Spieth holds lead at Pebble Beach

Jordan Spieth took on a bold tee shot and pulled it off perfectly to set up birdie. He hit a poor 3-wood that went off a tree and back into the fairway that led to another.

Whether it’s good golf or good breaks, it’s making him feel a lot better about his game at the AT&T Pebble Beach ProAm. He shot a 5-under 67 at Spyglass Hill on Friday for a one-shot lead over Daniel Berger going into the weekend.

“I like where things are at,” Spieth said, referring to more than his name atop the leaderboard on the weekend for the second straight week.

Winless since his British Open title in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, Spieth wasn’t sure if he was taking baby steps or a giant leap. But one week after relying so much on his wizardry with the wedge and putter, this was a steady diet of keeping the ball inside the treelined fairways of Spyglass, reducing stress and making a few putts.

There was a 45-foot birdie putt he holed on the tough par-3 fifth hole.

He also missed a few inside 10 feet, and his lone bogey was a threeputt from 7 feet on the par-5 first hole after he made the turn.

MLB

BAUER MONDY COULD BE DEFERRED» Trevor Bauer is guaranteed $40 million if he opts out after one season and $75 million if he opts out after two seasons from his $102 million, three-year contract with the Dodgers.

But if the 30-year-old right-hander opts out after one season, a large amount of his money would be deferred.

The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner receives a $10 million signing bonus as part of the deal announced Thursday, payable in equal installments on March 1 and July 1, according to details obtained by The Associated Press.

He gets a $28 million salary this year, all payable on Nov. 1, and $32 million in each of the final two seasons.

If he opts out after this year, he would receive a $2 million buyout, but the Dodgers would be able to defer $20 million of his 2021 salary without interest and pay that money in $2 million installments each Dec. 1 from 2031-40.

HALL OF FAME CEREMONY ALTERED »

Baseball’s Hall of Fame has canceled its traditional outdoor induction ceremony for the second straight summer because of the pandemic and plans an indoor, televised event for Derek Jeter and others being honored.

Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and late players’ association executive director Marvin Miller were to have been inducted last summer but the pandemic caused the ceremony to be called off for the first time since 1960.

A crowd of about 55,000 has attended the 2019 ceremony for the inductions of Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina, Lee Smith and Harold Baines.

This year’s ceremony remains scheduled for July 25 but will look different. No new inductees were chosen for this year’s class.

Hall of Fame chair Jane Forbes Clark cited the “continuing uncertainties” of COVID-19 in making the change.

TOKYO » Yoshiro Mori resigned as the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on Friday after sexist comments made last week in which he said women “talk too much.”

The resignation of the former Japanese prime minister at an executive board meeting has left a mess in its wake. And it comes just over five months before the postponed Olympics are to open in the middle of a pandemic with public sentiment overwhelmingly against the games. The pandemic is one reason, and the soaring costs are the other.

The executive board did not immediately choose a successor for Mori, which CEO Toshiro Muto said would come “as soon as possible” and will be made by a review committee. He called it a “single-digit body” made up equally of men and women, and he repeatedly declined to give a specific time frame.

Muto also declined to say if Mori’s replacement would be a woman. Gender inequality in Japan is exactly the issue that was raised last week by Mori’s demeaning comments, and what drove his ouster. Women are largely absent in the boardroom and in top politics in Japan, and Muto acknowledged that the organizing committee has too few women in leadership roles, and no women at the vice president level.

“For myself in selecting the president, I don’t think we need to discuss or debate gender,” Muto said. “We simply need to choose the right person.”

The front runner is probably Seiko Hashimoto, the current government Olympic minister who was also a bronze medalist in speedskating in the 1992 Albertville Games. She fits all the bills — female, a former Olympian, and she’s been around the organizing committee. Any pick will be tricky. On Thursday, 84-yearold Saburo Kawabuchi, the former head of the governing body of Japanese soccer, gave interviews and said he had talked with the 83-year-old Mori and was likely to be his successor.

That news — that another elderly man was taking over — exploded Friday morning on national television and social media. A few hours later, Kawabuchi withdrew his candidacy at the board meeting and told Muto to make it public.

“He (Kawabuchi) is not thinking of becoming president, even if he is asked he will decline,” Muto said.

Mori’s departure comes after more than a week of non-stop criticism about his remarks earlier this month. He initially apologized but refused to step away, which was followed by relentless pressure from television commentators, sponsors and an online petition that drew 150,000 signatures.

“As of today I will resign from the president’s position,” Mori said to open an executive board and council meeting.