U.S./World Sports category, Page 109
Column: Penske rolls into Le Mans on top of motor sports seeking evasive 1st winVideo
LE MANS, France — Roger Penske won the Indianapolis 500 on a Sunday and celebrated Josef Newgarden’s thrilling win as if it was the first for Team Penske, not a record-stretching 19th for The Captain. He watched on his cellphone as Ryan Blaney won the Coca-Cola 600 on a Monday,...
Coco Gauff wins to set up French Open rematch vs. Iga Swiatek in quartersVideo
PARIS — Coco Gauff could have hoped for the easy way out. Ever since the French Open bracket determined that the 19-year-old Floridian might end up in a quarterfinal against Iga Swiatek, perhaps it would have been understandable if Gauff wished to avoid that particular matchup. After all, Gauff lost...
NCAA champ Rose Zhang arrives on LPGA Tour with big hopes and leaves with a trophy
The first words from Rose Zhang after the 20-year-old Californian capped off one of the more remarkable 13-day stretches in golf were telling. “What is happening?” she said. More tantalizing is what happens next. Hype rules the day in a society built around social media, and Zhang is one of...
Series tied: Heat roar back in the 4th quarter, beat Nuggets in Game 2 of NBA FinalsVideo
DENVER — Staring down a 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals, as the visitors in a hostile arena where no road team had prevailed in more than two months, the Miami Heat decided to do what they’ve done throughout the postseason. They found a way. Against all odds. Again. The...
Viktor Hovland delivers clutch putts and wins Memorial in playoffVideo
DUBLIN, Ohio — Viktor Hovland was happy with his three PGA Tour victories, even if they were at resort courses that were soft and susceptible to firing at flags. He wanted a win on American soil, where par was at a premium, and he got every bit of that Sunday...
Kyle Busch holds off Denny Hamlin for NASCAR Cup Series win outside St. Louis
MADISON, Ill. — Kyle Busch held off Denny Hamlin through a series of late restarts to win the chaotic, caution-filled NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway just outside of St. Louis in overtime Sunday. Bubba Wallace brought out the 11th and final yellow when his brake rotor...
Alex Palou wins Detroit Grand Prix in IndyCar’s return to downtown trackVideo
DETROIT — Alex Palou went from critic to champion in a day. He started and finished first in the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, roughly 24 hours after the IndyCar points leader said the street course was too tight and short for the series. “It was a lot better than...
Carlos Alcaraz likes to watch replays of his best shots, faces Stefanos Tsitsipas at French OpenVideo
PARIS — Some friendly advice, sports fans: If Carlos Alcaraz is playing, do not look away. Even for a moment. Because it’s likely he’ll conjure up some sort of highlight-worthy mix of ability, athleticism and awareness that drops the jaw. Anyone who’s watched him play lately knows this. Anyone who’s...
Las Vegas ballpark pitch revives debate over public funding for sports stadiums
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Gov. Joe Lombardo wants to help build Major League Baseball’s smallest ballpark, arguing that the worst team in baseball can boost Las Vegas, a city striving to call itself a sports mecca. Debate about public funding for private sports clubs has been revived with the Oakland...
Coco Gauff, 19, comes back to beat Russia’s Mirra Andreeva, 16, at the French OpenVideo
PARIS — Not all that long ago, Coco Gauff was always the kid on the court, the unknown underdog, younger and less experienced than every opponent she faced on a big stage. Now, still just 19, Gauff is well-versed in the professional tennis tour, already a Grand Slam runner-up in...
Heat looking to get to the line more, while Nuggets vow to be better in Game 2Video
DENVER — For the Miami Heat, shooting at Denver’s mile-high altitude during Game 1 of the NBA Finals wasn’t a problem. Not shooting from 15 feet — the distance from the basket to the free-throw line — was. The Heat made NBA history — and not the good kind —...
Corey LaJoie gets long-awaited Hendrick Motorsports shot in NASCAR Cup SeriesVideo
MADISON, Ill. — Corey LaJoie finally is getting a chance to drive for Hendrick Motorsports this week. He wanted so badly to drive for the team a few years ago, that when it became common knowledge Jimmie Johnson was retiring as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, LaJoie used his...
