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Morikawa Leads TOUR Championship

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ATLANTA – Collin Morikawa opened with career-low (61) in only his 98th PGA TOUR start. He set the tournament record for lowest opening round in this event. Morikawa has not won on TOUR since the 2020-21 season.

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Keegan Bradley, winner of the 2023 Travelers, recorded his lowest score in 17 rounds at the TOUR Championship, shooting (63).

Viktor Hovland stroked his second first-round lead/co-lead in individual stroke play events on TOUR, but is 0-for-1 in converting to victory. He moved to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings after winning last week’s BMW Championship, his fifth career TOUR victory.

Adam Schenk’s (63) lifted him to No. 5 on the Leaderboard. He is (-8) and only two strokes off the lead.

TOUR Championship | Leaderboard After 18 Holes

T1 Collin Morikawa 61 (-9)

T1 Keegan Bradley 63 (-7)

T1 Viktor Hovland 68 (-2)

4. Scottie Scheffler 71 (+1)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

FedEx Cup Standings: (link)

Red Sox Drub Astros, 17-1

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HOUSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Wilyer Abreu clubbed his first big-league home run and was one of eight Red Sox batters to record multiple hits as the visiting Sox cruised to a 17-1 drubbing of the Houston Astros on Thursday afternoon.

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Abreu went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, two runs and a walk. Connor Wong and Alex Verdugo – the duao acquired in the Sox trade for Mookie Betts years ago – also had four hits and five other players had two apiece for the Red Sox, who earned a split of the four-game series.

All nine batters in Boston’s starting lineup recorded at least one RBI and at least one of the club’s season-high 24 hits. The offensive showcase provided more than enough run support for Red Sox starter Brayan Bello (10-7), who gave up one run on nine hits in seven innings.

Alex Bregman drove in Houston’s lone run with a single. Mauricio Dubon doubled twice for the Astros, who went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. The 16-run deficit is tied for the largest in Astros history.

Duvall Leads Red Sox to Split

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HOUSTON – (Staff and wire Service Report) – After fouling a pitch directly off his left foot in the top of the 10th inning on Wednesday, Boston Red Sox center fielder Adam Duvall needed more than a couple of minutes to recover from the searing pain.

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His decision to stay in the fight paid immediate dividends for Boston. Duvall clubbed a tiebreaking, three-run home run on the next pitch of his at-bat to carry the Red Sox to a 7-5 victory over the host Houston Astros, a win that keeps Boston squarely in the American League wild-card picture.

Duvall has homered in each of the first three games of this four-game series, which concludes Thursday afternoon. His 14th long ball of the season was the biggest by far.

“He’s made some adjustments,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Duvall. “He’s catching up with the fastball and he’s pulling the ball. He mentioned a few weeks ago that he was missing that, and so far here he’s put three great swings. That was huge for us.”

Brayan Bello (9-7, 3.70 ERA) will start for the Red Sox on Thursday as Boston attempts to gain a series split.

The right-hander allowed one run on six hits and one walk with four strikeouts over six innings on Friday against the New York Yankees in an 8-3 victory. That lowered his ERA to 5.03 in seven starts since the All-Star break, a contrast to his last 12 starts before the break, when he compiled a 2.35 ERA. Bello leads the Red Sox in starts (21) and innings (119 1/3) this season.

Bello has faced the Astros once previously, recording two strikeouts while allowing two hits in two-thirds of an innings of relief in a no-decision on Aug. 3, 2022.

Rookie right-hander J.P. France (9-4, 2.75 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Astros on Thursday.

He recorded his 12th quality start on Friday against the Seattle Mariners, allowing two runs on seven hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over six innings in a 2-0 loss. France is among rookie leaders in quality starts, wins, opponents’ OPS (.675), innings (108) and WHIP (1.21). His ERA is the lowest in franchise history through the first 18 career appearances (minimum six starts).

France will face the Red Sox for the first time in his career.

The Astros are in desperate need of length from France, who has logged seven innings in four of his previous six starts. The last Astros starter to record at least 21 outs was Framber Valdez on Aug. 14 against the Miami Marlins, a game in which the Astros used only one relief pitcher.

