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Suh sticks with sticks that work to begin pro career

Published in Golf
Monday, 17 June 2019 11:40

When Justin Suh was a freshman in high school, he bent the shaft of his putter before a Northern California Golf Association junior tournament. He went in the pro shop, grabbed a $50 Nike Method mallet putter off the rack and went back out to the practice green.

“I rolled in every putt,” Suh said. “I was like, ‘Dad, I need this.’”

Suh shot 64 the next day and the rest is history. Suh used the trusty putter to finish off a junior career that included an NCGA-record 11 wins, five more than Bryson DeChambeau. He got Nike to send him the same model, only with his initials on it, and retired the original. As a standout at USC, Suh won eight times and was twice a first-team All-American while reaching No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking last summer.

(Suh also bought a third Method putter on eBay a few years ago after Nike exited the equipment business.)

“That putter is something I feel extremely comfortable with,” Suh said.

When Suh turned pro after last month’s NCAA Championship and teed it up in the Memorial Tournament, the flatstick remained in the bag. So did Suh’s other 13 clubs.

While Suh signed a head-to-toe apparel and bag deal with Puma and a contract with Titleist to continue playing the Pro V1x ball, he decided to hold off on an equipment agreement and continue using his all-Ping setup that he’s used for three years.

It’s a rare move during a time where the top amateurs are chasing six-figure paydays from equipment companies.

“What I have in the bag is something that I’ve had success with for years, and when I tee it up at a tournament, that’s something that I want in my hands,” Suh said. “I don’t want to look down and look at something completely new. I’m a big believer that the success on the golf course is ultimately going to determine the success you have off the golf course.”

Suh missed the cut at Muirfield Village thanks to an uncharacteristically poor two days on the greens. USC head coach Chris Zambri calls Suh “the best putter from outside of 30 feet I’ve ever seen.” Suh is also an elite driver of the golf ball, possessing above-average accuracy that allows him to hit driver often. (He won last year’s Northeast Amateur on a tight Wannamoisett layout after hitting the fairway on every hole he pulled driver on in the final round.)

“And I don’t hit it short, either,” Suh said.

The 22-year-old Suh is just one of several elite amateurs turning pro this summer. Cal standout Collin Morikawa made his pro debut at the RBC Canadian Open and tied for 14th. Oklahoma State teammates Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland, who was low amateur at the U.S. Open, will each make their first starts as professional at this week’s Travelers Championship.

Suh will join all three at TPC River Highlands and already has sponsor exemptions lined up for next week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, John Deere Classic and Barracuda Championship. Suh’s agent, Peter Webb of p3SportsReps (whose clients include Suh’s friend and another former top-ranked amateur Maverick McNealy), said another invite is in the works, too, which would give Suh the maximum seven that are allowed per season.

Of course, Suh would love to earn special temporary status and unlimited sponsor exemptions this summer, or better yet lock up his PGA Tour card for next season. He’ll have the right tools, at least, including his faithful flatstick.

“You have to play with the clubs that you feel the most comfortable with,” Suh said. “For me, it’s difficult for me to see something new in the bag and feel confident that I’m going to go into the next week with the amount of comfort needed to play my best.”

Suh will work with Cobra later this year on finding comfort with a new set of clubs. But for now, he’s sticking with the sticks that work.

Source: Neymar return to Barcelona is 'doable'

Published in Soccer
Monday, 17 June 2019 17:34

Barcelona are seriously looking into bringing Neymar back to Camp Nou next season, with a high ranking source at the Catalan club telling ESPN FC a transfer "could be doable, but it won't be simple."

Barca, though, are aware that negotiating with Paris Saint-Germain is not like negotiating with other clubs, given the huge economic backing the Ligue 1 champions enjoy from their Qatari owners.

"If it wasn't for that, signing Neymar would be even simpler," the source said.

The source at the Spanish champions also stated that "there has been no direct contact with Neymar's people" but added that "once Neymar makes it known he wants to return to Barca, anything is possible."

Neymar joined PSG from Barca in the summer of 2017 for €222 million, making him the world's most expensive player.

One of the main reasons Barca are now contemplating re-signing him is because of key players in the team's desire to have him back in the dressing room, said the source.

The Brazil international remains good friends with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, in particular. Messi recently explained that the trio still speak regularly in a WhatsApp group called "The Three South Americans."

But relations between Barcelona and PSG have been non-existent for a while. The Blaugrana have unsuccessfully tried to sign Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and Marco Verratti from them in the past and in January beat them to the signing of Frenkie de Jong when PSG thought they had the Dutch midfielder tied up.

