Football:
Less than 11 hours after the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL announced the hiring of former Baylor coach Art Briles by tweeting a news release celebrating his stellar college record, the league and the team backtracked in the face of public pressure and said he will not be joining the team as an assistant. Briles, 61, was fired in May 2016 by Baylor after an investigation found that over several years the school mishandled numerous sexual assault allegations, including against football players.
The New York Rangers will retire Jean Ratelle’s No. 19 before their Feb. 25 game against the Red Wings, and the Philadelphia Flyers will retire Eric Lindros’ No. 88 before their Jan. 18 game against Toronto.
■ Russian winger Danis Zaripov, 36, was cleared to pursue an NHL contract after being banned by the Kontinental Hockey League and International Ice Hockey Federation for doping.
Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya, 19, is retiring following three months of treatment for anorexia. Lipnitskaya won gold in the team event at the 2014 Winter Olympics when she was 15, becoming the youngest Olympic skating champion since 1936.
■ Chinese female weightlifters Cao Lei and Liu Chunhong lost their appeals against being stripped of their 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medals for doping. Both tested positive for GHRP-2, which stimulates production of growth hormone.
Hockey: Olympics:
Venus Williams NEW YORK — stayed in the crowded hunt for the No. 1 ranking even
— though she had no idea that she has a shot at that spot.
Johanna Konta, a Wimbledon semifinalist last month, dropped out of that chase with a first-round exit Monday at the U.S. Open.
The No. 9-seeded Williams overcame a mid-match lapse to pick up a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory in Arthur Ashe Stadium against Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia, a 19-year-old qualifier who is ranked 135th.
In the most anticipated matchup of Day 1, five-time major champion Maria Sharapova — in her first Grand Slam action since her doping suspension — battled to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over No. 2 seed Simona Halep on Monday night.
For Kuzmova, it was the first tour-level, main-draw match of her career, and the 967th for Williams, who won the title at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, in addition to her five Wimbledon championships. Williams is in her 19th U.S. Open; she reached the final in her 1997 debut, about eight months before Kuzmova was born.
“I had no idea what she looked like, who she was, anything. But she played amazing. She played well, served well, competed well. Definitely a match I had to earn,” said Williams, who at 37 is the oldest woman in the field. “I definitely wasn’t expecting or planning on dropping sets today. But things happen. That’s why we play the match, because you have to win the match. So it’s just all about regrouping.
The OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. — PGA Tour began the second decade of its FedEx Cup playoffs with a winner that matched the importance of the event and a celebration
— that matched the muted atmosphere in the gallery.
Dustin Johnson holed an 18-foot par putt Sunday to force a playoff in The Northern Trust, and then he smashed a 341-yard drive over the water to set up a birdie that allowed him to
U.S. OPEN HIGHLIGHTS
No. 5 Marin Cilic, No. 8 JoWilfried Tsonga, No. 10 John Isner, No. 12 Pablo CarrenoBusta, No. 16 Lucas Pouille, No. 17 Sam Querrey No. 21 David Ferrer, No. 25 Karen Khachanov, No. 32 Robin Haase No. 3 Garbine Muguruza, No. 9 Venus Williams, No. 13 Petra Kvitova, No. 18 Caroline Garcia
No. 2 seed Simona Halep, No. 7 Johanna Konta, No. 21 Ana Konjuh, No. 24 Kiki Bertens, No. 32 Lauren Davis
Men — No. 1 Rafael Nadal vs. Dusan Lajovic, No. 3 Roger Federer vs. Francis Tiafoe, No. 6 Dominic Thiem vs. Alex De Minaur, No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov vs. Vaclav Safranek. Women — No. 1 Karolina Pliskova vs. Magda Linette, No. 4 Elina Svitolina vs. Katerina Siniakova, No. 6 Angelique Kerber vs. Naomi Osaka, No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Marketa Vondrousova. It’s the first round. You figure out what’s going on.”
She was up a set, plus a break in the second at 2-0, when she faltered. Kuzmova broke for 2-1, then pulled at even at 3-all before taking three games in a row to force a third set. But Williams righted herself there, breaking for a 2-0 lead, then beat Jordan Spieth.
