canadian rival Montreal 4-3.
Recruiting
KUMINGA SKIPS NCAA TO JOIN G LEAGUE >> Jonathan Kuminga became the latest top high school prospect to eschew the NCAA for the revamped G League professional pathway program.
Kuminga made the announcement Wednesday night in a virtual interview with Stadium and The Athletic. Kuminga also said he’s reclassifying from 2021 to 2020. The reshaped G League program will group elite prospects on one team and pay them each at least $500,000 for one year.