In the eight games since, the Astros have used at least four relievers six times.

France and Justin Verlander, who tossed six scoreless innings on Tuesday, are the only starters to log at least six innings during that stretch, with Houston having to overwork its bullpen to cover for shortened outings from Cristian Javier (4 2/3 innings on Aug. 15 at Miami), Hunter Brown (2 2/3 innings on Sunday against Seattle) and Jose Urquidy, who recorded only 14 outs Wednesday.

“We need it,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said of an extended outing from France to spare the bullpen. “We were upside down (Wednesday). We got upside down early in the 13-game streak (of games played on consecutive days) and we had a couple short outings, which put pressure on the bullpen. We’re at the drawing board now trying to figure out what we’re going to do.”

PGA Tour Season Concludes

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ATLANTA – This is it! The final PGA Tour Brunch preview of the 2023 PGA Tour season. It coincides with the final stop of the FedEx Cup Playoffs – the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club.

At the conclusion of the TOUR Championship, the player with the lowest stroke total over 72 holes when combined with FedEx Cup starting strokes, will be crowned the FedEx Cup Champion.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler enters the week at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings and will begin the tournament at (10-under) via FedEx Cup starting strokes, becoming the first player to enter the TOUR Championship with the lead in the FedEx Cup two years in a row. Scheffler’s official money total of $21,014,342 is the highest in a single season in PGA TOUR history.

Scheffler, who won THE PLAYERS Championship in March, could become only the second player to win THE PLAYERS and the FedEx Cup in the same year – the first since Rory McIlroy in 2019.

The last player to lead the money list in consecutive seasons is Justin Thomas in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Scheffler also leads the PGA TOUR in Greens in Regulation percentage at 74.03 percent and led that category in 2021-22; the last player to lead the TOUR in GIR percentage in consecutive years is John Senden in 2009 and 2010.

Viktor Hovland earned his fifth career title and second of the season at the BMW Championship (first: the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday). Hovland enters the week at No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings and has advanced to the TOUR Championship all four seasons as a PGA TOUR member (best finish was fifth in 2021).

The only three-time FedEx Cup Champion Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022), will attempt to become the first player to win the FedEx Cup in back-to-back seasons. McIlroy enters the week No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, his highest position entering the TOUR Championship since the starting strokes format was introduced in 2019.

TOUR Championship | Tournament Facts

COURSE: East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

YARDS/PAR: 7,346 yards/Par 70

ARCHITECTS: Tom Benelow

PRIZE Money – Purse: $75,000,000/$18,000,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Rory McIlroy

PAST RESULTS: (link)

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @FedExChamp @TourChampionship

The Way They’ll Start at TOUR Championship

  1. Scottie Scheffler (-10)
  2. Viktor Hovland (-8)
  3. Rory McIlroy (-7)
  4. Jon Rahm (-6)
  5. Lucas Glover (-5)
  6. Max Homa (-4)
  7. Patrick Cantlay (-4)
  8. Brian Harman (-4)
  9. Wyndham Clark (-4)
  10. Matt Fitzpatrick (-4)

FedEx Cup Standings: (link)

Notre Dame Dominates Navy in Ireland

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DUBLIN – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Notre Dame’s QB Sam Hartman threw for four touchdowns in his Notre Dame debut as the 13th-ranked Fighting Irish crushed Navy, 42-3, in Ireland on Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.

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Hartman spent the last five seasons at Wake Forest, where he threw for an Atlantic Coast Conference record 110 touchdowns. He looked right at home with his new program on Saturday, completing 19 of 23 passes for 266 yards.

Jaden Greathouse had three catches for 68 yards and two TDs for Notre Dame, which improved to 3-0 against the Midshipmen in games played in Ireland. Jayden Thomas added 78 yards on four receptions.

Alex Tecza had 38 rushing yards and Daba Fofana recorded 32 on 16 carries for Navy, which saw quarterback Tai Lavatai complete 3 of 6 passes for 43 yards.

The Midshipmen finished with 169 yards of total offense and made just two trips to the red zone.

The Fighting Irish put together a 13-play, 81-yard drive to open the game, taking a 7-0 lead on Audric Estime’s 1-yard rushing touchdown. Estime ended up with 95 yards on 16 touches for the game.

