Friday's Sports In Brief

Updated Aug. 22, 2020 3:22 a.m. ET
Associated Press

GOLF

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is making quite an impression in his PGA Tour postseason debut, posting a 12-under 59 at The Northern Trust for the 12th sub-60 round in tour history.

Scheffler, a 24-year-old rookie from Texas, birdie four of his last five holes and kept his chances alive by making a 6-foot par putt on the 17th hole.

On the par-5 18th at the TPC Boston, his tee shot hopped out of the rough into the first cut, and he wisely played left and just short of the green, leaving him two putts from 85 feet for birdie and the 59 that gave him a share of the early lead and a place in the record book.

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Scheffler, a PGA Tour rookie making his FedEx Cup postseason debut, was at 13-under 129, tied for the lead with Cameron Davis, who had a 65.

TROON, Scotland (AP) — As if Royal Troon isn’t playing hard enough for the world’s top female golfers this week, Dani Holmqvist is going around the wind-swept Scottish links carrying a nagging back injury from a cart crash in 2018.

It’s not stopping the Swede leading the Women’s British Open after two rounds.

On another tough day when first-round leader Amy Olson shot 81 — 14 strokes worse than Thursday — and stars like Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson and defending champion Hinako Shibuno missed the cut, Holmqvist shot 1-under 70 in windy morning conditions to be the only player under par after 36 goals.

A 1-under total of 141 left Holmqvist a stroke ahead of Austin Ernst of the United States (70) and Sophia Popov of Germany (72). The rest of the 144-strong field were over par.

BASEBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball postponed this weekend’s Subway Series to allow time for more testing and contact tracing after two members of the New York Mets tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Mets had their game Thursday night at Miami as well as Friday’s opener against the Yankees postponed on Thursday after the results were reported. MLB postponed the rest of the weekend series between the New York teams on Friday “out of an abundance of caution and to allow for additional testing and contact tracing.”

The Mets flew home Thursday night and are in New York, and the team said in a statement the traveling party was tested at Citi Field on Friday morning before being sent home to quarantine. The team does not plan to work out this weekend.

The league has now postponed 36 games this season because of positive tests with the Miami Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and the Mets. The Yankees have twice had their schedule interrupted despite reporting no positive tests since opening day.

COLLEGE SPORTS

NEW YORK (AP) — For the college athletes who are heading into a season of uncertainty brought on by COVID-19, the NCAA’s decision to not charge them a year of eligibility — no matter how much they play — brings peace of mind.

The decision does not come without complications. Paying for all those extra scholarships will be tricky for schools tightening budgets and some athletes might find their coaches aren’t so eager to welcome them back. Plus, the backlog of athletes cycling out of college could mean fewer opportunities for the next wave coming from high school.

College administrators have gone through this already. The recommendation made by the Division I Council earlier this week, and approved by the Board of Directors on Friday, mimics what was done in the spring after the pandemic canceled seasons in sports such as baseball, softball and lacrosse.

Seniors will be permitted to return next year and not count against a sport’s roster or scholarship limits. Underclassmen will get access to a waiver they can use to extend their careers, but beyond the 2021-22 academic year, those athletes will count against scholarship and roster limits.

HOCKEY

TORONTO (AP) — Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes and Michael Raffl scored to lead the Philadelphia Flyers into the second round for the first time in eight years with a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6.

The Flyers won the series 4-2 and are on to the second round in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2012. The Flyers have not played in the Stanley Cup Final since 2010 or won the championship since 1975.

The Flyers will move on to play the New York Islanders.

Carter Hart again was stout for the Flyers and stopped 31 shots for the top-seeded Flyers

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The Vancouver Canucks sent St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington to the bench early with three scores in a span of 6:03 in the second period, eliminating the defending champion Blues with a 6-2 victory in Game 6 of their first round series.

Blues coach Craig Berube put Binnington, the rookie star of last season’s out-of-nowhere run to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, back in the net after winning two of the last three with Jake Allen. Binnington gave up four goals on 18 shots and was pulled for Allen at the 8:06 mark of the second period after Brock Boeser’s power play goal gave the Canucks a commanding 4-0 lead.

Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel and Troy Stecher also scored on Binnington, who went 0-5 in the Edmonton bubble including three losses in this series. After Berube emptied the net with about eight minutes left, Tyler Motte tacked on two more goals after a two-goal effort in Game 5.

Brent Sutter had three assists, Elias Pettersson had two assists and Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves for the Canucks, who are the only one of the seven Canadian clubs among the final eight teams still alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vancouver advanced to play the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.

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