Matsuyama DQ'd for too much paint on his 3-wood
DUBLIN, OHIO >> Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama was disqualified Thursday when officials determined he had too much paint on the face of his 3-wood that he was using for alignment.
It was the first time Matsuyama, who won the Memorial in 2014 for his first PGA Tour victory, had ever been disqualified on the PGA Tour.
Chief referee Steve Rintoul said rules officials were made aware of 10 small lines forming a circle on the face of his 3-wood. Matsuyama had just teed off at Muirfield Village and was approached on the second hole.
It's OK to have a non-conforming club in the bag as long as it hasn't been used. Matsuyama said he used it for his opening tee shot.
Rintoul said he met him on the fifth fairway to talk to the Japanese star and to take pictures of the club. He then brought in the USGA and the tour's equipment standards leader to make sure, and the result was disqualification.
The alignment aid was not at issue, rather the substance used to create the lines was thick enough that it could affect the flight of the ball.
Rule 4.1-a(3) states players cannot hit a shot with a club that has been changed “by applying any substance to the clubhead (other than in cleaning it) to affect how it performs in making a stroke.”
Rintoul described the substance as white-out used in fixing typographical errors
on paper.
YOUNG STAYS HOT AND SHARES EARLY LEAD AT MEMORIAL >> Just being at the Memorial was a reminder how far Cameron Young has come in the last year. Being part of a six-way tie for the lead was another reminder how well he is playing.
In his first start since challenging at the PGA Championship, Young finished with two birdies over his last three holes for a 5-under 67 on rain-softened Muirfield Village.
Even with slightly softer greens, the 67 was the highest score to lead after the first round of the Memorial since 2004. And it was the second straight week on the PGA Tour of a big logjam at the top — eight were tied after one round at Colonial.
LINDBLAD SETS U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN AMATEUR MARK WITH 6-UNDER 65 >> Sweden's Ingrid Lindblad shot the lowest round by an amateur in the 77-year history of the U.S. Women's Open, a 6-under 65 that gave her the
early lead at Pine Needles.
Because she's an amateur, Lindblad wouldn't be able to collect the record $1.8 million first-place prize if she holds on to win the event. She would have had to declare as a professional before the tournament began.
Australia's Minjee Lee and Sweden's Anna Nordqvist both shot 67 in the morning, and are two strokes behind after the early tee times.
Softball
TEXAS TOPS UCLA IN WS OPENER >> Texas freshman Mia Scott went 4-for-4 and helped the unseeded Longhorns defeat No. 5 seed UCLA 7-2 in the opening game of the Women's College World Series.
Scott had a triple, a double and two singles. She knocked in two runs and scored once for the Longhorns (44-19-1), who hadn't won a World Series game since a semifinal run in 2013. TOP-SEEDED OKLAHOMA ROLLS PAST NORTHWESTERN >> Tiare Jennings and
Jana Johns hit grand slams and No. 1 seed Oklahoma rolled past No. 9 seed Northwestern 13-2 in five innings.
Track and field
RUSSIANS OUT OF WORLDS >> Barring a sudden, unexpected end to the war in Ukraine, athletes from Russia and Belarus will be banned from next month's track and field world championships, which marks the largest international sports event since the end of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
An official from World Athletics said the federation is sticking with a ban of Russians and Belarusians from its events — a policy it adopted shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, with Belarus aiding the Russian cause.
Pro basketball
GRINER RECEIVING, ANSWERING WNBA PLAYERS' EMAIL >> Brittney Griner can't play with her WNBA colleagues. She can't call them, either. But she can write.
In one small bit of normalcy, Griner has been able to receive emails and letters from WNBA players during her detainment in Russia. Hundreds of emails have been sent by players to an account Griner's agent set up to allow them to communicate with her.
It's not easy: The emails are printed out and delivered sporadically in bunches to Griner by her lawyer after they are vetted by Russian officials. Griner doesn't have access to the email account; she'll either write a response on paper and her lawyers will take a photo of it or she'll dictate a response if she doesn't have any paper.