Off the wire

Sunday, August 31, 2014

GOLF

Kuchar in contention

With an orange ribbon on his hat and nine birdies on his card, Matt Kuchar pulled within a shot of the lead Saturday in the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass. Not that he needed a reminder, but a message posted on the scoring table spoke to his emotions. Players were offered a chance to donate to a trust fund for the 4-year-old daughter of Lance Bennett, his caddie. Bennett's wife, Angela, died of a seizure Wednesday. Kuchar decided to play to raise awareness and get the tour involved in helping the family. His performance certainly helped. Ryan Palmer overcame a rocky start for an even-par 71. Jason Day struggled at the end for a 68. They were tied for the lead on the TPC Boston going into the third round of a FedEx Cup playoff event that ends on Labor Day. Kuchar was a shot behind after a 66 that featured six consecutive birdies around the turn. On his bag is Brian Reed, a friend who introduced Kuchar to Bennett several years ago. Kuchar was overcome by emotion Friday when he saw caddies -- and even some players -- wearing a black hat with the orange ribbon in honor of Bennett's wife. Palmer, who started with a 63, made birdie on his first hole and thought he was off to the races. He followed with a double bogey, a bogey and then tried to hang. A birdie on the final hole put him at 8-under 134. Day looked as though he might pull away. Day ran off five birdies on the front nine for a 31 to build a two-shot lead, only to drop four shots coming in. Billy Horschel had a 66 to join Kuchar at 7-under 135.

Bob Tway shot a 7-under 63 for a share of the second-round lead with Joe Durant and Joe Daley in the Champions Tour's Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary, Alberta. Durant and Daley shot 68 to match Tway at 10-under 130 at Canyon Meadows. Tway, 55, is winless on the Champions Tour after winning eight times on the PGA Tour, including the 1986 PGA Championship. He had an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys.

Colt Knost shot his third consecutive 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead in the Hotel Fitness Championship, the first event in the Web.com Tour Finals. Knost, the 29-year-old former SMU player who won the 2007 U.S. Amateur, had three birdies and eagled the par-5 12th at Sycamore Hills in Fort Wayne, Ind., to reach 15 under. He was fourth last week in the Portland Open to finish 34th on the Web.com Tour's regular-season money list. Nos. 26-75 on Web.com money list and Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings are fighting for 25 2014-2015 PGA Tour cards based on earnings in the four-event series. Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 4-under 68 and sits in a tie for eighth, five strokes behind Knost. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) is at 9 under after a 68, while David Lingmerth (Razorbacks) is nine strokes behind Knost at 6 under.

• South Africa's Hennie Otto shot a 1-under 71 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Italian Open in Turin, Italy. Otto, the 2008 winner at Castello di Tolcinasco, had 16-under 200 total at Circolo Golf Torino. He's playing his second event following two back operations. Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, needing a top-two finish to earn the final automatic spot on the European Ryder Cup team, was sixth at 10 under after a 69. Scotland's Richie Ramsay was second after a 66.

Defending champion Suzann Pettersen shot her second consecutive 5-under 67 on Saturday for a share of the third-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s Portland Classic. Trying to match Nancy Lopez’s record with her third victory in the event, Pettersen had an eagle, four birdies and a bogey at Columbia Edgewater. Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and South Korea’s Mi Jung Hur shot 70 to match Pettersen at 11-under 205. Ciganda bogeyed the par-4 18th to fall into the tie.

HORSE RACING

Itsmyluckyday wins at wire

Itsmyluckyday dueled with Moreno from the gate into deep stretch, surging in the shadow of the wire to win the Grade 1 $600,000 Woodward by a half-length Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. Ridden by Paco Lopez, the 4-year-old Itsmyluckyday ran 1 1/8 miles on the main track in 1:48.84 and paid $7.70, $3.70 and $3 as the 5-2 second choice in a field of nine older horses. Lopez also won the Grade 2 Prioress aboard Stonetastic in the Grade 2 $300,000 Prioress for 3-year-old fillies. Moreno, the front-running winner of the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 2, returned $4.20 and $4. Prayer For Relief paid $6 to show. New York-bred Zivo had his six-race win streak snapped, finishing fourth. Wise Dan won the Grade 2 $250,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap, and Palace won the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego for older sprinters. Wise Dan held off long-shot Optimizer by a nose. Ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, the two-time reigning Horse of the Year returned to racing 15 weeks after emergency colic surgery. Favored at 4-5 in a field of nine older horses, Wise Dan ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:39.08 -- 0.17 seconds off the main turf course record. Optimizer returned $14.60 and $8.20, and Five Iron paid $4.70 to show.

BASKETBALL

U.S. team squashes Finland

BILBAO, Spain -- As the U.S. lead got bigger and the crowd quieter, Finland's players were forced to have a most uncomfortable conversation.

"We kind of talked a little on the bench a little bit, 'Hey, everybody remember when we scored the last time?' " forward Kimmo Muurinen said.

It was a long time. Almost an entire quarter.

The Americans held the Finns without a basket in the second quarter, opening defense of their title with a 114-55 romp Saturday in the Basketball World Cup.

Silencing the Finns in the second quarter on the scoreboard and in the stands, where their rabid fans filled an entire side of the arena, the Americans allowed just a pair of free throws in the period, outscoring their overmatched opponents 29-2 to open a 60-18 advantage.

The U.S. players also knew they were basically pitching a shutout for 10 minutes.

"Our coaches were encouraging us to keep up that effort by telling us every timeout, every dead ball, they only had two points or whatever," guard Stephen Curry said. "That's just motivation to keep doing what we're doing."

Klay Thompson scored 18 points and Anthony Davis had 17 for the U.S., which will play Turkey today in a rematch of the 2010 world basketball championship gold-medal game.

The event has since been renamed, but nothing else looks different for the Americans, who won their 55th consecutive game.

Finland was 0 for 17 in the second quarter, missing all six three-point attempts, and missed 19 consecutive shots over the second and third quarters before Tuukka Kotta ended the drought with a basket with 8:48 remaining in the third that made it 62-20.

The Finns were making their World Cup debut as a wild card and didn't do much to prove they deserved it after the opening minutes. They missed all 13 three-point attempts in the first half but finally saw some shots fall after halftime when the game was long decided, giving their expected 8,000 fans who traveled here the chance to cheer.

Sports on 08/31/2014