The Latest: Duval posts a 13 on par-5 7th at British Open
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — The Latest on first round of The British Open:
David Duval posted a 13 on the par-5 seventh hole at the British Open.
The 2001 champion also had a quadruple-bogey 8 on the fifth at Royal Portrush. He birdied the first two holes and is 11 over through eight.
Duval won at Royal Lytham & St. Annes 18 years ago but now spends more time as a golf commentator than he does playing professional events.
McIlroy knows this is not just another British Open
Update:
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — The Latest on first round of The British Open (all times local):
11:40 a.m.
Rory McIlroy found the thick rough again at the British Open, this time on No. 5, but he managed to save par with a chip onto the green and a pair of putts for a 4.
McIlroy came into the tournament as one of favorites, partly because he set the course record at Royal Portrush when he was a 16-year-old amateur. But he took a quadruple-bogey 8 on the first hole and then another bogey on the third to put him at 5 over — nine strokes behind leaders Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry, Alex Noren and Webb Simpson.
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — On the final day of practice for the final major of the year, Rory McIlroy ripped a shot out of the light rough and began walking toward the green when he stopped in the middle of the fairway for a quick interview with Sky Sports.
That’s normal for McIlroy at any British Open.
Fans stood six deep, creating a corridor as he walked to the third tee on Wednesday. The grandstand was full and the gallery framed the entire par 3, despite heavy clouds that began to darken with the promise of more rain at Royal Portrush.
No, this is not a normal British Open — certainly not for McIlroy no matter how hard he tries to convince himself as golf’s oldest championship returns to his native Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years.
Pumpsie Green, 1st black player on Boston Red Sox, dies
BOSTON (AP) — Former Boston Red Sox infielder Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, the first black player on the last major league team to field one, has died. He was 85.
The Red Sox said Green, who lived in California most of his life, died Wednesday at in a hospital in San Leandro, near Oakland; no cause of death was immediately available. The team observed a moment of silence before its game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Pumpsie Green occupies a special place in our history,” Red Sox owner John Henry said. “He was, by his own admission, a reluctant pioneer, but we will always remember him for his grace and perseverance in becoming our first African-American player. He paved the way for the many great Sox players of color who followed. For that, we all owe Pumpsie a debt of gratitude.”
A light-hitting second baseman and shortstop, Green brought baseball’s segregation era to an end of sorts when he entered a game against the Chicago White Sox as a pinch-runner for Vic Wertz on July 21, 1959 — more than a dozen years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Green joined the team on a road trip and had played nine games before taking the field at Fenway Park for the first time. Green said this year in an interview with NESN, the Red Sox TV network, that he remembered receiving a standing ovation when he came to the plate, batting leadoff.
“It was heart-warming and nerve-wracking,” he told reporters in 1997, when he returned to Boston to take part in ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of Robinson’s debut. “But I got lucky: I hit a triple off the left-center fence.”
Born in Boley, Oklahoma, he moved with his family to California at a young age and met his wife Marie Presley at Contra Costa Junior College. He made his professional baseball debut at 19 years old for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League and was the California League’s Most Valuable Player in 1955.
The Red Sox purchased his contract and he attended his first spring training with the club in ’56. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in September of 1958.
Green didn’t have the talent of Hall of Famers like Robinson and Larry Doby, who was the first black player in the American League. The Red Sox infielder reached the majors as a role player, just once playing more than 88 games, and never hitting more than six homers or batting better than .278.
Green played parts of four seasons with the Red Sox before finishing his career with one year on the New York Mets. In all, he batted .246 with 13 homers and 74 RBIs.
But his first appearance in a Boston uniform ended baseball’s ugliest chapter, and the fact that it took the Red Sox so long left a stain on the franchise – and a void in the trophy case – it is still trying to erase.
The Red Sox had a chance to sign Robinson in 1945, before the Dodgers, and Hall of Famer Willie Mays a few years later; they chose not to, decisions that help explain the 86-year World Series championship drought that didn’t end until 2004. Last year, acknowledging the poor racial record of longtime owner Thomas A. Yawkey, the team expunged his name from the street outside the ballpark.