Suh, Matsuyama ride hot putts on steamy day at the MemorialVideo
DUBLIN, Ohio — Justin Suh signed for a 6-under-par 66 at the Memorial and then made a few stops to speak with the media. His putter stayed with him the entire time, which probably was wise. The way it behaved Friday, when he holed eight putts from the 10-foot range...
Mile-High NBA advantage: Denver altitude helps Nuggets go unbeaten at home in playoffsVideo
DENVER — Joking around before the start of the NBA Finals, Charles Barkley and Grant Hill took hits from oxygen masks they brought onto the set for a pregame TV show. But the thin air in Denver is no joke. There’s a reason it’s known as the Mile High City....
Churchill Downs implements safety, performance standards to address recent spate of horse deathsVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Horse racing’s oversight authority and Churchill Downs have each announced additional safety and health measures in the wake of 12 recent deaths since late April at the home of the Kentucky Derby. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) will conduct additional post-entry screening of horses to...
Jokic gets triple-double, Nuggets roll past Heat 104-93 in Game 1 of NBA FinalsVideo
DENVER — Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets were facing some questions going into their first NBA Finals, and their answers came in resounding fashion. No, a week and a half off didn’t hurt them. And, no, the NBA’s biggest stage isn’t too big, either. Jokic got a triple-double in...
Riley avoids big numbers for 67 on tough day at MemorialVideo
DUBLIN, Ohio — Davis Riley opened with a 67 at the Memorial to finish atop the leaderboard after the opening round for the second straight year. And that’s where the similarities end. Riley birdied three of his last four holes Thursday afternoon when the turf was firm and the wind...
U.S. Soccer’s Nations League roster includes Folarin Balogun’s first call-upVideo
LOS ANGELES — Two days after B.J. Callaghan was officially being named interim U.S. men’s national team coach, he called up his first roster Thursday, inviting 24 players to training camp at Dignity Health Sports Park to prepare for the final four of the CONCACAF Nations League later this month...
Mirra Andreeva, a teen who doesn’t like homework, wins easily at French OpenVideo
PARIS — Mirra Andreeva is the latest teen sensation in tennis, a 16-year-old Russian who is the youngest player to win a match in the women’s main draw at the French Open since 2005. Do the math: That’s before she was born. The 143rd-ranked Andreeva made her way through qualifying...
Memorial boasts stacked field in crowded PGA Tour schedule
DUBLIN, Ohio — The Memorial has a loaded field, just like always, and that much was evident by pockets of crowds spread around Muirfield Village for the pro-am Wednesday. Also playing Wednesday were Masters champion Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and 38 of the top 50 players in the...
Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jokic lead Heat, Nuggets into NBA Finals after unconventional paths
DENVER — Nikola Jokic wasn’t supposed to be here. Neither was Jimmy Butler, for that matter. Jokic was drafted behind 40 other players in 2014. Butler was drafted behind 29 others in 2011. Jokic grew up in Serbia, not even thinking about the NBA. Butler didn’t have the easiest upbringing...
2 teams, 2 chances at titles: Heat, Panthers ready for their finals tests
DENVER — They were No. 8 seeds. They barely got into the playoffs after up-and-down regular seasons. They had to face the No. 1 overall seeds in Round 1 of the postseason. They had to win Games 7 in Boston just to keep their seasons alive. They are Eastern Conference...
With matchup finally set, Nuggets’ Michael Malone says beating Heat will be ‘biggest challenge of our lives’
Aaron Gordon bristled at the notion the Denver Nuggets must operate the “rust versus rest” seesaw with 10 days between their Western Conference title celebration in Los Angeles and the start of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. Rest? “We’ve been working,” Gordon declared about 15 hours after the...
Column: A year later, LIV Golf is fitting into golf landscape as an islandVideo
DUBLIN, Ohio — The catchphrase at LIV Golf seems to have changed in recent months to a bolder tone. Gone is Greg Norman’s tired pitch that “Golf is a force for good.” More common these days is the pronouncement that “We’re not going anywhere.” That appears to be true. Much...
NBA Finals finally set with Nuggets, underdog Heat squaring off
Cancel that flight plan, Denver. Turns out, the NBA Finals are starting in the Mile High City after all. And Jimmy Butler was proven right. Finally, we have a title-series matchup: The Miami Heat, champions of the Eastern Conference even after getting in as only the No. 8 seed, will...