After the Midshipmen failed to convert a fourth-and-3 on their ensuing drive, Notre Dame doubled its advantage when Jadarian Price scored on the ground from 19 yards out with 1:03 left in the opening quarter.

Hartman made it 21-0 when he recorded his first TD as a member of the Fighting Irish, a 35-yard strike to Greathouse with 10 minutes left in the first half.

Evan Warren’s 36-yard field-goal attempt with 1:55 to play until the break went wide right, and Notre Dame capitalized on the miss when Hartman found Thomas for a 14-yard TD 1:42 later to send the Irish into halftime up 28-0.

Navy went three-and-out to begin the second half. The Fighting Irish took less than three minutes to tack on to their lead, as Greathouse was on the receiving end of a 20-yard touchdown that made it 35-0.

Hartman connected with Deion Colzie for a 25-yard TD with 11:54 remaining in the game before Warren broke the shutout by making good on a 31-yard field goal.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – August 20

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Yes, the dateline is Boston – not Liberty Park, NJ and not Olympia Fields (the site of this weekend’s semifinal tournament), nor Atlanta (the site of next week’s TOUR Championship) nor the old fave of Norton, Massachusetts where the TPC Boston hosted the Deutsche Bank Championship/Dell Technologies/Northern Trust Championship, once hailed as a MUST stop for the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs and a gem of a sporting event held every Labor Day weekend of yesteryear.

There was nothing better in the summer sports world than Labor Day Weekend datelines of FENWAY – CHESTNUT HILL – NORTON and FLUSHING MEADOW when a relatively easy step in time management – combined with some swift driving – could parlay an MLB game hosted by the Red Sox with a college Football game hosted by Boston College with a round of professional golf at TPC Boston then a drive to the Billie Jean King/United States Tennis Center for the annual U.S. Open – the raucous finale to tennis’ Grand Slams.

One year, an “all of the above” was coupled with a flight to Philadelphia and a Saturday at the AND1 Summer JAM, held at Temple U’s Liacouras Center to mix some tape and hoops as AND1 re-launched its brand only to be bought-up by yet another distressed brand gold-digger.

The finish that year and others was the Labor Day Monday conclusion to the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoff event, a tournament then hosted by the Tiger Woods Foundation.

In 2003, the DBC replaced the Air Canada Championship when the authorities of the PGA Tour collaborated with the sponsors at FedEx to conjure-up a way to tie each PGA Tour season into a nice, neat bow. The players loved the risk v. reward aspects of the TPC Boston and the crowds poured through the gates, giving the Tour a signature event to rival tennis’ grand slam event in Flushing and frequently compete for eyeballs with the opening weekend of college football and the NFL.

Those suits at the PGA Tour and FedEx learned their lessons, though, and eventually streamlined the regular season and playoff schedule to conclude BEFORE the start of college footy and the NFL alike. When the music stopped, no one was playing “Shipping Up to Boston,” and the DBC/Dell Technologies/Northern Trust was no more.

Some of the great PGA Tour golfers who won at the DBC:

2003 Adam Scott

2004 Vijay Singh

2005 Olin Browne

2006 Tiger woods

2007 Phil Mickelson

2008 Vijay Singh

2009 Steve Stricker

2010 Charlie Hoffman

2011 Webb Simpson

2012 Rory McIlroy

2013 Henrik Stenson

2014 Chris Kirk

2015 Rickie Fowler

2016 Rory McIlroy

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Last week, the column touched on the issues facing NCAA athletic administrators around the country.

Sports lawyer Darren Heitner took a look at the happenings surfacing this past week.

“It appears that Georgia high school athletes will soon be able to enter into NIL deals,” wrote Heitner.

“Robin Hines, executive director of the Georgia High School Association, said that he will have a proposal ready for the Association’s Executive Committee meeting this Fall. The expectation is that the Executive Committee will approve the proposal if one reads through the lines on Hines’ overall commentary.

