Update on the latest sports
APGOLF-BRITISH OPEN
Oosthuizen opens with a 64 to lead British Open
SANDWICH, England (AP) — Louis Oosthuizen (OOST’-hay-zehn) is the clubhouse leader at the British Open and has a place in the record book at Royal St. George’s.
Coming off two runner-up finishes in the last two majors, Oosthuizen took advantage of soft conditions on a links known for its crazy bounces. He shot a 6-under 64. That matches the lowest opening round of a British Open at Royal St. George’s. Christy O’Connor Jr. had a 64 in the first round of 1981. O’Connor went on to tie for third.
Jordan Spieth (speeth) is right behind with a 65. That’s what he shot in the first round when he won at Royal Birkdale in 2017. Brian Harman also had a 65 on a day of low scoring. Stewart Cink was among those at 66.
Brandt Snedeker had a 68 for his lowest start to a British Open since 2012. But it’s the way he posted that number that was so astounding. Snedeker was 1 over for his round with three holes to play when he nearly made a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th hole. He was even better on the 17th, holing out from the fairway for an eagle. Consecutive 2s on his card went a long way.
The last two U.S. Open champions, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, started at 71.
On the golf course, Phil Mickelson is struggling. The PGA champion was 4 over through seven holes, 10 shots behind Oosthuizen.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Second half begins with Red Sox at Yankees
NEW YORK (AP) — The baseball season’s second half begins Thursday night with just one game. The AL East-leading Red Sox visit Yankee Stadium.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez starts for Boston, which holds a 1 1/2-game edge over Tampa Bay. New York and Toronto are eight games behind Boston.
The Red Sox have wrecked the Yankees lately, going 6-0 against their longtime rivals this season and outscoring them 36-17 in those matchups.
The Yankees, who haven’t announced their rotation for this three-game series, face Boston eight times in their first 10 games coming out of the All-Star break. The stretch could decide whether New York is a buyer or seller heading into the July 30 trade deadline.
NHL-PANTHERS-YANDLE
Panthers buy out final 2 years of Keith Yandle’s contract
NEW YORK (AP) — The Florida Panthers have bought out the remainder of veteran defenseman Keith Yandle’s contract.
Yandle was signed for two more seasons at a salary cap hit of $6.35 million. The 34-year-old holds the longest active ironman streak in the NHL at 922 consecutive regular-season games played. The Panthers made Yandle a healthy scratch for half of their first-round playoff series. That does not affect his streak.
Yandle becomes an unrestricted free agent immediately. He can sign with another team July 28.
OLYMPICS-NEWS
Virus cases surge in Tokyo
TOKYO (AP) — New daily coronavirus cases have surged above 1,300 in Tokyo, a six-month high, with the Olympics starting in eight days.
Tokyo is under a fourth state of emergency, which began Monday and requires restaurants and bars to close early and not serve alcohol through the Olympics, which start July 23 and end Aug. 8. New daily cases have been steadily climbing since mid-June and experts say they could hit several thousand during the games.
Thursday’s tally is the highest since 1,485 were recorded on Jan. 21, when Japan was under an earlier state of emergency, and is also a jump from Wednesday’s 1,149.
Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, noted that the largest increase in serious cases and hospitalizations was among people in their 50s and younger who are largely unvaccinated. She expressed concern about the impact on the medical system as infections are propelled by the more contagious delta strain of the virus.
In other news related to the Olympics:
— IOC President Thomas Bach will visit the western city of Hiroshima on Friday and his vice president is heading to Nagasaki. The cities were hit by atomic bombs in 1945. The IOC officials are visiting to promote the first day of the so-called Olympic Truce, a tradition from ancient Greece that was revived by a United Nations resolution in 1993. They are receiving opposition from some groups who say the International Olympic Committee is using the visits for political purposes. Bach has said that is not the case and says “this will have nothing to do with politics.” The Tokyo Olympics are set to start next week.
— Nneka Ogwumike (nehm-KAH’-dee ah-GWOO’-mih-kay) and Elizabeth Williams have been notified by FIBA that their petitions to play for Nigeria in the Olympics were denied because they played for the U.S. for too long. That’s according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke to The Associated Press Wednesday night on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made. One person says Nigeria will appeal the decision and that both players are exploring their options of how to potentially still play for Nigeria in the Tokyo Games that start next week.
— Kenya has been forced to drop two runners from its Olympic team just over a week before the Tokyo Games open because they haven’t taken the required number of out-of-competition doping tests. That has given 1,500-meter world champion Timothy Cheruiyot a last-minute place on the squad. The 1,500-meter runner Kamar Etiang and 400-meter hurdler Moitalel Mpoke Naadokila were taken off the team because they didn’t have three out-of-competition tests within 10 months of the Olympics. That rule is enforced on Kenyan athletes because the country is considered high risk by anti-doping authorities. Etiang’s exclusion gives Cheruiyot a place on the team after he finished fourth at the Kenyan trials last month and initially missed out.
HORSE RACING-SARATOGA
Racing resumes at Saratoga
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — A year after racing was conducted at Saratoga Race Course without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Racing Association’s summer meet at the oldest racetrack in the country begins Thursday.
Full-capacity admission is allowed again for the 40-day meet. That means the venerable track, which opened during the Civil War in 1863, has a shot at attracting paid attendance of over a million again after its five-year streak was broken.
The stakes schedule features 76 races worth $21.5 million in total purses. The highlight of the meet will be the 152nd running of the $1.25 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 28.