The star power can’t get any better. This also extended an amazing run of winners in FedEx Cup playoff events dating to 2015 — two victories by Johnson, two by Rory McIlroy, two by Jason Day and one each by Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed. As for the celebration? “That was a weak fist pump,” Johnson said.
For his standards, it was digging out of a love-40 hole with five consecutive points for 3-0 and was on her way.
Williams entered the U.S. Open as one of eight women with a chance to rise atop the WTA rankings by tournament’s end.
Not that it was foremost on her mind. Indeed, she said she was unaware of that possibility. an amazing display of public emotion after his make-orlose par putt on the 18th hole at Glen Oaks Club dropped. It never looked like it was going in until gravity took over as the ball spun around the back side of the hole. Johnson took two steps to the right, then clenched his fist and gave it a half-thrust.
The fans got excited, but not many attended. The gallery for the Johnson-Spieth duel was barely two-deep at the key viewing spots.
It was hard to ignore the lack of noise at private Glen Oaks Club, located in an elite section of Long Island about 15 minutes away from the public Bethpage Black, home of rowdy U.S. Opens and “I just want to win, and if you get the win, you get the ranking,” said Williams, who was already at No. 1 in 2002.
Before the American’s match was over, that number of ranking contenders was reduced to seven, because the No. 7-seeded Konta was bounced by Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“I don’t take anything for granted,” Konta said. “I think it would be quite obnoxious of me to come in here expecting I have a right to be in second week.”
Konta, who lost to Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals, figured to be Britain’s best chance for a deep run these two weeks, because the country’s top male player, Andy Murray, withdrew on Saturday with an injured hip.
Instead, she was among a crop of seeded players on the way out the door at a tournament already missing several top names, including the biggest in women’s tennis: Williams’ older sister Serena, who is expecting a baby. last season’s playoff opener.
Glen Oaks filled in this year because the Presidents Cup will be next month across from Manhattan at New Jersey’s Liberty National, which already has hosted the FedEx Cup opener twice.
Whether the event returns to Glen Oaks depends on if the PGA Tour wants to risk another low turnout for its four-event playoff. The TPC Boston, site of this week’s event, typically is raucous over the Labor Day weekend.
The quality of golf remained high, even though the majors are over. Of 41 playoff events, major champions have won 25. Johnson tied McIlroy at the top with his fourth playoff victory.
Aaron Judge, please be seated.
The slumping slugger is getting a couple of days off, and the New York Yankees hope the rest will help him find his swing.
“Try to refresh him and get him going. He’s played in a lot of games,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He never wants to sit.”
Judge was out of the lineup Monday night as the Yankees faced 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber and the Indians in the opener of a three-game series. Aaron Hicks played right field in Judge’s place.
Girardi said Judge probably will also sit out tonight, and the plan is to avoid even using him off the bench.
“I told him today, ‘Just take today off. Just take today off and rest your body.’ I think that’s important. And then we’ll get back to work,” Girardi said. “I just want him to take a mental day and a physical day and just rest. He hasn’t had many of those days and I think in the long run this is going to help us.”
Judge leads the AL with 37 home runs and a .581 slugging percentage, but has tailed off dramatically since winning the Home Run Derby during the All-Star break. The rookie is batting .179 with seven homers and 16 RBIs in the second half, dropping his overall average 49 points to .280.
Judge has struck out a major league-high 174 times and recently struck out in a record 37 consecutive games, a streak that ended last week in Detroit.
Dodgers:
Ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw will return to the rotation Friday in San Diego, 40 days after he exited his last start because of a strain in his lower back.
Pitcher Max Scherzer was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list and outfielder Jayson Werth was activated from the 60-day disabled list. Scherzer missed two starts since being sidelined with inflammation in the left side of his neck. Werth missed 75 games with a left foot contusion after fouling a ball off his foot at Oakland on June 5.
Infielder Adam Frazier was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Outfielder Jordan Luplow and right-hander Dovydas Neverauskas were recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Nationals: Pirates: