Sports

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The 13th hole at Masters went from the easiest of the four par 5s a year ago to the most difficult in Thursday’s first round following modifications at Augusta National. The 13th hole, which leaves Amen Corner, has traditionally been a relative gimme for the

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks won’t have Giannis Antetokounmpo and several other notable players Friday night when they host the Memphis Grizzlies, who can take the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with a victory. Milwaukee already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the NBA and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs with

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mets catcher Omar Narváez will be placed on the injured list with a strained left calf that will likely sideline him several weeks. The Mets announced Thursday that Narváez had an MRI that revealed a medium- to high-grade strain. The team said the typical timeline for recovery from that

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Top-seeded Jessica Pegula lost 10 straight games and trailed 4-0 in the final set before rallying Thursday to reach the Charleston Open quarterfinals. Pegula led the top four seeds in advancing to the final eight. That included No. 4 seed and defending champion Belinda Bencic, who lost her first set before

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP) — Kyle Freeland pitched four-hit ball over 6 2/3 innings, Jurickson Profar made several nifty catches in left field and the Colorado Rockies won their home opener 1-0 over the Washington Nationals. Kris Bryant drove in the only run with a single in the fifth after Ezequiel

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Freshman Luke Mittelstadt scored two third-period goals in two-and-a-half minutes and top-ranked Minnesota beat Boston University 6-2 in the opening game of the NCAA Frozen Four. Mittelstadt gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead on a power play with 18:20 left in the third period and his second came from the same spot

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Augusta National took 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, which is producing the Masters, first broke out the technology at the

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