In brief: Morgan Hoffmann leads Palmer Invitational by one stroke to conclude bittersweet day

Golf: Morgan Hoffmann’s day began with news that his 97-year-old grandmother died Thursday morning. It ended with his first lead on the PGA Tour.

Hoffman started his round with a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 10 and finished it with a 9-iron that touched the hole before stopping inches away for birdie. He also holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 sixth, leading to a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.

It all was a lot to chew on for the 25-year-old Hoffmann, who cooks his own meals to eat on the golf course (bison steak was for lunch).

“Mentally, I’m in kind of a weird state right now,” he said. “My grandma passed away this morning, so I’m just pretty chilled out there and loving life right now. Just wish my family the best at home. My whole family texted me and said, ‘Nanny is playing golf with pop up there,’ which was pretty cool.”

Hoffmann hopes to attend a memorial service for Dorothy Lionetti in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday night. It should be a short trip considering Hoffmann pilots his own plane that he recently bought from his friend David Booth, who plays left wing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Hoffmann had a one-shot lead over five players, including Ian Poulter and Kevin Na. The group at 68 included Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson and Brandt Snedeker.

Poulter, who made an eagle from just off the 16th green, had his own distraction. His 3-year-old son was taken to the hospital Wednesday night with a low oxygen level and pneumonia. It was a long night, with a bit of a scare, but Joshua Poulter was doing better Thursday morning.

Rory McIlroy hit 17 greens in regulation in his Bay Hill debut and one-putted only two greens, including a 15-foot birdie on the 18th for a 70.

In his third American event this year, the world’s No. 1 player still hasn’t broken 70. But he’s getting there.

• Ko leads suspended JTBC Founders Cup: Top-ranked Lydia Ko shot a 6-under 66 for a share of the lead in the suspended first round of the JTBC Founders Cup in Phoenix.

The 17-year-old Ko rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the seventh hole with a 12-foot birdie putt on the eighth to join Tiffany Joh, Sophia Popov and Kim Kaufman atop the leaderboard at Desert Ridge.

The start was delayed four hours because of rain and wet conditions. Only half of the 132 players finished before play was suspended because of darkness.

Harden scores career- high point total in win

NBA: James Harden scored a career-high 50 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to a 118-108 win over the visiting Denver Nuggets.

Harden eclipsed his previous career-best of 46 – set in 2013 – on a free throw with about a minute remaining. On Houston’s next possession, Trevor Ariza found him in the corner and he swished a 3 under heavy pressure to make it 50.

It was the 29th game this season in which Harden scored at least 30 points.

• Suns sneak by Davis-less Pelicans: Brandan Wright scored 16 points and matched his career high with seven blocked shots, helping the host Phoenix Suns to a sluggish, cold-shooting 74-72 victory over a New Orleans Pelicans team playing without star Anthony Davis.

Davis rolled his left ankle in the team’s shootaround earlier in the day and his availability for today’s game at Golden State is uncertain.

The loss dropped New Orleans a game behind Oklahoma City for the eighth playoff spot in the West.

• T-Wolves outlast Knicks in battle of NBA’s worst: Zach LaVine made the tying and go-ahead free throws with 10.7 seconds left and scored six of his 20 points in overtime as the Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted the host New York Knicks 95-92 in a matchup of the NBA’s biggest losers.

Minnesota ended a six-game losing streak and snapped a tie with the Knicks for the NBA’s worst record. New York can still win for losing, and now has pole position in the race for the No. 1 draft pick.

Kevin Martin scored 22 points and Andrew Wiggins had 20 for Minnesota despite shooting 4 for 17 from the field.

Ovechkin’s two goals lift Capitals over Wild

NHL: Alex Ovechkin scored two goals and helped lift the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild in Minneapolis. Evgeny Kuznetsov also had a goal, and Braden Holtby stopped 28 of 30 shots as the Capitals won their third straight. Ovechkin’s 13th multigoal game this season improved his NHL-leading goal total to 47.

• Jets outlast Blues in shootout: Andrew Ladd scored the decisive shootout goal to give the host Winnipeg Jets a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues. The Jets are trying to hold off Calgary in the wild-card race in the Western Conference.

• Senators inch closer to wild card: Bobby Ryan’s third-period goal snapped a tie and lifted the host Ottawa Senators to a 6-4 victory over the Boston Bruins in a back-and-forth game.

The surging Senators moved within two points of the Bruins in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Up next for EWU: Sacramento State

MISCELLANY: Adella Randle-El scored 20 points, Gretchen Harrigan added 14 and Sacramento State defeated Pacific 87-79 in a first-round women’s NIT game at Stockton, California.

Pacific’s Kendall Kenyon led all scorers with 28 points and 21 rebounds.

The Hornets (17-15) will face Big Sky foe Eastern Washington Monday at 7 p.m. in Sacramento.

The teams split the season series with both teams winning at home.

• Djokovic advances at Indian Wells: Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open when opponent Bernard Tomic withdrew because of a back injury.

Tomic’s withdrawal was announced about five hours before he was to play Djokovic, a three-time champion at Indian Wells who has won his first three matches in straight sets. He has beaten Tomic each of the three times they’ve played.

• Cal’s Franklin stars at NCAAs: Missy Franklin of California won the 200-yard individual medley at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, in her final college meet.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist finished first in 1 minute, 52.11 seconds – third-fastest in history – on the first night of competition. Franklin plans to turn pro after the three-day meet ends Saturday, having completed two years of college. She aims to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics.