-
Arnold Palmer Invitational: Veteran Lee Westwood carries 1-shot lead into Sunday
ORLANDO, Fla. — Jordan Spieth was 16 years old the last time Lee Westwood won on the PGA Tour, in 2010. Keegan Bradley’s 2011 PGA Championship victory and his stellar play during the 2012 Ryder Cup remain the highlights of the 34-year-old’s career. All three golfers are hungry to create another moment Sunday at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. The third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational ended with a packed leaderboard featuring major champions and household names. A victory on Tour would be a long time coming for many of them, so long in the case of the 47-year-old Westwood the details are fuzzy...
Orlando Sentinel
-
Mike Bianchi: Bryson DeChambeau wants to go where no golfer has ever gone
ORLANDO, Fla. — He is the Christopher Columbus of professional golf – a pathfinder, a pilgrim, an explorer who is in search of a brave, new world. He is willing to put his very livelihood on the line to prove that the golf world is not flat and finite; it is infinitely round, meaning you can sail the golf ball forever if you have the guts and gumption. Whether he ultimately succeeds or fails in his scientific expedition, Bryson DeChambeau is what golf and all sports and businesses need: An adventurer who is willing to take risks and push the limits of product development. His quest is simple: ...
Orlando Sentinel
-
Omari Sankofa II: What GM Troy Weaver can learn from Pistons' failed Blake Griffin trade
DETROIT — Stan Van Gundy’s explanation for the trade that brought the Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin, at the time, was sound. How often are mid-market NBA teams able to swing trades for bona fide franchise players? “The hardest thing to do in this league is to get a proven star,” Van Gundy said on Jan. 30, 2018, a day after the Pistons pried Griffin away from the Los Angeles Clippers. “It’s just very hard to do. It’s hard to do in free agency, it’s hard to do in trades. “He’s only 28 years old. We know the injury history. That’s the risk on it, but that risk was worth it because of the ...
Detroit Free Press
-
Arnold Palmer Invitational: Canada’s Corey Conners tops eclectic, intriguing leaderboard at Bay Hill
ORLANDO, Fla. — Golfer Corey Conners is an outlier, whether he’s emerging from a tiny town in Ontario to reach the PGA Tour or rising to the top of the leaderboard after 36 holes at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. The 29-year-old Canadian entered the Arnold Palmer Invitational ranked 60th in the world. Yet even players behind him in the rankings, namely No. 62 Jordan Spieth and No. 65 Rickie Fowler, were the ones generating pre-tournament buzz and fanfare. Conners, meanwhile, quietly went out Thursday and carded a 6-under par to tie superstar Rory McIlroy for the first-round lead, and then backed it ...
Orlando Sentinel
-
'I think we have cause': LSU AD said Les Miles should be fired for conduct with women
Former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva suggested to his school's president in 2013 that football coach Les Miles should be fired because of his alleged conduct against female student workers, according to an investigation into how LSU responded to Title IX complaints released Friday. Miles, entering his third season as Kansas' football coach, was cited frequently in other parts of the report as well, which included the description of a meeting with a female student worker who claimed that something bad happened to her when she was alone with Miles. Alleva's email was sent to incoming LSU pres...
The Kansas City Star
-
Larry Stone: Sue Bird's return for 20th year with Storm is the perfect time to salute her greatness on and off court
SEATTLE — To think, the Storm could have lost the WNBA draft lottery after finishing tied with three other teams — the Detroit Shock, the Washington Mystics, and the Indiana Fever — for the worst record in the 2002 season. Under previous rules, in fact, the Mystics would have been handed No. 1 by virtue of a tiebreaking formula the league decided to discontinue. What a legacy changer that would have been. Or the Storm could have traded the No. 1 overall pick, as coach/general manager Lin Dunn seriously contemplated, or used the selection on Oklahoma guard Stacey Dales-Schuman, as The Seattle T...
The Seattle Times
-
Jordan Spieth’s Arnold Palmer Invitational debut a thank you to The King’s contributions to golf
ORLANDO, Fla. — Jordan Spieth was a tongue-tied 20-year-old unable to summon the right words during a chance meeting with Arnold Palmer at the 2014 Masters. This week at the iconic golfer’s longstanding tournament, Spieth will make his debut and in a sense deliver a long overdue, yet simple message for one of the game’s most impactful players. “You just want to say thank you for continuing to boost this sport and at a professional level further and further, and allowing us the opportunities that we have,” Spieth said Wednesday on the eve of the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Spieth burst ont...
Orlando Sentinel
-
Four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird re-signs with Seattle Storm
What appears to be the final — and arguably most important — offseason domino fell for the Storm when the team announced the signing of four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird on Monday. “Seattle and the Storm franchise have been home for my entire career,” Bird said in a statement released by the team. “This is a special team and I’m looking forward to getting back on the court with them as well as representing this great city and our amazing fans.” It had been a foregone conclusion that Bird, an unrestricted free agent and the league’s oldest player at 40, would return for her 18th season and 20th ...
The Seattle Times
-
Keith Pompey: Is acquiring Victor Oladipo a risk Sixers might want to take in pursuit of NBA title?
What about Victor Oladipo? Would the 76ers be wise to trade for the Houston Rockets’ combo guard in their pursuit of this season’s NBA title? Oladipo’s presence alongside Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris could help catapult the Sixers beyond the Eastern Conference finals. Like Toronto’s Lowry, Oladipo’s contract expires at the conclusion of this season. Some around the league think Oladipo could be a candidate to sign a contract with the Miami Heat during the upcoming free-agency period. So one has to imagine that the Rockets will look to move the two-time All-Star they acquired in ...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
-
Poconos ski resorts see their best season in years amid COVID-19 escapes, lots of snow
As November’s weather ended on a mild spell, and with COVID-19 restrictions looming, Pennsylvania’s ski resorts started the season with trepidation. “We were definitely a little nervous,” said Rachel Wyckoff, spokesperson at Shawnee Mountain in East Stroudsburg. “We weren’t sure what to expect.” But the season has exceeded expectations of even the most cautiously optimistic. “It’s been amazing,” Wyckoff said. “We’ve never seen so many skiers, tubers and snowboarders want to be out there all day. We have sold out every weekend this season.” Though she did not share numbers, Wyckoff said online ...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
- More