Finau cards 62, leads by 4 shots in Houston
Tony Finau finished his opening round with a string of birdies and then took the momentum right into Friday, making 10 birdies to match his career low with an 8-under-par 62 to build a big lead in the PGA Tour’s Houston Open.
He was at 13-under 127 and four shots clear of Stanford alum Patrick Rodgers (63) among early starters. Bad weather in the forecast stopped play for the rest of Friday.
• Maria Fassi powered across the rain-softened Pelican Golf Club and rode a smooth putting stroke to an 8-under 62, her career low on the LPGA Tour, giving her an early two-shot in the Pelican Women’s Championship in Belleair, Fla.
• PGA Tour Champions points leader Steven Alker shot his second straight bogey-free round at the Charles Schwab Championship in Phoenix, a 7under 64 that forged a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington.
• Luke Donald and Ryan Fox shared the lead at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, when lightning and then rain interrupted the European tour event’s second round. WNBA: The Indiana Fever earned the first pick in the WNBA draft lottery, with the Minnesota Lynx picking second, the Atlanta Dream third and the Washington Mystics fourth. South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston is expected to be the top pick in the draft.
Tennis: The Czech Republic beat the United States to reach the Billie Jean King Cup semifinals in Glasgow, Scotland, for the first time in four years. The Czechs will meet Switzerland on Saturday after the Swiss beat Canada 2-1. Australia and Britain meet in the other semifinal.
• American Brandon Nakashima stayed perfect this week when he beat third-seeded Jack Draper of Britain 4-3 (6), 1-4, 4-2, 4-3 (5) to reach the final of the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, where he next will face Czech player Jiri Lehecka.
Colleges: Gloria Nevarez, who since 2018 has been the West Coast Conference’s commissioner, has been named the commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference.
Nevarez, who will succeed Craig Thompson with the WAC in January, previously worked for the Pac-12 and also held athletic administration roles at Oklahoma, Cal and San Jose State.