Off the wire

GOLF

Stuard leads Zurich

Brian Stuard shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday to top the leaderboard in the suspended first round of the Zurich Classic at Avondale, La. Stuard, 33, had only 21 putts in his bogey-free round at TPC Louisiana, finishing his final hole after a rain delay of nearly five hours. He's winless on the PGA Tour. None of the afternoon starters were able to finish before darkness suspended play. Retief Goosen was second after a 65. The 47-year-old South African is a two-time U.S. Open champion. Top-ranked Jason Day bogeyed his final two holes for a 69. The Australian is the first No. 1 player to play in the event since David Duval in 1999. Bryce Molder (Conway) shot a 1-under 71. Jordan Payne (West Memphis) had a 9-over 81. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State), Andrew Landry (Arkansas Razorbacks) and Matt Mabrey (Little Rock) were unable to finish.

Bhavik Patel was alone at the top of the leaderboard Thursday in the Web.com Tour's United Leasing & Finance Championship at Newburgh, Ind., after the first round was suspended because of darkness. Patel had no bogeys and seven birdies in his 7-under 65. Greg Chalmers, Ryan Armour and Brandon Hagy are tied for second at 4 under. Nine players are tied for fifth place at 3 under. Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 2-under 70. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) had an even-par round of 72. Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) had a 1-over 73. Zack Fischer (Little Rock) shot a 3-over 75. Matt Atkins (Henderson State) had a 4-over 76. Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) had a 7-over 79.

Mi Jung Hur topped the South Korean-dominated leaderboard Thursday in the Texas Shootout at Irving, Texas, opening with a 5-under 66 in breezy conditions. The two-time LPGA Tour winner bogeyed the par-4 fifth and rebounded with a birdie on the par-4 eighth. So Yeon Ryu and Eun-Hee Ji were tied for second with American Gerina Piller at 67, and Sei Young Kim, Amy Yang, Jenny Shin and Scotland's Catriona Matthew at 68. Piller, the U.S. Solheim Cup star who lives in nearby Plano, birdied four of her last seven holes. Fifth-ranked Brooke Henderson had a 69. The 18-year-old Canadian has eight consecutive top-10 finishes. Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks) had a 1-over 72. Stacy Lewis (Razorbacks) shot a 3-over 74.

TENNIS

Goffin advances

Top-seeded David Goffin of Belgium advanced to the quarterfinals of the BMW Open in Munich by beating Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday. Goffin, who had a bye into the second round, next plays eighth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany, who beat Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4. Fourth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber eased past fellow German Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal against Juan Martin del Potro, who beat JanLennard Struff of Germany 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in his second clay-court match in three years. Fabio Fognini of Italy progressed after beating Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 7-5, and next faces Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia. Kovalik, a lucky loser who took the place of the injured Gael Monfils, beat Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-4.

• Top-seeded Bernard Tomic was knocked out of the Istanbul Open, losing to unseeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday. As the top seed, Tomic also lost his opening match a week ago at the Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest. In the quarterfinals, he faces Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who defeated Illya Marchenko of Ukriane 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Third-seeded Ivo Karlovic hit 13 aces to advance past Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 7-6 (11), 7-6 (7), recording his 300th career victory, and will play fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain, who defeated Hyeon Chung of South Korea 6-3, 6-4.

• Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova rallied to defeat Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and advance to the Prague Open semifinals on Thursday. The Russian, seeking her second title of the year, will play fourth-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia, who beat fifth-seeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4). Stosur wasted two match points at 5-4 in the final set, and another at 6-5, before prevailing in the tiebreaker. Second-seeded Lucie Safarova extended her resurgence into the semifinals by fighting past unseeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan 7-6 (3), 7-5.

CYCLING

Armstrong: Drop suit

Lance Armstrong has asked a federal judge to end a lawsuit against him by the U.S. government that seeks to recover millions of dollars in sponsorship money the U.S. Postal Service paid to his cycling teams. Armstrong's motion for summary judgment filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington states the case against him is "long on speculation and hyperbole but short on evidence and viable legal theories." The lawsuit alleges violations of the federal False Claims Act. It was initially filed by Armstrong's former teammate Floyd Landis. The federal government joined in 2013, seeking to recover more than $30 million it paid to sponsor Armstrong's teams from 1998-2004. Armstrong confessed in 2013 to doping to win the Tour de France seven times. For six of his seven Tour de France victories, the Postal Service was the title sponsor of his teams. Armstrong's lawyers wrote that the Postal Service entered into sponsorship agreements with the owners of a cycling team that Armstrong rode on, but that Armstrong was not a party to the agreements and did not read or sign them.

MISCELLANEOUS

Writer Sherrod dies

Blackie Sherrod, the longtime Texas sportswriter and mentor to some of the nation's top writers, has died at his Dallas home. He was 96. His wife, Joyce Sherrod, said her husband died Thursday afternoon after a week in hospice care. Sherrod was Texas Sportswriter of the Year a record 16 times and a Red Smith Award winner for lifetime achievement in sports writing. After World War II service as a Navy tail gunner, Sherrod was sports editor at the now-defunct Fort Worth Press, where he cultivated the nascent talents of authors Dan Jenkins and Edwin "Bud" Shrake. He took his popular column to the now-defunct Dallas Times-Herald in 1958 and The Dallas Morning News in 1985 before retiring in 2003.

NCAA

Proposed ban on satellite camps rescinded

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors rescinded a proposed ban on satellite camps Thursday, rebuffing a request from powerhouse conferences in the South and clearing the way for coaches to hold clinics far from their campuses this summer.

The board’s decision came almost three weeks after the Division I Council approved a proposal prohibiting Bowl Subdivision coaches from holding or working at camps and clinics away from their schools. The camps had drawn a high profile since Jim Harbaugh and his Michigan staff held camps in the South last summer.

“Good news,” Harbaugh said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press after the decision. “It’s good for prospective student-athletes, fans, coaches and competition.”

The SEC and Atlantic Coast Conference sponsored the proposal that created the ban, but there was an immediate outcry from coaches who contend satellite camps provide opportunities for un-recruited athletes to be noticed by high-profile coaches and possibly receive scholarships.

“While we are disappointed with the NCAA governance process result, we respect the Board of Directors’ decision and are confident SEC football programs will continue to be highly effective in their recruiting efforts,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said.

The SEC had warned it would lift its ban on satellite camp participation without an NCAA-wide ban. Sankey said SEC coaches will now be allowed to participate.

“We continue to believe football recruiting is primarily an activity best focused in high schools during the established recruiting calendar, which has provided opportunities for football prospective student-athletes from all across the country to obtain broad national access and exposure but with appropriate guidance from high school coaches, teachers and advisers,” Sankey said.

The Board of Directors also directed the council to conduct a broad assessment of FBS recruiting, with initial recommendations due by Sept. 1.

Sports on 04/29/2016

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