NCAA tweaks overtime format for football to shorten games
College football teams will have to go for 2 after touchdowns starting with the second overtime possession, and beginning in the third round each team will get one play to score from the 3-yard line.
The NCAA playing rules oversight panel on Thursday approved a proposal made last month by the playing rules committee to tweak the overtime format.
The overtime recommendation was based on player safety and intended to reduce the number of plays it takes for a winner to be determined. National coordinator of officials Steve Shaw said in March overtime games add an average of 16.4 plays to a contest.
The new rule will have teams run alternating 2-point plays in the third overtime instead of starting another drive at the opponent’s 25-yard line. The 2-point shootout currently starts in the fifth overtime.
Teams could still choose whether to kick the point after touchdown or run a 2-point conversion play in the first overtime.
The NCAA said the panel also supported a proposal to allow schools and conferences to request a postgame video review of instances where a team is suspected of feigning injuries to slow its opponent.
Korda maintains lead, sets LA Open record
Jessica Korda shot a 6-under 65 in the LPGA Tour’s HUGEL-AIR PREMIA LA Open to break the tournament 36-hole scoring record and increase her lead to three strokes.
A day after matching the Wilshire Country Club tournament record with a 64, Korda opened her bogey-free morning round with birdies on three of her first four holes — holing a 15-footer to start on the par-4 10th. At 13-under 129, she broke the event mark of 8 under set by Moriya Jutanugarn in 2018 in the inaugural tournament.
“It’s going to sound crazy, but I actually lipped out a good amount out there today, so it actually could have been lower,” Korda said.
Top-ranked Jin Young Ko was second after a 65. Playing in the afternoon, she lost a late stroke with a bogey on the par-4 17th.
Fellow South Korean star Sei Young Kim was 9 under. She closed her afternoon round with a bogey on the par-3 18th for a 66.
Brooke Henderson (65) and 43-year-old Angela Stanford (66) were 8 under. So Yeon Ryu (67) was another shot back with Hannah Green (67) and Tiffany Chan (70). Second-ranked Inbee Park (68) was 6 under.
• Brice Garnett and Scott Stallings birdied eight of their last 11 holes, Viktor Hovland and Kris Ventura birdied nine of their final 12, and both teams shot 10-under 62 in the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic in Avondale, La. to share the first-round lead.
Seven teams shot 63, including two-time Zurich champion Billy Horschel and his teammate Sam Burns.
• Joost Luiten hit a holein-one en route to a 7-under 63 that put him in a share of the lead after the first round of the European Tour’s Gran Canaria Open in Las Palmas, Spain.
Luiten aced the par-3 15th hole in a round that also included seven birdies and two bogeys, leaving him tied with Joachim Hansen, Maximilian Kieffer and Robin Roussel.
A group of seven players were a shot behind at the Meloneras Golf Course.
Oklahoma big man Manek now at UNC
North Carolina has added Oklahoma transfer Brady Manek.
The school announced that the 6-foot-9 graduate is joining the Tar Heels after spending the past four seasons as a Sooners starter under now-retired coach Lon Kruger.
Manek averaged in double figures each year for Oklahoma, peaking at 14.4 points in 2020 before averaging 10.8 points last season.
He also shot better than 37% from behind the arc in his Oklahoma career, making 235 3s to rank fifth in school history.
The Tar Heels had seen freshman Day’Ron Sharpe opt to enter the NBA draft, freshman Walker Kessler announce plans to transfer to Auburn, and Garrison Brooks transfer for his final season at Mississippi State. Rising junior big man Armando Bacot is testing the NBA draft waters and it’s unclear whether he’ll return to the Tar Heels.
Manek joins Virginia forward Justin McKoy as incoming transfers for new UNC coach Hubert Davis, who took over this month after the retirement of Hall of Famer Roy Williams.
• Cameron Krutwig, who helped Loyola Chicago reach a Final Four as a freshman and return to the Sweet 16 as a senior this year, has decided to turn pro and skip his final year of eligibility.
The 6-foot-9 Krutwig was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year last season. He averaged 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Ibrahimovic signs one-year extension
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is going to keep playing with AC Milan when he’s 40.
Milan announced that Ibrahimovic, who turns 40 in October, had signed a one-year contract extension.
Ibrahimovic is expected to maintain the same salary of $8.4 million per season.
His return at the start of last year signaled a turnaround for Milan that saw the Rossoneri leading Serie A for much of this season. Milan is currently in second.
Ibrahimovic, the former Galaxy star, has scored 15 goals in 17 Serie A games for Milan this season. However, he has also missed many games through injury, the coronavirus and suspension.
• CONCACAF is avoiding the large population areas of the Northeast and West Coast for the Gold Cup, a championship many top players are likely to skip.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago were omitted from the venues announced Thursday, as were the New York area, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football said matches will be played at Arlington, Austin, Dallas, Frisco, and Houston in Texas; Glendale, Arizona; Kansas City, Kansas; and Orlando, Florida, in additional to the final on Aug. 1 in Las Vegas.
The tournament starts July 10. Groups will be based in hubs to minimize travel.
U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter has said he will allow his Europe-based players to skip the tournament and take vacation ahead of the European club seasons and the start of World Cup qualifying on Sept. 2.
Top players will be used for the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals on June 3 in Denver. The U.S. plays Honduras, and Mexico meets Costa Rica.