Foles released by Bears
The Chicago Bears released veteran quarterback Nick Foles on Sunday, two years after acquiring the former Super Bowl MVP to compete with Mitchell Trubisky for the starting job.
New general manager Ryan Poles had told reporters he hoped to trade Foles after signing Trevor Siemian to back up Justin Fields. He had one year left on his contract.
The Bears acquired Foles — the Super Bowl 52 MVP for Philadelphia — from Jacksonville in March 2020. Trubisky started the first two games that year.
Foles replaced him during a comeback win at Atlanta, then went 2-5 starting the next seven games. Trubisky went back into the starting lineup with Foles nursing a hip and glute injury.
Foles was third string last year behind Fields and Andy Dalton. He started one game with the other two quarterbacks injured, and threw for 250 yards in a win at Seattle in late December.
GOLF
Steven Alker returned from a two-hour rain delay by playing a six-hole stretch in 6-under par on the back nine to race past Steve Stricker, close with a 6-under 66 and win the Insperity Invitational on Sunday for his second victory this year on the PGA Tour Champions.
Alker had to make a pair of tough par saves to close out the front nine at The Woodlands, Texas, and stay one shot ahead of Stricker, who was playing for the first time in six months.
Alker birdied three straight holes starting at No. 11, and then he effectively put the tournament away by rolling in an eagle putt on the par-5 15th to build a four-shot lead.
Stricker and Brandt Jobe each shot 70 and tied for second, four shots behind. Alker finished at 18under 198.
Stricker was hospitalized late last year when his liver count plunged and his white blood cell count spiked. He lost 25 pounds and was worried about his strength and endurance in his first competition since Oct. 10.
The winning Ryder Cup captain held up fine. He just couldn’t hang with Alker.
“I felt my game got a little bit better every day,” Stricker said.
Stricker came away feeling good about his game, but uncertain whether he will play next week in Atlanta or take a week off before the first of five majors on the PGA Tour Champions.
“If you would have saw me where I was a month ago to where I am today, that’s what makes me happy because I’ve come a long ways in just a month,” Stricker said. “If I can keep kind of getting stronger and progressing the next month, I’ll be all right.”
PGA: Jon Rahm pulled out of a four-way tie with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole and then held on with pars for a 2-under 69 and a one-shot victory Sunday in the Mexico Open in Puerto Vallarta.
Rahm won for the first time since the U.S. Open last summer at Torrey Pines, and the relief showed in the smile and the way he pumped his arm and then pounded down his fist after tapping in for par on the 18th at Vidanta Vallarta.
Tony Finau and Brandon Wu each closed with a 63, while Kurt Kitayama birdied the final hole from a back bunker for a 68. They tied for second.
LPGA: Marina Alex won the Palos Verdes Championship for her second LPGA Tour title, breaking a tie with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th and parring the final two holes for a one-stroke victory over Jin Young Ko in Palos Verdes Estates, California.
Three strokes behind Hannah Green entering the round, Alex closed with a 5-under 66 to finish at 10-under 274 at Palos Verdes Golf Club.
NBA
Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 36 seconds left, and the Golden State Warriors overcame Draymond Green’s first-half ejection to edge the Memphis Grizzlies 117-116 on Sunday in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Jordan Poole led the Warriors with 31 points off the bench, hitting 5 of 10 three-pointers. Stephen Curry added 24 points, Andrew Wiggins had 17 and Thompson finished with 15.
Green was ejected for a flagrant foul just before halftime.
Thompson missed both free throws with 6.7 seconds left, then Memphis won a jump ball before taking a timeout with 3.6 seconds remaining to set up the final play, Ja Morant’s layup went over the rim.
BASEBALL
Kelsie Whitmore played left field and batted ninth for the Staten Island FerryHawks on Sunday, becoming the first woman to start a game in the Atlantic League and one of the first to do so in a league connected to Major League Baseball.
The 23-year-old Whitmore, a right-handed hitter, struck out in her first at-bat against the Gastonia Honey Hunters. She was hit by a pitch in the second – she hustled toward first base after being struck in the arm by a breaking pitch – and flied out to right in her third time up.