AP National Sports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — NASCAR had penalized points leader Alex Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron for violations found in the post-race inspections at Richmond last week. Bowman and Byron’s teams were penalized 60 points and five playoff points each. Also, their crew chiefs were suspended for two races, starting after this Sunday’s

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Phil Mickelson is still a popular figure at Augusta National, even if the crowds that followed him during the first round of the Masters were smaller than previous years. Lefty opened with a 1-under 71 on a day when Brooks Koepka fired the biggest salvo

LONDON (AP) — England’s Chloe Kelly has scored the winning spot-kick to settle the inaugural women’s Finalissima after a dramatic game against Brazil watched by 83,132 fans at Wembley ended in a 4-2 penalty shootout victory for the hosts. Ella Toone looked to have secured the win for England in a match between the champions

By DAVID SMALE Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kevin Gausman pitched six scoreless innings, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio hit home runs and the Toronto Blue Jays won their third straight game, 6-3, over the Kansas City Royals to take the four-game series. Gausman gave up just four hits to the struggling

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods had three birdies and five bogeys during an opening round of 74 at the Masters on Thursday, leaving him in contention to play the weekend but hardly to win the tournament. He had two tough lip-outs on the front nine, a couple of

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU’s national champion women’s basketball team will accept an invitation from President Joe Biden to visit the White House. University spokesman Michael Bonnette confirmed LSU’s intentions on the matter on Thursday, a day after Tigers star forward Angel Reese suggested during a podcast interview that her team should celebrate their

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Defensive tackle Jordan Phillips is returning to the Buffalo Bills for a second consecutive season after signing a one-year contract. Phillips expressed a desire to re-sign with Buffalo after completing his one-year contract last season. He had 20 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks in 12 games despite closing the season

BRAMPTON, Ontario (AP) — Katerina Mrazova scored on a rebound on a delayed penalty at 3:16 of overtime to give the Czech Republic a 2-1 victory over Japan on Thursday in the women’s world hockey championship. Daniels Pejsova opened the scoring for the Czech Republic with 37 seconds left in the first period. Rui Ukita

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — When Viktor Hovland learned he would be playing the first two rounds of the Masters with Tiger Woods, his heart started to race and his anxiety level spiked. He says his heart kind of went a little bit further up in his throat. But Hovland

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr. AP Pro Football Writer The New York Jets signed quarterback Tim Boyle to a one-year contract as a backup with experience playing in offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett’s system. Boyle served as a backup in Green Bay for three seasons to Aaron Rodgers, who said last month his intention is to play

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Schools and colleges across the U.S. would be forbidden from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes under a proposal released Thursday by the Biden administration, but teams could create some limits in certain cases — for example, to ensure fairness. The proposed rule sends a political

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer A San Francisco Giants minor leaguer called Fernando Tatis Jr. a “cheater” on Twitter after the suspended San Diego Padres superstar hit a mammoth homer in a Triple-A game while on a rehab assignment. Kade McClure of the Sacramento River Cats responded to a tweet that included video of

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Augusta National has taken another surprising step toward modernization. The Masters allowed for a walk-and-talk during the opening round when Rory McIlroy answered questions for the ESPN telecast while playing the ninth fairway. CBS produces the Masters. It first broke out the technology at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut’s governor is taking heat for calling the city of Houston “butt ugly” after returning from the Final Four. Gov. Ned Lamont traveled to Texas and was on hand Monday night to watch the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team win its fifth NCAA Tournament championship. He made his comments on

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer DETROIT (AP) — Adam Duvall hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Boston Red Sox went on to beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3. Miguel Cabrera hit a two-out RBI single in the third inning of his final home opener to put Detroit up 3-1. The

By JOHN WAWROW AP Hockey Writer Caroline Harvey is quickly establishing herself as one of the United States women’s hockey team’s rising stars. The 20-year-old play-making defender is competing in her second world championship tournament in suburban Toronto, and made her national team debut at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. She is part of second-year

By PETE IACOBELLI AP Sports Writer COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An appeals panel has upheld NASCAR’s penalties on Denny Hamlin for wrecking Ross Chastain at the end of the Phoenix race last month. Hamlin was fined $50,000 and docked 25 points a few days later after acknowledging he purposely hit Chastain while trying to gain

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts gambling regulators have denied a request to allow legal betting on this year’s Boston Marathon, citing concerns by the race’s organizers. All four members of the Massachusetts Gambling Commission who participated in Thursday’s online meeting voted against the request by DraftKings. Commission chair Cathy Judd-Stein shared an email she received Wednesday

MONTREAL (AP) — The Montreal Canadiens’ Denis Gurianov has decided not to wear his team’s themed warmup jersey for Pride night on Thursday, citing family reasons. The Russian forward is the seventh NHL player to recently opt out of wearing rainbow-colored jerseys on their teams’ Pride nights. Gurianov will not take part in the pregame

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer Sergio Garcia is tired of talking about the LIV-PGA Tour feud. After opening the Masters with a 2-over 74, Garcia shot back at reporters who asked if this felt like a normal event with all that’s going on away from the course. Garcia called it “totally normal” and claimed