GOLF
Romo finishes last
Tony Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, finished last Friday in the 132-man field in the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship, bogeying the first six holes in a 10-under 82. Now an NFL analyst for CBS Sports, Romo opened with a 77 on Thursday. At 15 over, he was six shots worse than the next player on the leaderboard and 28 strokes behind leader Brice Garnett. Romo received a sponsor's exemption to the tournament in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and played as an amateur. Garnett followed his opening 63 with a 68 to get to 13-under 131. Steve Wheatcroft and Keith Mitchell were a shot back, each after their second 66. Seungsu Han (67) and Xinjun Zhang (68) were 10 under. Hunter Mahan (65) topped the group at 9 under, and Geoff Ogilvy (67) was 8 under. Matt Atkins (Henderson State) had a 67 and is 8 under. Ethan Tracy (Arkansas Razorbacks) is 7 under after a 69. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) shot a 75 and is 2 under.
Durant out front
Joe Durant had three consecutive birdies in a back-nine burst and a shot 6-under 66 on Friday to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions' Rapiscan Systems Classic. Durant birdied the par-4 11th and 12th and par-5 13th in the bogey-free round at Fallen Oak in Biloxi, Miss. He won the Chubb Classic last month in Naples, Fla., for his third victory on the 50-and-over tour. Mark Calcavecchia was a stroke back, and Steve Stricker shot 68. Billy Mayfair, Billy Andrade and David McKenzie shot 69. Jerry Kelly, the winner of the season-opening event in Hawaii, was at 70 with Wes Short Jr., Glen Day (Little Rock), Gene Sauers and Jesper Parnevik. Bernhard Langer opened with a 71, and two-time defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez had a 72. Vijay Singh, coming off his first senior victory two weeks ago in Newport Beach, Calif., had a 73.
Ex-Hog shares lead
Taylor Moore (Arkansas Razorbacks) and Julian Etulain shared the lead after two rounds Friday at the Louisiana Open at Broussard, La. Both were 10 under after shooting a 67 and a 70, respectively. Max Homa (68) was alone in third place at 9 under. Joey Garber (70) and Curtis Luck (65) were tied for fourth at 8 under. Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) was tied for 18th after a 67. Patrick Sullivan (Maumelle, UALR) and Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) did not make the cut.
TENNIS
Djokovic loses opener
Novak Djokovic's 16-match Key Biscayne winning streak ended Friday, and his struggle to overcome a bothersome right elbow continued. Djokovic lasted barely an hour at a tournament he has won six times, losing his opening match in the Miami Open to Benoit Paire, 6-3, 6-4. The defeat was Djokovic's third in a row. He returned from a six-month injury absence at the Australian Open and lost in the fourth round, and was upset two weeks ago at Indian Wells by Taro Daniel, a 109th-ranked qualifier. Against the 47th-ranked Paire, Djokovic dropped serve four times, returned poorly and had difficulty anticipating his crafty opponent's drop shots. In women's play, Naomi Osaka's breakthrough winning streak ended with a loss to No. 4-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-2. Osaka said began feeling ill before the match but didn't want to retire after upsetting eight-time champion Serena Williams in the first round.
BASEBALL
Bumgarner breaks hand
San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner is hurt for the second consecutive year, breaking a bone in his pitching hand when hit by a line drive off the bat of Kansas City's Whit Merrifield during a spring training game on Friday. The Giants said X-rays showed the 28-year-old had a broken bone on the outside of his left hand. Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, missed nearly three months last season after a dirt bike accident on April 20 during an off day in Colorado. After six consecutive seasons with double-digit victories, more than 200 innings and 30-plus starts, Bumgarner went 4-9 with a 3.32 ERA in 17 starts last season and threw just 111 innings.
Wright suspended
Boston Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright has accepted a 15-game suspension under Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy following his arrest on Dec. 8. Wright publicly apologized to his wife, Shannon, after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the penalty Friday. Wright said in a statement issued through the Major League Baseball Players Association that he regrets his actions that night and accepts full responsibility for what happened. The 33-year-old knuckleballer was an All-Star in 2016 but was limited to five starts last year by a left knee injury that required surgery May 8.
FOOTBALL
Hurns signs with Dallas
Free-agent wide receiver Allen Hurns agreed to a two-year deal worth to $12 million on Friday to join the Dallas Cowboys, according to multiple sources. Hurns is the second receiver to join the Cowboys in as many days, joining Deonte Thompson, who signed on Thursday. Hurns' addition also raises questions about the future of receiver Dez Bryant and his $12.5 million salary for next season. The Cowboys have questioned Bryant's salary and declining production since the beginning of the offseason. Hurns spent the past four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Undrafted out of Miami in 2014, Hurns was released on Tuesday for cap reasons and declining production since signing a four-year, $40.05 million extension in 2016. He caught 115 passes in his first two seasons, including 64 passes for 1,031 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2015. The last two seasons combined he has just 74 receptions for 961 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also has missed 11 games due to injuries. Now healthy again, Hurns hopes to get back to his previous production.
Osweiler now a Dolphin
Quarterback Brock Osweiler has signed a one-year contract with the Miami Dolphins, where he will be reunited with Coach Adam Gase. They were together when Gase was an assistant with the Denver Broncos in 2012-14. In Miami, Osweiler is expected to back up Ryan Tannehill. Osweiler went 0-4 as the Broncos' starter last season and has 25 career starts in six NFL seasons. With the Dolphins he replaces Matt Moore, a free agent after seven years as their backup quarterback. Tannehill is expected to return after missing all of the 2017 season following knee surgery. Despite adding Osweiler, the Dolphins will consider drafting a quarterback next month.
BASEBALL
Owner of Marlins, Dolphins, Panthers dies
H. Wayne Huizenga, the entrepreneur who owned three South Florida sports teams and expanded Blockbuster video and AutoNation into vast enterprises, died Thursday night at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 80.
Bob Henninger, executive vice president of Huizenga Holdings, Huizenga’s investment vehicle, confirmed the death, saying Huizenga had long been treated for cancer.
Huizenga (pronounced HIGH-zing-ah) achieved his first success with the sanitation company Waste Management, which traced its origins to a garbage route he personally drove in 1962. He went on to become a driving force in the consolidation of several fragmented industries, including video rental and auto sales.
“Wayne was a one-of-a-kind whose business success is unmatched and might never be repeated,” Mike Jackson, the AutoNation chief executive, said in a statement.
Huizenga, famous for his brass tacks financial sense, favored simple business models with steady cash flow. Despite rarely watching movies himself, he bought into the Blockbuster chain in 1987, when it claimed fewer than 20 stores, and helped expand it to more than 1,500 by 1991.
But this same unsentimentality led to a checkered career as a sports magnate. He owned a World Series champion, the 1997 Florida Marlins, but began dismantling the team shortly after that triumph amid significant financial losses. He also owned the Florida Panthers hockey team and the Miami Dolphins.
By his own admission he was not a particularly emotional sports fan.
Referring to Floridians’ attachment to their teams and their frustrations with some of his ownership decisions, he once told The Sun Sentinel of South Florida: “I think it’s great. I just don’t understand it. I don’t have a problem with that. I just don’t understand it, that’s all.”
Sports on 03/24/2018