Sports

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Brooks Koepka carved out a new identity that sure looked familiar Thursday in the Masters. This wasn’t about his surprising defection last year to LIV Golf, or even his victory four days ago that made him the Saudi-funded circuit’s first multiple winner. He just looked

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans have ruled out Zion Williamson for Friday night’s game against the New York Knicks but are stopping short of providing a timeline for how much longer the All-Star forward will be sidelined by his right hamstring injury. Basketball operations chief David

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Jon Rahm overcame a four-putt double bogey on the opening hole to finish at 7-under 65 and tied for the first round lead with Viktor Hovland and LIV golfer Brooks Koepka at the Masters. Cameron Young and Jason Day are two shots back after posting 67s on Thursday. Defending champion Scottie

LONDON (AP) — England’s Chloe Kelly has scored the winning spot-kick to settle the first 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

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