Schauffele makes captain take notice

Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk had an easy time deciding on three of his four picks for the Ryder Cup.

Xander Schauffele is making the last one a little more difficult.

Schauffele nearly holed a wedge on his second hole, rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt in the middle of his round Friday and wound up with a 6-under 64 in the BMW Championship for the lowest 36-hole score of his career and a two-shot lead over Justin Rose at Aronimink CC in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

“I’m sort of in a position where I feel like a win is the only way I’d even be in consideration,” Schauffele said.

He also made it more difficult on Woods, who again goes into a weekend have to catch up to the leaders.

One day after he opened with a 62 his lowest score since his last victory more than five years ago Woods went eight holes before his first birdie and didn’t make many after that. He finished with two straight bogeys for a 70 that left him five shots behind in a tie for 12th.

“Very simple. I didn’t make any putts,” Woods said. “I hit a lot of beautiful putts that were on the top of the edge, and then obviously hit a couple bad ones on the last hole, but looked like all the putts were going to in. But they didn’t go in today.”

Schauffele was at 13-under 127 and will be paired in the third round today with a familiar figure in Philadelphia. Rose, who played bogey-free for a 64, won the AT&T National at Aronimink in 2010, and he captured his only major at nearby Merion in the 2013 U.S. Open.

“Cheese steaks, I guess,” Rose said. “I played well. The crowd latched onto it, for sure. I get good support around here. It’s nice when they’re reminding you all the time that it’s your town, as well. It’s nice to have the added bit of enthusiasm from the crowd.”

Aronimink was even softer than the opening round from a burst of rain overnight. Starting times were moved up four hours because of a forecast for more rain. The trick Friday, when the average score was 67.33, was to avoid wedges that spun too much to back pin positions.

Hideki Matsuyama, who started the FedEx Cup playoffs at No. 76, had a 64 and was in a group three shots behind that included Keegan Bradley, Alex Noren and Rickie Fowler. Matsuyama suddenly is in position to be among the 30 players who advance to East Lake in Atlanta in two weeks for the Tour Championship.

WOODS ENDORSES KAP, NIKE >> Tiger Woods backed Nike’s latest “Just Do It” ad narrated by Colin Kaepernick with a message nearly as succinct. “It’s a beautiful spot ,” Woods said.

The two-minute ad, which debuted during the NFL opener, highlights superstar athletes LeBron James, Serena Williams and others, and touches on the controversy of NFL player protests during the national anthem.

Woods, a Nike athlete since turning pro in 1996 who rarely delves into divisive issues, said he was a fan of the apparel giant featuring the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback known for his social protests.

WNBA

STORM TAKES GAME 1 OF FINALS >> Jewell Loyd made 9 of 12 shots and scored 23 points, league MVP Breanna Stewart added 20 points, and the host Seattle Storm beat the Washington Mystics 89-76 in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. The first WNBA Finals game in Seattle in eight years was a dominant performance by the home team, led by the guard who watched most of the fourth quarter of Seattle’s Game 5 win over Phoenix in the semifinals.

Loyd scored 10 straight points during the second quarter when Seattle took control thanks to a 16-4 run, and combined with Stewart to score 20 of Seattle’s first 22 points of the third quarter. Seattle led by as many as 27 in the third quarter and 26 early in the fourth quarter, rolling to the easy victory.

Game 2 is Sunday.

Soccer

BRAZIL BLANKS TEAM USA >> Neymar and Roberto Firmino scored first-half goals, and Brazil overwhelmed the United States 2-0 on Friday night in an exhibition before a sparse crowd at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Firmino scored in the 11th minute off a cross from Douglas Costa, who burst down a flank past 21-yearold left back Antonee Robinson. Neymar converted a penalty kick in the 44th for his 58th goal in 91 international appearances, third in Brazilian history behind Pele (77) and Ronaldo (62).

The U.S. has two wins, two losses and three ties under interim coach Dave Sarachan, who took over last October after the Americans failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Just 32,469 attended the match at MetLife Stadium, a possible site of the 2026 World Cup final, and Brazilian supporters outnumbered Americans by about a 10-1 margin.

Motors

KASEY KAHNE TO SIT OUT

INDY WITH HEAT EXHAUSTION ISSUES >> Kasey Kahne will not defend his Brickyard 400 victory in Indianapolis because of dehydration issues he said result in an elevated heart rate while he is driving. Kahne said he felt so poorly he should not have been driving the final 100 laps of last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. He said he was nauseous, struggled to take in fluids from the midway point of the race and vomited when it was over.

Kahne received fluids in the medical center following Sunday’s race in South Carolina. Regan Smith will drive the No. 95 Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

NHL

BERGERON AMONG BRUINS

PLAYERS NOT GOING TO CHINA >> Patrice Bergeron and a handful of other Boston Bruins players won’t be going to China for a pair of preseason games later this month against the Calgary Flames.

Bergeron is still not 100 percent after offseason groin surgery. Captain Zdeno Chara, who is 41, isn’t going to avoid wear and tear, Torey Krug is coming off a broken ankle, forward Noel Acciari had sports hernia surgery and Anders Bjork had shoulder surgery. The Bruins face the Flames Sept. 15 in Beijing and Sept. 19 in Shenzhen.

Cycling

TOPCYCLISTSUFFEREDPARALYZING INJURIES >> German track cyclist Kristina Vogel is paralyzed because of the back injuries she sustained after crashing in training in June. The two-time Olympic champion tells Der Spiegel magazine “no matter how you dress it up, I can’t walk anymore.” Vogel, an 11-time world champion, suffered a severe spinal injury after crashing onto a concrete track following a high-speed collision with another cyclist on June 26, when she was training for the German Grand Prix.