State sports briefs

— FISHING

Conway man leads Big Bass Bonanza

Gary Hensley of Conway narrowly led the Arkansas Big Bass Bonanza on Friday with a 5.94-pound bass he caught in the Dardanelle Pool of the Arkansas River.

Hensley caught the fish around 9 a.m. to take the overall lead on the first day of the three-day bass tournament.

Leaders in the other four pools were: Les Irons of McGehee with 5.93 pounds at Dumas Pool; Craig Flowers of Midland with 5.22 pounds at Fort Smith Pool; Kelly Glover of Damascus with 5.19 pounds at Pine Bluff Pool and Bit LeQuieu of Alvord with 4.51 pounds at Little Rock/North Little Rock Pool.

This year’s tournament will pay out $100,000 in guaranteed prize money. The top angler wins $50,000 as well as a paid spot at the Bassmaster Open. Each of the other four pool leaders will win $10,000.

GOLF

U.S. team leads Palmer Cup

Arkansas junior Sebastian Cappelen went 0-1-1 on Thursday at the first day of the Palmer Cup at Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Northern Ireland - halving his four ball match before losing on the final hole in the foursome.

The United States team was able to jump out to a 6.5-1.5 lead in the Ryder Cup-style tournament with two days of singles matches left to play.

Sports, Pages 24 on 06/30/2012

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