GOLF
Three out front
Another day of soft conditions at Firestone wasn't enough for Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy or anyone else to catch a trio of leaders going into the weekend at the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio. PGA champion Justin Thomas (64) and the English duo of Tommy Fleetwood (63) and Ian Poulter (67) set the pace to share the lead at 11-under 129, with no indication Firestone is going to get much tougher. McIlroy hit a tee shot from the 17th tee that landed closer to the 16th fairway. He hit into a bunker and holed out for the start of a birdie-birdie finish and a 67 that left him three behind. Woods stuffed a tee shot to 2 feet on the 12th hole to get within four shots, and then played the last six holes in 1 over for a 68. He was five behind. Andrew Landry (Arkansas Razorbacks) was 3 under after a 67. Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Razorbacks) was 2 over after a 69.
Smith leads by 2
Jerry Smith made three late birdies to shoot a bogey-free 8-under 64 on Friday and take a two-shot lead at the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn. Kenny Perry, Lee Janzen, Peter Lonard and Glen Day (Little Rock) were two strokes back. Lonard, who was added to the field on Tuesday, made a hole-in-one on the 177-yard fourth. John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) was 3 under after a 69 and was tied for 19th.
Baddeley moves up
Aaron Baddeley moved into the lead of the Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nev., on Friday after scoring a 12 and, with 26 points, is 1 point ahead of first-round leader Ollie Schniederjans. Andrew Putnam, Sam Saunders and John Merrick are all tied at 23 points. The players are using a modified Stableford scoring format. Ethan Tracy (Arkansas Razorbacks) was tied for 27th with 15 points. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) has 10 points and Matt Atkins (Henderson State) was minus-1.
Straka, Jones tied
Sepp Straka and Kyle Jones were tied for the lead Friday after the second round of the Web.com Tour's KC Golf Classic in Overland Park, Kan. Straka (65) and Jones (66) are tied at 13-under 129 heading into the weekend. Sam Burns (64) and Max Rottluff (63) are tied at one stroke back. Sebastian Cappelen (Arkansas Razorbacks) is tied for 25th at 6 under after a 68. Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) and Patrick Sullivan (Maumelle, UALR) did not make the cut.
Phatlum leads by 1
Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand had a second round of 5-under 67 on Friday, giving her a one-stroke lead heading into the weekend at the Women's British Open at Lytham St. Annes, England. In a three-way share of second place at 9 under is Minjee Lee, who was clear at 12 under before she double-bogeyed No. 16 and dropped another shot at No. 17 to post a 70. She is tied with home favorite Georgia Hall and Mamiko Higa. Top-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn was seven shots back after rounds of 71 and 70, No. 6 Shanshan Feng (71-71) was one stroke further back, and No. 2 Inbee Park (76-74) missed the cut.
Campbell by 4
Ben Campbell of New Zealand shot a 6-under 66 Friday to take a four-stroke lead after two rounds of the Fiji International. Campbell is 11 under overall at the European Tour event, four ahead of Australia's Andrew Dodt, who returned a 70 at the Natadola Bay layout. One behind him are fellow Australians Jarryd Felton (71) and Terry Pilkadaris (68).
TENNIS
Teen takes No. 3 seed
Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas eliminated No. 3 seed David Goffin 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to reach the semifinals in his Citi Open debut. Tsitsipas, 19, is coming off his first run to the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament, last month at Wimbledon. He will face No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev or No. 7 Kei Nishikori, both past champions in Washington, in the semifinals. Andy Murray pulled out of his quarterfinal after winning a trio of three-setters and lamenting a schedule that had him start his latest victory at midnight. The three-time major champion withdrew Friday, citing fatigue, hours before he was supposed to face Alex de Minaur, 19, who was given a walkover into the semifinals. Murray's third-round victory over Marius Copil ended just after 3 a.m. Friday.
MMA
McGregor to return
Conor McGregor will return to mixed martial arts on Oct. 6 in Las Vegas with a bout against UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The UFC dramatically announced the matchup Friday to close a news conference promoting the slate of fight cards for the rest of 2018. McGregor won the featherweight and lightweight championships during his meteoric MMA career, but he hasn't fought in the UFC since taking the lightweight belt from Eddie Alvarez in November 2016. McGregor hasn't competed at all since losing his incredibly lucrative boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in August 2017.
HORSE RACING
HOF class inducted
Dogwood Stable President Cot Campbell is among the newest members of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Campbell, 90, was inducted Friday during ceremonies held near the museum, located across the street from Saratoga Race Course. Joining him in the Hall of Fame's Pillars of the Turf category are Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Penny Chenery, Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin, August Belmont I, John W. Galbreath, Arthur B. Hancock Sr., Hal Price Headley, John Morrissey, Dr. Charles H. Strub, William Collins Whitney and Harry Payne Whitney. They joined three other inductees in the class of 2018, thoroughbreds Heavenly Prize and Preakness, and trainer William Lakeland.
Sports on 08/04/2018