Digest: Woody Austin leads Senior British Open at Carnoustie
Golf: Woody Austin made four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine and finished with a 4-under 68 to take the first-round lead Thursday in the Senior British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland.
The 52-year-old Austin rebounded from bogeys on Nos. 9 and 10 with birdies on 11, 12, 14 and 16. He has struggled after winning three times in four events this year on the PGA Tour Champions.
“It seems, I forgot how to play after that,” Austin said. “It’s been really bad since. It’s been unfortunately a long stretch of really ugliness.”
Mark O’Meara was a stroke back along with Carlos Franco, Esteban Toledo, Joe Durant, Tom Byrum, Scott McCarron and Peter Fowler. Franco, from Paraguay, qualified Monday.
The wind was 10-15 mph at Carnoustie Golf Links with a mix of sun and clouds and a high in the 60s.
“I think the rain yesterday softened the course a little bit,” O’Meara said. “We were pretty fortunate. The wind laid down just a little bit in the middle of our round out there, so it was a little bit more playable. But Carnoustie is a very demanding golf course. You have to drive the ball well. You have to be accurate with your iron shots, and then you’ve got to putt well.”
Austin won the last of his four PGA Tour titles in the 2013 Sanderson Farms Championship.
“I’m not into grinding,” Austin said. “I’m not into beating a bunch of balls anymore. I did that for my 40 years. I’m done. So, I go home, I play with my kids, I play with my family. I own a golf course. I help run the golf course. I try to do the things I need to do there. You’ll find me sometimes weeding, jumping on a mower and mowing. I hit balls usually maybe Saturday and Sunday the week before I go back out. That’s it. That’s my preparation. The only time I work on is when I get to the golf course.”
Bernhard Langer, the winner in 2010 at Carnoustie, had a 71.
Defending champion Marco Dawson opened with as 72. He won last year at Sunningdale.
Michael Bradley had a 74 in his senior debut. He won four times on the PGA Tour.
Johnson, List share lead: Dustin Johnson made a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th hole for a 6-under 66 and a share of the Canadian Open lead with Luke List.
The U.S. Open champion set up the eagle with a 364-yard drive and 150-yard approach. At Glen Abbey in Oakville, Ontario, Johnson also had seven birdies and drove into the water on the par-4 14th en route to a double bogey. Johnson played the three back-nine par-5 holes in 4 under.
List birdied all four par 5s in a round he closed with seven pars.
Canadian amateur Jared du Toit was a stroke back along with former Arizona State teammate Jon Rahm, Chesson Hadley and Kelly Kraft. Coming off his junior season for the Sun Devils, du Toit holed out with an 8-iron for eagle on the par-4 17th and birdied 18.
Top-ranked defending champion Jason Day was in the group at 69.
U.S. swept at UL International Crown: The United States lost both of its four-ball matches to England while Yani Tseng helped Taiwan to a sweep of Australia on the opening day of the UL International Crown in Gurnee, Illinois.
Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr lost 2-and-1 to Holly Clyburn and Jodi Ewart Shadoff, and Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller were defeated by Charley Hull and Melissa Reid by the same score. Thompson, Kerr and Lewis also were on the American team that was swept on the first day of the inaugural event in 2014 and finished sixth.
Tseng and Teresa Lu went off in the first match at The Merit Club about 40 miles northwest of Chicago and cruised to a 3-and-2 victory over Karrie Webb and Su Oh. Tseng and Lu then watched as Candie Kung and Ssu-Chia Cheng posted a 2-up win against Rebecca Artis and Minjee Lee.
Kizer, Coleman, Fever defeat Liberty
Basketball: Lynetta Kizer had a career-high 21 points and Marissa Coleman scored 11 of her 14 points during a decisive run to help the Indiana Fever beat the host New York Liberty 82-70 in the final game for both teams before the Olympic break.
With the game tied at 58 near the end of the third quarter, Coleman hit a 3-pointer to start the 15-2 burst. She had 11 of the team’s 15 points during the spurt, including three 3-pointers and a tough fall-away jumper. Her last 3-pointer made it 73-60 with 6:10 left in the game.
The Fever (12-12), who are sixth in the AP WNBA power poll, wouldn’t let New York couldn’t get closer than nine the rest of the way.
Tina Charles had 25 points and 13 rebounds for third-ranked New York (18-8).
The Fever and the Liberty were both fined by the league on Wednesday for wearing plain black warm up shirts in the wake of recent shootings by and against police officers. While the shirts had the adidas brand – the official outfitter of the league – WNBA rules state that uniforms may not be altered in any way.
Green case could be resolved before Rio: An attorney for Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green says a misdemeanor assault-and-battery charge from a confrontation near the Michigan State campus could be resolved before the U.S. basketball team competes in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
James Heos told the Lansing State Journal that Green appeared during a closed-door pretrial conference in East Lansing District Court via FaceTime. The U.S. team starts play in Rio on Aug. 6. Heos said a plea agreement is a possibility and that he’s “still accumulating witness’ statements” and “trying to get to the bottom of this.”
Green is a former Michigan State standout. He’s accused of striking ex-Spartan football player Jermaine Edmondson on July 10 near campus.
Edmondson received a release to transfer from the school.
Oklahoma State’s Coger dies during team workout: Oklahoma State forward Tyrek Coger has died after collapsing during a team workout.
The school said the 21-year-old junior college transfer was pronounced dead at Stillwater Medical Center.
Coger, from Raleigh, North Carolina, played last season for Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina. The 6-foot-8 player arrived at Oklahoma State on July 5.
“Tyrek was excited to be at Oklahoma State and had such passion for the game and was looking forward to being an OSU Cowboy,” coach Brad Underwood said. “Losing a member of the team is like losing a member of the family. But we know our loss pales in comparison to the pain his family is going through.”
Texans’ star DE Watt has back surgery
Miscellany: A person familiar with J.J. Watt’s condition said the Houston Texans’ star defensive end has had back surgery and will begin training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t confirmed the surgery or Watts’ roster status.
Watt, the NFL sacks leader last season with 17 1/2, will miss the start of training camp, but is expected to be ready for the season opener. Watt spent most of the offseason recovering after having surgery to repair a groin injury in January.
His performance last season helped the Texans to their first playoff berth since 2012 and gave him his second straight Defensive Player of the Year Award.
The surgery was first reported by ESPN.
Gov. Abbott demands Houston in Big 12 expansion: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is demanding that the University of Houston be included in any expansion of the Big 12 Conference.
In a message posted on social media, Abbott said: “Big 12 expansion is a non-starter unless it includes University of Houston.” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Abbott’s fellow Texas Republican and a former Houston radio talk show host, also messaged: “I join with GregAbbott–TX – any BIG 12 expansion must include UHouston or NO DEAL!”
Documents obtained by The Associated Press through open records requests show Houston is competing with such schools as Connecticut, Cincinnati, UCF, Memphis and Colorado State. The 10-school conference hasn’t committed itself to expansion, but Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has been asked to begin evaluating candidate schools.
Cilic splits with coach Ivanisevic: Marin Cilic has split with coach Goran Ivanisevic after nearly three years of cooperation that included winning the U.S. Open in 2014.
The 12th-ranked Croat says on his Facebook page that it was a “huge privilege to work with Goran, I enjoyed our work all this time and Goran helped me to reach many goals.”
Cilic adds that “unfortunately, the road we were sharing on this journey is separating and I wish only the best for Goran in the future.”
Cilic started working with former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic in 2013.