Lexi’s 63 sets pace at Indy
Lexi Thompson shot a 9-underpar 63 yesterday to take a 1-shot lead over Sandra Gal and Kris Tamulis in the LPGA Tour’s inaugural Indy Women in Tech Championship in Indianapolis.
Thompson had 11 birdies and two bogeys to fall a stroke short of the Brickyard Crossing record set by Mike McCullough in the PGA Tour Champions’ 1999 Comfort Classic.
Gal, like Thompson, started her morning round on the back nine that features four holes inside the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The German hit 12-of-14 fairways in regulation, avoided the bunkers and finished without a bogey.
Tamulis had the best afternoon score with four birdies on each side. The 54-hole event ends tomorrow . . . .
Miguel Angel Jimenez fired a 6-under round of 64 to be in a three-way tie for the lead after the European Masters first round in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
Jimenez had seven birdies and a single bogey on the picturesque Swiss Alps course to share the top of the leaderboard with 30thranked Tyrrell Hatton of England and Scott Hend of Australia.
Jimenez also competes on the senior tour and already holds the European Tour record as the oldest winner.
Six players were 1 shot behind the leaders.
Colleges: Top 25 games off
Northern Colorado (1-0) at 22nd-ranked Florida (0-1) has been canceled because of impending Hurricane Irma. The game will not be made up because the schools do not share a common bye week . . . .
South Florida and UConn called off their scheduled football game tomorrow because of the threat to Florida posed by Hurricane Irma. No makeup date was immediately announced. The teams do not share an off week this season . . . .
Tomorrow’s game between 10th-ranked Florida State and Louisiana-Monroe was canceled due to the hurricane threat. No official makeup date was set . . . .
Georgia Southern and New Hampshire mutually agreed to move tomorrow’s football game from Statesboro, Ga., to Birmingham’s Legion Field in Alabama due to the threat from Hurricane Irma . . . .
Texas starting quarterback Shane Buechele did not throw in practice again because of a bruised shoulder and coach Tom Herman says his status against San Jose State will be a game-day decision . . . . Mary Ann Gong of MIT (Division 3 cross country track, Laura Rose Donegan of New Hampshire (Div. 1 cross country, track) and Maddie Pronovost of Middlebury (Div.3 track) are top 30 honorees for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. From the original 543 nominated women, 10 from each NCAA division were selected. The field will be reduced to three in each division later this month.
Misc.: Ex-Yankee dead
Former Yankees shortstop, manager and executive Gene Michael has died at 79 . . . .
Sugar Ramos, the Cuban featherweight champion whose fists led to two ring deaths — one inspiring a Bob Dylan song — has died in Mexico City. He was 75 . . . .
An investment group that wants to build a sports arena for professional basketball and possibly hockey has offered to also rebuild KeyArena, the former home of Seattle’s departed NBA franchise.
The move by the group led by investor Chris Hansen is the latest in the long-running debate over building a new arena. Hansen wants to privately build a facility in an area that’s home to venues for the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners.
The City Council has so far refused to grant him use of a city street necessary for construction of the project . . . .
Chris Froome retook control of the Spanish Vuelta with a solid run in a stage won by Belgian rider Sander Armee in Camaleno, Spain. The Tour de France winner increased his overall lead to 1 minute, 37 seconds over Vincenzo Nibali of Italy . ...
Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis will need a full six months to recover from offseason knee surgery, and general manager David Poile says they don’t expect him back until possibly 2018 . . . .
Midfielder Tobin Heath, who has been rehabbing from a back injury, was named to the 22-player roster for the U.S. national team in advance of two exhibition matches against New Zealand. Heath has not played for the United States since March because of the injury.
Heath joins two other players from the Thorns, Allie Long and Lindsey Horan, on the U.S. roster announced by coach Jill Ellis.
The United States will play New Zealand on Sept. 15 in Commerce City, Colorado, then again on Sept. 18 in Cincinnati.