Off the wire

GOLF Rahm surges late

Jon Rahm started his round strong and ended it even better Thursday, closing eagle-birdie-birdie for a 7-under 65 and a two-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Not even the brute test of Bay Hill was a match for golf ’s hottest player. “Amazing round of golf,” he said. “I wish all of them were as enjoyable as this one.” That doesn’t mean it was perfection by any means. Rahm, playing in the afternoon when the greens became a bit more crusty, opened with three consecutive birdies. He held steady the rest of the way until his big burst at the end allowed him to zoom past Honda Classic winner Chris Kirk and Cameron Young. He hit only eight fairways. He twice was blocked by trees, one time escaping with par with a 30-foot putt on the 15th hole. But oh, that finish. Rahm hit 5-iron to 25 feet on the fringe at the par-5 16th and holed it for eagle. On the par-3 17th, he hammered a 7-iron that cleared the bunker and landed in just the right spot to roll out to 2 feet. And on the closing hole, he hit a soft 9-iron to a front pin that settled about 6 feet away. Former University of Arkansas golfer Taylor Moore shot a 1-over 73 while David Lingmerth (Razorbacks) posted a 3-over 75.

Rookie leads in Puerto Rico

Carson Young gave his rookie season on the PGA Tour quite a spark Thursday when he made three eagles on his way to a 9-under 63, giving him a three-shot lead after the opening round of the Puerto Rico Open. Young has made only three cuts in 12 starts, most recently Sunday in the Honda Classic. He shared the 18-hole lead at PGA National and finished in a tie for 29th, his best finish of the season. The 28-year-old from South Carolina

found Grand Reserve to his liking. He made two eagles on the front nine, then expanded his lead with a third eagle on the par-5 15th by hitting 3-wood to about 10 feet. Young had a three-shot lead over Max McGreevy and Akshay Bhatia, the 21-year-old who regularly plays on the Korn Ferry Tour. Former University of Arkansas golfer Nico Echavarria is tied for fourth at 5-under 67. Andrew Landry (Razorbacks) is at 1-under 71. Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Razorbacks) turned in an even-par 72.

Szokol in front by 3 shots

Elizabeth Szokol shot an 8-under-64 for a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Women’s World Championship on Thursday in Singapore. Yuka Saso of Japan was second after a bogey-free 67, and a pack of six including Nelly Korda and former No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn carded 68s at Sentosa Golf Club. Szokol shot 6 under on the front nine, including four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 fifth. Her only bogey came on the 10th hole but she birdied 14, 16 and 18. Former University of Arkansas golfers Stacy Lewis, Maria Fassi and Gaby Lopez all turned in rounds of even par 72.

FOOTBALL Panthers’ founder dies

Jerry Richardson, the Carolina Panthers founder and for years one of the NFL’s most influential owners until a scandal forced him to sell the team, has died. He was 86. Richardson died peacefully Wednesday night at his Charlotte home, the team said in a statement. Richardson became the first former NFL player to own a team since Chicago’s George Halas when he landed the expansion Panthers in 1993. A former teammate of Johnny Unitas who caught a touchdown pass in the Baltimore Colts’ victory over the New York Giants in the 1959 NFL Championship Game, Richardson only spent two years in the NFL before venturing into the restaurant business. He used his championship bonus money to open the first Hardee’s in Spartanburg, S.C. — close to where he had attended Wofford College. He went on to make his fortune in the restaurant business, becoming chief executive officer of Flagstar, the sixth-largest food service company in the country at the time. The Spring Hope, N.C., native spent years trying to persuade the NFL to put a team in the Carolinas, ultimately succeeding through a relatively original concept of funding a new stadium through the sales of permanent seat licenses.

BASKETBALL LeBron out for 3 weeks

LeBron James is expected to miss most of March with an injured tendon in his right foot, the Los Angeles Lakers said on Thursday. If that timetable holds, the Lakers will have to find a way to stay in the playoff race without the league’s all-time scoring leader. The Lakers did not disclose the full extent of the injury, saying it was a tendon issue and that he will be “reevaluated in approximately three weeks.” If James misses three more weeks, starting with Thursday, that would keep him out for at least 10 of the Lakers’ final 19 games. James was hurt in the Lakers’ win at Dallas on Sunday. He has already missed two games with the injury, with the Lakers splitting those contests. At 30-33, the Lakers are 11th in the Western Conference standings, one game from the No. 10 spot — and the last spot in the play-in round. They’re also just 2 1/2 games back of sixth place, and the final guaranteed playoff spot.

TENNIS Djokovic moves on

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday and will face former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals at the Dubai Championships. The five-time Dubai champion’s 20th consecutive victory set the stage for a last-four match against Medvedev, who defeated Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in the nightcap at the hard-court tournament. Djokovic is playing in his first event since winning the Australian Open for his record-equaling 22nd Grand Slam singles title. The 35-year-old Serb had a partially torn hamstring when he captured his 10th title at Melbourne Park. Djokovic improved to 15-0 this season and hasn’t lost since dropping the Paris Masters final to Holger Rune last November. He followed that up by winning the ATP Finals title in Turin. Defending Dubai champion Andrey Rublev will face Alexander Zverev in the other semifinal match.

Collins cruises in Austin

Fourth-seeded Danielle Collins needed barely more than an hour to overpower Caty McNally 6-1, 6-1 and reach the quarterfinals at the ATX Open in Austin, Texas, on Thursday. Collins, an American who was the runner-up at the 2022 Australian Open, saved both break points she faced while claiming five of McNally’s service games. Collins is the highest-seeded player remaining in the field at the inaugural edition of the hard-court tournament in the Texas capital. She’ll try to reach her first semifinal of the year by next beating 67th-ranked Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, who was a 6-3, 6-1 winner against CoCo Vandeweghe on Thursday. Another quarterfinal matchup will be eighth-seeded Marta Kostyuk against Anna-Lena Friedsam.