Cantlay leads RBC Heritage after a flurry of late birdies
FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay birdied the final four holes Friday for a 4-under 67 and take a two-stroke lead over Robert Streb halfway through the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
After dropping back with bogeys on the 11th and 14th holes, Cantlay turned it around on the most difficult stretch at Harbour Town Golf Links with the late birdie run in strong wind swirling off Calibogue Sound. Cantlay had a 9-under 133 total.
“Obviously, that's a dream finish,” Cantlay said. “I finally rolled in some putts and that was really nice to see going into the weekend.”
Tour rookie Cameron Young went from his eyepopping debut of 63 on Thursday to a 73 in his second time around Harbour Town. Still, it was good enough to tie for third with Joel Dahmen, Cameron Tringale, Erik van Rooyen and Aaron Wise — three shots behind Cantlay.
A couple of top draws won't be around for the weekend.
South Carolina native and world No. 9 Dustin Johnson went 71-72 to shoot 1 over and fall to 0-10 in PGA Tour events he's played in his home state.
Cameron Smith, tied for third last week at Augusta National, also finished at 1 over to miss his first cut since the Sony Open in January. He shot 73-70.
Morgan Hoffmann, in his first PGA Tour event since October 2019 due to his muscular dystrophy, came up a shot short of the cut, too, also finishing at 1 over with rounds of 71 and 72.
Soccer
QUAKES HOST NASHVILLE SC >> The winless Earthquakes look to break out of the worst six-match start in club history today at home against a Nashville SC team (3-2-1) that has won three in a row.
San Jose (0-4-2) suffered two one-goal losses and earned a draw in its past three matches. Jeremy Ebobisse has scored three goals in the past two games for the Quakes.
NEW OWNERSHIP FOR AC MILAN? >> A Bahrain-based private equity firm is in exclusive talks to buy seven-time European champion AC Milan and become the Italian league's first Middle East investor, a person with knowledge of the process said. The buyout by Investcorp could see the Serie A leader sold for around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), the person told The Associated Press. The U.S.-based hedge firm Elliott Management has owned Milan since 2018 after the former Chinese owner failed to repay part of a loan. Milan declined comment.
College basketball MANNING JOINS CARDINALS
>> Louisville head coach Kenny Payne has hired former Kansas great and college basketball Hall of Famer Danny Manning as an assistant, a month after the coaching veteran completed an interim stint at Maryland. Manning guided the Terrapins to a 15-17 finish after taking over for Mark Turgeon in December. He was 78-111 as Wake Forest's coach from 2014-2020 and 38-29 with Tulsa from 2012-14 after working as a Kansas assistant the previous six seasons.
Colleges
OHIO STATE REACHES MORE SETTLEMENTS >> Ohio State University will pay $2 million to settle more lawsuits brought by men who said they were sexually abused decades ago by now-deceased team doctor Richard Strauss, increasing the number of survivors who've reached settlement agreements to nearly 290.
The payouts by the university have now reached just under $60 million to former athletes and other men who alleged Strauss carried out the abuse at campus athletic facilities, a student health center, his home and an off-campus clinic. The latest settlement announced Friday ends lawsuits brought by 57 survivors whose cases had been dismissed by a federal judge who last year ruled that the legal window for such claims had passed.
NFL
STARK HEADED TO NBC >> Melissa Stark is joining NBC's “Sunday Night Football” crew as a sideline reporter, the New York Post reported Friday.
Stark, 48, has worked for NFL Network since 2012. Her previous jobs include sideline reporter with ABC's “Monday Night Football” from 2000-03 and national correspondent with “Today” on NBC beginning in the summer of 2003. With the network, she also covered the Olympics.
NBC has turned over two thirds of its “Sunday Night Football” talent ahead of the 2022 season. Cris Collinsworth remains as game analyst, with Mike Tirico replacing Al Michaels on play by play and Stark taking over for Michele Tafoya.
Tennis
U.S. ROLLING IN BILLIE JEAN KING CUP >> Alison Riske and Jessica Pegula gave the United States a 2-0 lead over Ukraine in the best-of-five Billie Jean King Cup qualifier. Riske beat Dayana Yastremska 7-6 (18-16), 7-5, surviving an epic first set that lasted 1 hour, 27 minutes. Pegula beat Katarina Zavatska 6-2, 6-1 in the second match.