In brief: Larry Mize leads Seattle’s Boeing Classic by 2

GOLF: Larry Mize birdied the par-5 18th hole for a 5-under 67 and a two-stroke lead over Fred Couples and four others Friday after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie, Washington.

The 56-year-old Mize had a bogey-free round at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. The 1987 Masters champion won the 2010 Montreal Championship for his lone title on the 50-and-over tour.

Couples, trying to win his hometown event for the first time, was tied for second at 69 with Billy Andrade, Carlos Franco, Jeff Freeman and Chien Soon Lu.

Mize hasn’t had a top-10 finish in more than two years. He said “a little bit of everything” has been holding him back.

Couples birdied Nos. 10, 11 and 15.

“I think the birdies on 10 and 11 kept the round where I got under and stayed there,” Couples said.

The field average of 73.35 was the second highest in the 11-year history of the event.

• Kung leads Canadian Pacific Open: Candie Kung birdied four of her final six holes to match the course record with an 8-under 64 and take the second-round lead in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open at Coquitlam, British Columbia.

The 34-year-old Taiwanese golfer had an 11-under 133 total at Vancouver Golf Club. Playing the back nine first, she birdied the first two holes and eagled the par-5 13th. The four-time LPGA Tour winner added birdies on Nos. 4 and 6-8.

• DeChambeau reaches U.S. Amateur semifinals: NCAA champion Bryson DeChambeau beat Ireland’s Paul Dunne 3 and 2 at Olympia Fields, Illinois, to advance to the U.S. Amateur semifinals.

DeChambeau, the SMU player from Clovis, California, will face Southern California sophomore Sean Crocker of Westlake Village, California. Crocker beat Charleston Southern junior Austin James of Canada 2 up.

In the other quarterfinals, Virginia junior Derek Bard of New Hartford, New York, rallied to beat Arizona State senior Jon Rahm of Spain 1 up, and Japan’s Kenta Konishi edged Baylor transfer Matthew Perrine of Austin, Texas, 1 up.

Djokovic, Williams reach Cincy semifinals

TENNIS: Novak Djokovic played his best match. Serena Williams? Well, she needed to pull a Serena to move on.

Top-seeded Djokovic beat fifth-seeded Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-1 in Mason, Ohio, knocking off the player who beat him for the French Open title.

Williams, the No. 1 seed on the women’s side, struggled with her serve and had to rally from behind to beat Ana Ivanovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Third-seeded Andy Murray reached the semifinals by beating Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

He’ll face Roger Federer, who eased through a 6-3, 6-4 win over Feliciano Lopez in only 61 minutes and is trying for his seventh Cincinnati title.

Williams dominated the last six games, advancing to a semifinal against 14th-seeded Elina Svitolina.

Djokovic will play qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov, who upset sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-2.

Arkansas adds transfer quarterback

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Arkansas has landed quarterback Ricky Town, who left Southern California after just one week of fall practices.

Town, a touted recruit who graduated high school early to participate in spring practice with the Trojans, faced stiff competition for playing time at USC. Senior Cody Kessler is heading into his third year as a starter, while sophomore backup Max Browne and fellow freshman Sam Darnold also are elite prospects.

Town will be eligible to play in 2016 for the Razorbacks.

• Ex-OSU football player pleads guilty to assault: Former Oklahoma State football player Tyreek Hill has pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation.

Hill, an All-Big 12 all-purpose player last season, entered the guilty plea in a Payne County courtroom at Stillwater, Oklahoma. He will be on probation until August 2018 and won’t have additional penalties unless he violates conditions of his probation, including completion of an anger management course, a yearlong program for batterers and payment of a $500 fine.

• Florida suspends three players: Florida has suspended three players for its Sept. 5 season opener against New Mexico State.

The Gators announced that safety Marcus Maye, defensive end Alex McCalister and receiver Latroy Pittman won’t play because of an undisclosed violation of program policy.

Los Angeles closer to negotiating for games

MISCELLANY: The president of the Los Angeles City Council has introduced a motion to give Mayor Eric Garcetti broad authority to negotiate a deal to host the 2024 Olympics.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the motion would give Garcetti and council President Herb Wesson the authority to sign a legally binding agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The newspaper reports that the council could vote on the motion as soon as next week.

• Las Vegas, Quebec City on NHL shortlist: Las Vegas and Quebec City have advanced to the third and potentially final stage to land NHL expansion franchises.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly referred to the third stage as “the last formal phase,” but added, “it does not necessarily constitute the end of the process.”

• Ferretti named Mexico’s interim coach: Ricardo Ferretti of Brazil will take over as interim coach of Mexico’s national soccer team.

Mexican soccer federation president Decio De Maria told Fox Sports Mexico that Ferretti agreed to manage the team for four matches before resuming his duties with Mexican club team Tigres.

• Vuelta’s “unsafe” stage won’t count: The Spanish Vuelta says the race’s opening team time trial will not count toward the overall standings, after complaints about safety from cyclists.

Vuelta spokesman Ivan Gomez tells the Associated Press that after a meeting with teams and race directors, cycling’s governing body UCI has decided that today’s 4.6-mile stage will only count for the team classification, not individual times.

Edmondson throws no-hitter, hits homer

LLWS: Alex Edmondson threw his second no-hitter in eight days and hit a two-run homer in the first inning to help Taylors, South Carolina, beat Cranston, Rhode Island, 7-1 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in the state’s first-ever victory in the Little League World Series.

Edmondson struck out 15 a week after striking out 12 in his no-hitter in the Southeast championship.

Throwing around 80 mph, the right-hander struck out the side four times. He struck out 10 straight between the third and sixth innings in South Carolina’s first LLWS game since 1950.

• Garcia homers, pitches Texas past Oregon: Isaac Garcia broke up a perfect game with a home run in the fourth inning then threw 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief to lead Pearland, Texas, to a 1-0 win over Portland.

Garcia delivered the only hit for Texas and made it count, driving a 3-2 pitch over the left-center field wall for the game’s only run. Portland’s Dylan MacLean pitched 5 2/3 innings, striking out 12 before reaching the 85-pitch limit.

• California has 5 HRs in inning, beats Kentucky: Bonita, California, hit five home runs in the third inning to easily beat Bowling Green, Kentucky, 14-2.

Kentucky will try to avoid elimination today against Oregon.