Bay Area’s McNealy powers to the lead at PGA Tour opener
Portola Valley’s Maverick McNealy moved to the top of the Fortinet Championship leaderboard after an up-and-down round Friday in Napa.
The Stanford graduate shot an 8-under-par 64 to take a two-stroke lead. He sits at 12-under 132 through two rounds.
Beau Hossler also carded a 64 at Silverado Resort and Spa’s North Course, and he shares second place with Chile’s Mito Pereira, who produced a 67 on Friday. Both are at 10 under.
World No. 1 Jon Rahm of Spain can focus preparing for the Ryder Cup next week after missing the cut. He shot a 1-under 71 on Friday to finish at 1-under 143 through two rounds, two strokes off making it to the weekend.
McNealy, 25, is still in search of his first PGA Tour win in four years since turning pro after a stellar collegiate career. He best finish came earlier this year at another Northern California event, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Starting on the back nine, McNealy bogeyed his 10th, 11th and 12th holes, then had four consecutive birdies, capped by holing out from a greenside bunker. Following a par at No. 8, he closed by chipping in for eagle on the par-5 ninth hole.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS >> K.J. Choi closed eagle-birdie-birdie for a 7-under 63 and share of the first-round lead with Darren Clarke in the PGA Tour Champions’ Sanford International.
Robert Karlsson, Matt Gogel, Rod Pampling and Brandt Jobe were a stroke back. Mario Tiziani, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker’s brotherin-law, was at 65 with Retief Goosen, Steven Alker and Mark Hensby.
Stricker had a 67. He won the inaugural event in 2018.
Soccer
PELE TAKES ‘STEP BACK’ IN RECOVERY >> Brazilian soccer great Pelé “took a little step back” in his recovery from surgery to remove a tumor from his colon but he is “recovering well” at a Sao Paulo hospital, his daughter Kely Nascimento said Friday.
The Albert Einstein hospital said the 80-year-old Edson Arantes do Nascimento had returned to intensive care after “a brief breathing instability” Thursday night. Pelé was currently stable in “semi-intensive” care, the hospital said, and he “continues recovering.” The tumor was found when Pelé went for routine exams at the end of August. His surgery took place on Sept. 4.
QUAKES LOOK TO GET BACK ON TRACK >> The Earthquakes (6-9-9, 27 points) are looking to push back into the playoff chase, entering today’s game at Austin FC six points below the playoff line.
Like Austin, the Quakes are winless this month, with an 0-2-1 mark that includes Wednesday’s wild 4-3 loss at home to Real Salt Lake. Prior to the Earthquakes’ 10-game unbeaten run throughout July and August, they played to a scoreless tie at Austin on June 19. San Jose is on a seven-game road unbeaten run (2-0-5).
NBA
CLIPPERS TO GET NEW HOME >> Tired of living in the shadow of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers broke ground on their new arena in Inglewood on Friday. The 18,000-seat Intuit Dome is slated to be ready in time for the 2024-25 season.
Motorsports
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON HENDRICK DRIVERS >> A surprisingly strong start to the playoffs for Joe Gibbs Racing — two races, two wins and two drivers locked into the second round — has put Hendrick Motorsports in a precarious position headed into the first elimination race.
Alex Bowman and William Byron both start tonight’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway below the cutline, and reigning series champion Chase Elliott isn’t breathing any easier than his Hendrick teammates.
Elliott is only 19 points to the good, which means a poor finish could make for a fast ending to his attempt at repeating as Cup champion. Four drivers will be cut from the 16-driver field after the race, and only Hendrick driver and regular-season champion Kyle Larson, as well as Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. on consecutive playoff-opening JGR wins, have secured spots in the second round.
The field is tight — only 30 points separate Kevin Harvick in sixth from Tyler Reddick in 14th.
NHL
BLACKHAWKS’ KANE PART OF 2010 PROBE >> Blackhawks star Patrick Kane said he has participated in the investigation into allegations that a then-assistant coach sexually assaulted two players in 2010, adding that he did not know anything happened at the time. The three-time Stanley Cup champion said he also was unaware of homophobic bullying of one of his former teammates that ensued.