Looking back, Heitner recalled: “Julian “JuJu” Lewis” is a perfect example. As Pete Thamel highlighted for ESPN in a February 17, 2023 article titled, “The prep QB phenom and a million-dollar NIL question,” Lewis, a 15-year-old at the time the article was written, is already being compared to Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields. You would think that Lewis can start cashing in on his fame right now, but Georgia’s high school athletic association doesn’t allow for it . . . yet.

“While more than half of the states in the country have legalized name, image and likeness (NIL) deals in some form for high school athletes, the state of Georgia sits at a compelling crossroads. It is home to one of the richest recruiting bases in the country, the back-to-back national champions of college football and a generational prospect in Lewis, who could command well over a million dollars on the open market over the next three seasons,” wrote Thamel.

“As of now, a total of 31 states (as well as Washington D.C.) already allow or are soon to allow high school athletes to enter into NIL deals. Not on that list are states like the aforementioned Georgia, along with Florida, and Alabama, as well as Texas, South Carolina, Ohio, North Carolina, and Mississippi, which tend to produce a lot of talent for the next level. One would think that these states are closely monitoring what happens in Georgia and if as expected the state does decide to start allowing for NIL transactions to take place, they will likely follow suit.

Info From A Joint Survey By Sportico And The Harris Poll

Makes it seem like America at large is warming up to college athletes being compensated and perhaps to a greater degree. From the article:

  • 67% of U.S. adults believe college athletes should be able to receive direct compensation from their schools.
  • 64% support athletes’ rights to obtain employee status.
  • 59% believe athletes should be able to collectively bargain as a labor union.
  • More Americans today (74%) support athletes’ right of publicity than they did in November 2020 (62%).

The Collective Association Grows To 17 Strong

The trade association that advocates for athletes, shares best practices, and acts as a unified voice to shape the development of the NIL market has added 10 collectives to the fold.

As a reminder, the initial seven founding members were:

  • Classic City Collective (University of Georgia)
  • Spyre Sports Group (University of Tennessee)
  • The Grove Collective (University of Mississippi)
  • The Battle’s End (Florida State University)
  • House of Victory (University of Southern California)
  • Champions Circle (University of Michigan)
  • Happy Valley United (Penn State University)

The 10 new Collectives are:

  • Wildcat NIL (Kansas State University)
  • Garnet Trust (University of South Carolina)
  • Mass St. Collec)ve (University of Kansas)
  • The 1870 Society (Ohio State University)
  • The 5430 Foundation (University of Colorado)
  • Desert Takeover Collective (University of Arizona)
  • Every True Tiger (University of Missouri)
  • The Royal Blue (BYU)
  • Sun Angel Collective (Arizona State University)
  • 502 Circle (University of Louisville)

Says WWYI, “Let the NIL Be with Us.”

Turner Breaks Tie and Yanks

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Justin Turner hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the host New York Yankees 6-5 on Sunday afternoon to send their longtime rival to an eighth straight loss for the first time since 1995.

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Boston got its seventh straight win over the Yankees when Turner hit an 0-1 sinker from Clay Holmes (4-4) to the warning track in right field to easily score Pablo Reyes, who hit a leadoff single.

Before Turner’s hit, the Yankees appeared to take the lead in the eighth when Isiah Kiner-Falefa scored from first on rookie Anthony Volpe’s single.

The Red Sox challenged the play for obstruction and Kiner-Falefa’s run was overturned. The Yankees then were unsuccessful in challenging that catcher Connor Wong blocked the plate.

The Yankees are on their first eight-game skid since Aug. 19-26, 1995, when they went from 53-50 to 53-58 before finishing 26-7 to get the first wild-card spot.

Boston reliever Chris Martin (4-1) got the win and Kenley Jansen struck out two and stranded two in the ninth for his 29th save.

Turner drove in four runs and gave the Red Sox a 5-2 lead in the seventh with a three-run homer off Michael King one pitch after slugger Rafael Devers was intentionally walked.

Devers homered and had hits in his first three at-bats. He also scored Boston’s second run on a throwing error by shortstop Volpe in the sixth.

Kyle Higashioka and Gleyber Torres hit tying homers in the third and sixth off bulk reliever Nick Pivetta. Volpe hit a tying three-run homer off John Schreiber in the seventh before pinch hitter Giancarlo Stanton faced left-hander Brennan Bernardino and flew out with two on to end the inning.

