MCILROY’S HOT RUN TIES HIM FOR LEAD
» Rory McIlroy looked CHARLOTT E , N.C. every bit like a player who has won twice at the Wells Fargo Championship.
He just didn’t feel like one. Twice when he was out of position off the tee, he managed to make birdies. He missed a 4-foot birdie putt after his most amazing recovery of all. And late in his round Thursday, he ran off three straight birdies for a share of the lead with Joel Dahmen at 5-under-par 66, his lowest start in 10 appearances at Quail Hollow.
Walking to the scoring area, he smiled and said, “Managed my game.”
In his first start since tying for 21st at the Masters — his only finish out of the top 10 this year — McIlroy got out of trouble and made enough key putts to keep moving in the right direction. His only bogey came after a drive that bounced into a creek, and there’s no recovering when a ball is in 4 feet of water.
Dahmen, a cancer survivor who tries not to take himself too seriously, played a more steady game. Playing three groups behind the large crowd following McIlroy, he kept bogeys off his card and holed a 15foot birdie putt on the 18th for his 66.
They were a shot ahead of a group that included Patrick Reed.
Van Dam earns share of lead at LPGA Mediheal Championship.
LIF.» Long-hitting Anne
D A LY CI T Y , C A van Dam of the Netherlands twoputted for birdie on the par-5 18th for a 5-under 67 and a share of the firstround lead with South Koreans So Yeon Ryu and Eun-Hee Ji in the LPGA Mediheal Championship.
Van Dam bogeyed two of the first four holes in her afternoon round at Lake Merced. She rallied with an eagle on the par-4 eighth and five birdies.
Ryu closed with a bogey on the par-5 ninth. She had seven birdies and two bogeys. Ji had six birdies and a bogey.
Celine Boutier, Amy Yang and Peiyun Chien shot 68. Boutier had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch on her final nine. Yang birdied five of her last six holes.
Horan, Pugh set for World Cup run.
Coloradans Lindsey Horan and Mallory Pugh earned spots on the U.S. soccer team that will defend its title at the Women’s World Cup, making the 23-player roster announced by coach Jill Ellis.
The tournament in France starts June 7, and the U.S. had first-round matches against Thailand, Chile and Sweden.
Carli Lloyd made her fourth World Cup squad, most among the players picked Thursday.
Players who didn’t make the roster but were also thought to be on the bubble were midfielders McCall Zerboni and Andi Sullivan and defender Casey Short.
Nuggets, Avs to stay at least through 2040.
B O
STON» The City and County of Denver and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment reached a tentative agreement to keep the Nuggets and Avalanche in Denver for the next two decades.
The City Attorney’s office will present a proposal to City Council that will keep the NBA and NHL teams in Denver through 2040. The tentative agreement also needs approval from the NBA and NHL.
Ainge has heart attack.
Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge had a mild heart attack and is expected to fully recover.
The 60-year-old executive received immediate medical attention Tuesday night in Milwaukee, the team said in a statement Thursday. Ainge, who also had a mild heart attack in 2009, was scheduled to return to Boston.
Harden will play in Game 3.
Houston’s James Harden will play in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday despite injuries to both of his eyes after being hit by Draymond Green in Game 2. — The Associated Press