English makes move up board
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Xander Schauffele began his second round of the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek by missing a birdie putt from four feet, but it was hardly a sign of what was to follow Friday. Schauffele made putts as short as three feet and as long as 35 feet. He chipped in from 20 feet. He seemingly couldn’t miss during a two- hour stretch when he made seven birdies over eight holes, including six in a row, for a career- best 29 on the back nine. He wound up settling for an 8- under- par 64, but that set the course record and put him at 14-under 130 overall, good for a three-shot edge over first-round leader Tyrrell Hatton ( 68). “It was a nice stretch,” said Schauffele, a 26-year-old Californian who won four times on the PGA Tour from July 2017 to January 2019 but not since. “Got a little bit stale there on the other side. Pace of play slowed down a lot, kind of hot, easy to let the mind wander. Upset I didn’t make more birdies, but pleased I didn’t make any bogeys.” Hatton, the 29-year- old Englishman coming off a European Tour victory at the BMW PGA Championship, was headed for a rocky finish when he laid up into the rough on the par-5 16th that led to a second straight bogey, but he rallied to close with a pair of birdies and was one shot ahead of former Georgia standout Russell Henley ( 68). Baylor School graduate Harris English, one of Henley’s teammates with the Bulldogs, was at 3 under and tied for 20th, shooting 35 spots up the leaderboard after following his opening 75 with a 66 highlighted by six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 No. 4 hole Friday.
BASKETBALL
› LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky said the NCAA has granted former Maryland center Olivia Owens immediate eligibility to play for its women’s basketball team this season after transferring in June. The 6-foot-4 Owens, a former top- 35 national recruit from Albany, New York, missed last season for medical reasons after playing 16 games with the Terrapins as a freshman in 2018-19, when she helped them win the Big Ten tournament title as a reserve. She joins a Kentucky roster that returns Chattanooga native and former Bradley Central High School standout Rhyne Howard, a 6-2 guard voted Southeastern Conference player of the year by coaches as a sophomore this past winter. Forward Dre’una Edwards, the 2019 Pac-12 freshman of the year at Utah, is also eligible after sitting out last season per NCAA transfer rules. Kentucky’s roster also includes two other guards from Chattanooga and Hamilton Heights Christian Academy: freshman Treasure Hunt and junior Jazmine Massengill, who is not expected to be eligible this season after transferring from Tennessee.
BASEBALL
› FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal grand jury has indicted a former Los Angeles Angels employee on drug charges for allegedly providing Tyler Skaggs, who was a pitcher for the MLB team, with the drugs that caused his overdose death. Eric Prescott Kay was charged Thursday with drug distribution and drug conspiracy in Skaggs’ overdose death, according to the indictment; the charges carry maximum sentences of life and 20 years in prison, respectively. Skaggs was found dead in his suburban Dallas hotel room on July 1, 2019, before the start of a series against the Texas Rangers. A coroner’s report said Skaggs, who was 27, choked to death on his vomit with a toxic mix of alcohol and the drugs fentanyl and oxycodone in his system, which Kay was accused of providing. Kay was the Angels’ director of communications and served as their public relations contact on many road trips. He was placed on leave shortly after Skaggs’ death and never returned to the team.