Six days after allowing eight runs in Atlanta, New York starter Clarke Schmidt allowed two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.

After opener Josh Winckowski pitched the first, Pivetta allowed two runs and three hits in five innings.

–Field Level Media

Batting Practice in the Bronx

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NEW YORK – Boston rookie OF Masataka Yoshida hit a three-run homer four batters in, starting pitcher Brayan Bello tossed six effective innings and the Boston Red Sox recorded an 8-3 victory over the slumping, last place New York Yankees on Friday night in the Bronx.

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The Red Sox beat the Yankees for the sixth time in seven meetings this season and won their fifth straight over New York.

Justin Turner hit singles in each of his first three at-bats and produced a pair of RBI singles. Rafael Devers also had two RBIs, one of which was an RBI single to start Boston’s three-run second that followed a fielding error by New York second baseman Gleyber Torres.

NY slugger Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the eighth as the Yankees lost their sixth straight. It is their longest slide since dropping seven straight Sept 4-10, 2021.

The Red Sox took a 4-0 lead 19 pitches in against rookie Jhony Brito (4-6) when Yoshida hit a changeup into the right-center field seats.

Boston opened with four straight hits and Turner preceded Yoshida’s 13th homer with an RBI base hit after Verdugo and Rafael Devers poked hits. Yoshida homered after the Yankees were charged with consecutive mound visits to go over signs after Brito encountered trouble because the PitchCom device was not working for both teams.

Yoshida capped the second with a base hit to make it 7-0 and Devers contributed another RBI single in the ninth.

Bello (9-7) allowed one run and six hits to win for the third time in four starts. He struck out four, walked one and beat the Yankees for the second time this season.

After Garrett Whitlock allowed Judge’s 23rd homer, he ended the eighth by striking out Giancarlo Stanton. Brennan Bernardino allowed two hits in the ninth before Chris Martin finished it.

The Yankees avoided being shutout in three straight games when Anthony Volpe doubled and scored on DJ LeMahieu’s groundout in the third.

Brito allowed seven runs (six earned) and nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Face Struggling NY Yankees

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BRONX – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The New York Yankees are looking forward to returning home even if the fans’ reaction might turn hostile.

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The Boston Red Sox are in contention for a wild-card spot and can bolster their postseason hopes while burying their rival even further. (Betting Odds)

Under .500 this late in the season for the first time since 1995, the Yankees host the Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night.

New York returns home for the first time since splitting a four-game series with the Houston Astros on Aug. 6. The Yankees went 2-7 on a road trip against the Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves and are 6 1/2 games behind Toronto for the final American League wild-card spot.

Rob Refsnyder walked and Devers followed with his 27th homer of the season, a shot into the second deck in right center that pulled the Red Sox within 9-7.

Garrett’s RBI single in the eighth made it 10-7.

Casas gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead when he homered leading off the third.

The Nationals quickly tied it in the bottom of the third. Jeter Downs walked, stole second and went to third on a throwing error by catcher Wong. Downs scored when third baseman Devers misplayed a Meneses grounder.

Red Sox Drop Another to Nationals

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WASH DC – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Washington’s first baseman Joey Meneses had two hits and drove in five runs, SP Patrick Corbin pitched six strong innings and the host Nationals held on to beat the Boston Red Sox 10-7 in the rubber game of their series on Thursday.

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Keibert Ruiz had three hits and Stone Garrett had two hits and three RBIs for the Nationals, who are 5-1 on their homestand and have won 10 of 14.

Corbin (8-11) allowed one run on four hits. He struck out six without a walk.

Boston put runners on second and third with no outs against Kyle Finnegan in the ninth, but Finnegan retired the next three batters without allowing a run for his 19th save.

Luis Urias hit a grand slam for Boston, Rafael Devers hit a two-run homer and Triston Casas smacked a solo shot.

Chris Sale (5-3) allowed three runs — two earned — in 4 1/3 innings.

Boston trailed 9-1 entering the seventh. Adam Duvall led off with a single against reliever Robert Garcia. With one out, Pablo Reyes singled and Casas walked. After Connor Wong struck out, Urias hit a grand slam to center.