DeChambeau, Reed to join LIV
Major champions Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed plan to sign up with the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational series in time for the rival circuit to start playing in U.S. cities, a British newspaper reported.
The Daily Telegraph said Greg Norman and his staff that runs LIV Golf Investments plan to announce the latest two defections from the PGA Tour on Friday.
The inaugural LIV Golf Invitational at Centurion Golf Club, which features Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia ,is set to begin Thursday.
DeChambeau was among early recruits to the Saudi league in January. That changed when Mickelson brought unwanted attention on the nascent league with interviews that disparaged the PGA Tour and the Saudis who fund the LIV Golf Investments.
Johnson was the biggest name to announce his support for the PGA Tour in February, and DeChambeau followed suit. “While there has been a lot of speculation surrounding my support for another tour, I want to make it very clear that as long as the best players in the world are playing the PGA Tour, so will I,” DeChambeau said in a February statement.
His agent said Wednesday in a statement that “Bryson has always been an innovator.”
“Having the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something unique has always been intriguing to him,” said Brett Falkoff of GSE Worldwide.
Paul Casey withdrew from the U.S. Open, the third straight major he has missed this year because of a back injury.
ETC. It’s all Sooners in Game 1 rout
Jocelyn Alo and Tiare Jennings fueled Oklahoma’s record-setting offensive burst to help the Sooners move a victory away from successfully defending their Women’s College World Series title.
Alo and Jennings each hit two home runs and topseeded Oklahoma rolled past unseeded Texas 16-1 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series.
Oklahoma (58-3) set a World Series record with six home runs and matched records for runs and victory margin.
Jack Bauerle, who won seven NCAA women’s team championships in his 43 years as Georgia’s swimming coach, announced his retirement. Georgia named Neil Versfeld as the new men’s coach and Stefanie Williams Moreno as women’s coach . ... Kentucky hired longtime basketball assistant coach K.T. Turner to round out head coach John Calipari’s staff. Turner fills the opening created when Jai Lucas left to become an assistant at Duke.
The Cleveland Browns said that Baker Mayfield, who lost his job when the Browns traded for and signed DeShaun Watson in March to a $230-million contract, was excused from next week’s mandatory minicamp.
A South African boxer who became disoriented during a fight and walked away from his opponent toward an empty corner of the ring while throwing punches died of a brain injury. Boxing South Africa said that lightweight Simiso Buthelezi died on Tuesday after the bout Sunday in the city of Durban. He had been in an induced coma.
Top-seeded Dan Evans maintained his bid for a second title at the Nottingham (England) Open by reaching the quarterfinals of the grass-court event with a 7-5, 6-0 win against Thomas Fabbiano. In the women’s event, fourth-seeded Shuai Zhang, the runner-up to Johanna Konta last year, beat Jodie Burrage 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the second round . ... Matteo Berrettini marked his injury comeback with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Radu Albot in the second round of the Stuttgart (Germany) Open. The second-seeded Berrettini was playing in his first match since undergoing surgery on his right hand in March.
The Women’s International Champions Cup will feature European teams Chelsea and Lyon, as well as Mexico’s Monterrey and the host Portland Thorns. The club competition will run from Aug. 17-20 at Providence Park.
Most basketball games at the Paris Olympics could end up being played at a three-hour journey outside the city, a plan that was criticized by the sport’s governing body. Paris organizers are struggling to find a suitable basketball venue for games before the medal rounds at the 2024 Summer Games, and are considering using the soccer stadium in Lille — about 130 miles from Paris. The original plan was to use an arena in the capital, but that venue was dropped in March amid a backlash by NBA players from France who said the ceiling was too low for basketball.