A few days after Green was called up, the Red Sox added Earl Wilson, a black pitcher. Green said there was an informal quota system that required teams to have an even number of black players so they would have someone to room with on the road.
They were among the few blacks in the clubhouse, the front office or the crowd, Green said in ’97.
“Most of the time it was just me,” he said. “It was almost an oddity when you saw a black person walking around the stands.”
But unlike Robinson, Green said, he received no death threats. “It was mostly insults,” he said then.
“But you can get those at any ballpark at any time,” he said. “I learned to tune things out.”
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos are the first team in the NFL to kick off training camp Thursday, and they’ll do it with Emmanuel Sanders on hand and also Drew Lock .
Sanders won’t be full-go as he continues his comeback from a torn Achilles tendon last December, but “Emmanuel looks good. He’s not going to go on PUP. He’ll start practicing from Day 1,” general manager John Elway said Wednesday. “Obviously we’re going to work him in slowly.”
Pro Bowl running back Phillip Lindsay , who hasn’t taken a snap since suffering a wrist injury at Oakland on Christmas Eve, also will be eased into action.
“Lindsay’s ready to go,” new head coach Vic Fangio said. “Lindsay, Emmanuel, we’ll ease them in, but we’ll get them in quickly.”
Rookies and veterans reported to UC Health Training Center on Wednesday, a week earlier than usual because of the Broncos’ upcoming Hall of Fame game against Atlanta on Aug. 1.
Former Auburn assistant basketball coach avoids prison
NEW YORK (AP) — Former Auburn University assistant basketball coach and NBA star Chuck Person’s lifelong generosity may have driven him to the poorhouse, but it saved him from the jailhouse Wednesday when a judge sentenced him in a bribery scandal that touched some of the biggest college basketball programs.
U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska cited Person’s “random acts of charity that happened all the time” as she explained why he won’t be locked up for taking bribes to steer top college players toward a financial adviser who was cooperating with the government’s investigation.
“The worst thing you have to say is that you were charitable to a fault,” she told Person, who wiped tears from his face repeatedly. “Keep up the good work.”
She ordered him to do 200 hours of community service during the two years the Probation Department will supervise him.
“No purpose would be served by incarceration,” Preska said.
Price, Eckersley feuding again after Eck’s comments to Globe
BOSTON (AP) — David Price ignited an old feud Wednesday with Red Sox TV analyst Dennis Eckersley after the Hall of Fame pitcher commented about a confrontation between the men in a story by The Boston Globe this week.
Two years ago, Price confronted Eckersley on a team flight after Eckersley was critical of a player’s performance on air. On Wednesday, Price called it “trash” that Eckersley discussed the incident during an interview for a lengthy piece on the former pitcher’s life and career.
“I didn’t know how to deal with that. I don’t plan on saying a word to him, I don’t plan on seeing him, never,” Eckersley told The Boston Globe Magazine about the incident. “I don’t really give a (expletive) one way or another. I don’t think he really cares one way or the other.”
Schwarber’s homer in 10th gives Cubs 4-3 win over Reds
CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Schwarber wasn’t thinking home run when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning Tuesday night.
That, he believes, was the key to success.
Schwarber hit a solo home run with one out to give the Chicago Cubs a 4-3 comeback victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
The lefty slugger stroked a 1-1 pitch from closer Raisel Iglesias (2-8) into the basket in front of the left field bleachers for his 21st homer and first career game-ending hit of any kind.
“I was actually trying to hit a single up the middle,” Schwarber said. “I didn’t want to get too big. I stayed up the middle, just got under it and hit it well enough for it to catch the basket.”
Robel Garcia and Kris Bryant also connected for the NL Central leaders, who have won six of eight.
Eugenio Suárez homered for Cincinnati, which fell to 7-4 against Chicago this season.
Steve Cishek (3-5) worked the 10th and four Cubs relievers combined for four scoreless innings.
MLB Highlights
NEWTON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Hawks Jr. Legion baseball team clawed their way all the way back in the Class A, Zone 4 Jr. American Legion baseball tournament in Newton this week, but came up short to the host team Newton Jr. Knights Friday night in Newton, dropping that affair 9-8.
