UH golfer Harm advances to NCAA Championships
Leonie Harm is headed back to the NCAA championships.
The University of Houston junior shot a school-record 65 on Wednesday and clinched the final individual spot by winning a seven-hole playoff at the Austin Regional.
Harm, the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, will be making her second trip in three years to the NCAA women’s golf championship.
During the final round, Harm made six birdies and eagle on the par-5, 495-yard No. 14 hole at the University of Texas Golf Club. She finished at 4-under 212 to force a three-way playoff for the final two individual spots.
After BYU’s Rose Huang claimed one of the spots on the fifth playoff hole, Harm outlasted Michigan State’s Sarah Burnham, putting for par to secure the final spot.
Texas A&M’s Maddie Szeryk also advanced with a runner-up finish. Arkansas’ Maria Fassi edged Szeryk by a stroke with a 8-under 208.
The NCAA Championships will be held May 18-23 in Stillwater, Okla.
As a team, the Cougars finished 11th with a threeday total 890. Senior Megan Thothong tied for 19th at even-par 216.
Arkansas captured the team championship at 838 to finish 11 shots ahead of runner-up and host Texas. Florida (869), Baylor (869), Auburn (869) and Oklahoma (870) rounded out the top six teams that advance to the NCAA Championships.
Texas A&M (878) finished seventh, UTSA (892) was 12th, Texas Tech (899) was 13th and Houston Baptist (910) was 14th in the 18-team field.
PRO BASEBALL
Palmeiro signs with team at 53
Rafael Palmeiro has signed to play for the independent Cleburne Railroaders at age 53, nearly 13 years after his last major league game.
The second-year American Association team also signed Palmeiro’s 28-year-old son, Patrick, who has played for other independent teams the past three seasons.
A four-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove-winning first baseman, Palmeiro is one of six players with more than 3,000 hits and 500 homers. He played 20 big league seasons, half of those with the Rangers.
His career ended with Baltimore in 2005 after a positive steroids test. Palmeiro has said he never intentionally took anything, but he fell off the Hall of Fame ballot in 2014 after getting less than 5 percent of the vote. In other news:
Albert Cordero went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, but his bat couldn’t keep the Sugar Land Skeeters from dropping an 8-3 decision to the Lancaster Barnstormers in Atlantic League play at Lancaster, Pa.
PRO FOOTBALL
Texans add Leak to front office
The Texans are hiring New Orleans scout C.J. Leak as their assistant director of pro scouting,
Leak had been the Saints’ combine scout the last two seasons. He spent the last eight years with Buffalo as a scout and assistant in the pro personnel department.
SOCCER
Simon’s goal lifts Dash to draw
Kyah Simon scored in the 57th minute, helping the Dash secure a 1-1 draw with the defending National Women’s Soccer League champion Portland Thorns FC at BBVA Compass Stadium.
With the tie, the Dash improved to 1-3-3. In other news:
Manchester City set the Premier League record for most points (97), most goals (105) and most wins (31) in a single season by beating Brighton 3-1.
TENNIS
Djokovic falters; Nadal advances
Novak Djokovic lost to Kyle Edmund 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Madrid Open, the sixth straight tournament in which he has failed to reach the quarterfinals.
Rafael Nadal later cruised past Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-1, extending his record of consecutive sets won on clay to 48.
Maria Sharapova made it to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kristina Mladenovic.
Sharapova will face 20th-ranked Kiki Bertens, who ended Caroline Wozniacki‘s bid to return to the top of the rankings with a 6-2, 6-2 win. The second-ranked Wozniacki needed to win the title in Madrid to overcome Simona Halep for the No. 1 spot.
Halep beat Kristyna Pliskova 6-1, 6-4 to stay on track for a third straight title in Madrid.