Thomas shoots 65, leads Zozo Championship by 1

Justin T homas went from a fast finish one day to a fast start the next, and it carried him to a 7-under 65 on Friday and a one-shot lead in the Zozo Championship at Sherwood.

Thomas wasn’t particularly thrilled, except for his position, mainly because the final stretch of holes was still fresh on his mind and he closed with six consecutive pars on a day when the field made birdie or better just over 33% of the time.

Richy Werenski led the way with 12 birdies for a 61, the lowest score in a tour- sanctioned competition at Sherwood. The average score was 67.87.

Tiger Woods managed to beat that, making eight birdies in is round of 66, and he still didn’t pick up any shots against the lead. The defending champion at the Zozo Championship — he won last year in Japan — was still 12 shots behind.

“Got off to a much better start and kept rolling,” Woods said.

Thomas finished late Thursday afternoon with a 29 on the back nine at Sherwood for a 65. He began the second round on the back nine and ran off four straight birdies, chipping in on the par-3 12th, and played it in 31.

But after two birdies in three holes to start the front nine — he hit into the water on the par-5 second hole and still managed to escape with par — he didn’t convert any birdie chances.

Thomas was at 14-under 130, one stroke clear of Lanto Griffin and Dylan Frittelli, who each had a 65 and each made bogey on the final hole. MCDONALD LEADS LPGA

DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP >> Ally McDonald is trying to leave everyone behind — and not get too far ahead of herself. McDonald shot a 4-under 68 to take a onestroke lead into the weekend in the LPGA Drive On Championship-Lake Reynolds Oconee.

“I’m trying to just execute and stick to my game plan,” McDonald said. “I think it’s really easy as a person who has never won to get ahead of yourself. We all really, really want to win. That’s why we do this. That’s why we compete — to put yourself in contention as much as we can.”

The 27-year-old from Mississippi made five straight birdies in the middle of the round, then gave back two strokes with bogeys on the par- 4 fifth and par-5 sixth. CANTER LEADS AT ITALIAN OPEN >> Laurie Canter is eyeing a maiden European Tour title after adding a second-round 68 to his spectacular opening 12-under 60 to keep the lead at the halfway stage of the Italian Open on Friday. At 16 under, the Englishman leads by two from compatriot Ross McGowan, with South Africa’s Dean Burmester two shots further back in third.

Figure skating

BELL, TENNELL FINISH 1-2 IN SHORT PROGRAM >> As expected, Mariah Bell and Bradie Tennell finished on top of the women’s short program at Skate America on Friday night in Las Vegas. Kicking off an already truncated figure skating season in the first event of the Grand Prix series, Bell was smooth and solid in a program choreographed by 2018 Olympian Adam Rippon. Her 76.48 points were more than enough to beat Tennell, who had 73.29 and was marked down for under-rotation on her triple lutz-triple toe loop combination.

College basketball

CONNECTICUT BUBBLE >> A resort casino on tribal land in Connecticut is completing plans to host more than 30 college basketball teams as it becomes a modified bubble for several early season tournaments, including two moved from New York.

The Mohegan Sun has teamed with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which holds its men’s Tip- Off Tournament and Women’s Challenge there every year, and the Gazelle Group, which runs the Empire Classic and the Legends Classic in New York.

The organizers plan to hold those tournaments and several other “pods” of games, which will get names in the next few weeks at the Mohegan Sun, which is owned by the Mohegan Tribe and includes a 10,000-seat arena that is home to the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun.

Tennis

ZVE R EV BEATS MANNA

RINO TO COLOGNE SEMIFITop- seeded Alexan

NAL >> der Zverev defeated Adrian Mannarino 6- 4, 6-7 (5), 6- 4 to reach the Cologne Championship semifinals.

Soccer

PERFECT NO MORE >> Aston Villa’s perfect start to the English Premier League was ended by Leeds 3- 0. Villa had never won its opening five league games. And it still hasn’t after this defeat saw it miss the chance to top the Premier League for the first time since October 2001.

The little piece of history was earned by Patrick Bamford, whose second-half hat trick made the striker only the second player to score in each of Leeds’ opening three away games in a topflight season, after Gordon Hodgson in 1937.

Horse racing

HORSE IN BAFFERT’S STA

BLE DRAWS POSITIVE TEST >> A filly trained by two-time Triple Crown winner Bob Baffert has tested positive in a postrace drug test for the second time this year, making it the third positive test by a horse in Baffert’s stable in the last six months.

Craig Robertson, Baffert’s attorney, issued a statement confirming Gamine’s test results after her third-place finish as the 7-10 favorite in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Sept. 4.

The two-time Grade 1 winner tested positive for betamethasone, a corticosteroid, which Robertson said is “a legal, commonly used anti- inf lammatory medication.”