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Therefore, Barca have to approach the situation cautiously and also must have Neymar on board to be able to bring him back.

France Football reported last week that PSG would be willing to listen to offers, while Globoesporte in Brazil indicated on Monday that Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu has already contacted Neymar, his father and the intermediaries in charge of negotiating the player's future.

According to Globoesporte, Barca could even include players in any potential deal. Ivan Rakitic, Ousmane Dembele and Samuel Umtiti were all mentioned in the report. Rakitic came close to joining PSG last summer.

PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi has hinted that Neymar could be allowed to leave in the current transfer window. He told France Football this week that the club will no longer tolerate superstar attitudes from their biggest players and warned Neymar he only wants players who are "willing to give everything for the shirt."

Rangers' Pence joins Gallo on IL; Calhoun back

Published in Baseball
Monday, 17 June 2019 17:11

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers are juggling their banged-up outfielders, with Hunter Pence the latest to go on the injured list.

Pence was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday, a day after he sustained a right groin strain in a loss at Cincinnati.

While Pence joined slugging outfielder Joey Gallo on the injured list, the Rangers activated outfielder Willie Calhoun from the list. Calhoun played in the series opener against Cleveland for his first action since a left quad strain May 21.

Gallo has been out since June 2 with a left oblique strain. The Rangers home run leader, with 17, worked out in Texas after a scheduled flight to Arizona was cancelled. He is scheduled to the team's spring training complex in Arizona on Tuesday to continue his rehab.

Pence got hurt Sunday when playing right field in place of Nomar Mazara, who was out of the lineup for the second game in a row Monday because of right hamstring tightness.

The 36-year-old Pence has had quite a comeback season in his debut with his hometown Rangers, hitting .294 in 55 games. He has 15 homers and a team-leading 48 RBIs, including a two-run homer Sunday before getting hurt.

Both Pence and Mazara had MRIs on Monday.

Manager Chris Woodward said Mazara has a mild strain that he could play through, but the team wanted to give him another day to get treatment. Mazara is expected to be the designated hitter on Tuesday, though Woodward said there was also the possibility he could go back into the outfield.

Calhoun, who hit safely in five of his six games for Texas before getting hurt, played left field for the series opener against the Indians. Utility player Danny Santana made his 14th outfield start, only his second in right field.

Machado suspended 1 game, fined after ejection

Published in Baseball
Monday, 17 June 2019 16:02

San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado was suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount on Monday for arguing and making contact with an umpire over the weekend, Major League Baseball said in a statement.

Machado was ejected by umpire Bill Welke in the top of the fifth inning Saturday against the Colorado Rockies in Denver after a called third strike. MLB said the punishment was "for aggressively arguing and making contact."

"He didn't like the call on the last pitch, so he voiced it, and Bill felt like he needed to be ejected," Padres manager Andy Green said after Saturday's game.

MLB said Machado has elected to appeal the punishment, meaning he is eligible to play in Monday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Second seed Kevin Anderson came from a set down to beat Britain's Cameron Norrie 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in the opening round of the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen's Club in London.

The South African, who reached the 2018 final at Wimbledon, has had an injury-hit season because of an elbow problem.

Norrie, 23, lost the second set on a tie-break and then had his serve broken in the fifth game of the deciding set.

"Cameron is a tough opponent and it was a very good match," said Anderson, 33.

"It feels fantastic to be back. It's always difficult to miss tournaments, it's been a tough year, but there has been a lot of time and effort put in to get me back out there.

"I'm really pleased with how I served. It feels good now, and it [his elbow] held up well today with a long three-set match. I found a nice rhythm and on the grass that helps."

Anderson will play Gilles Simon next after the French world number 38 beat British qualifier James Ward 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2) in an entertaining match.

Norrie is ranked 49th in the world, 41 places below his opponent and put in a good performance against his 6ft 8in opponent.

"Kevin served unbelievable, as I expected he would, but I managed to save a lot of break points today and I was really happy with my mentality and how concentrated and how focused I stayed, especially on the big points," Norrie said.

"I knew there were going to a couple of points in the match and he managed to win them. He served great in the tie-break and in the third set he was flawless."

However, Anderson served superbly in the deciding set, only losing one point on his serve, as he took the victory.

'One heck of a performance' - analysis

John Lloyd, former Great Britain Davis Cup captain on BBC Two

Cameron played really well. Credit to Kevin Anderson, who only lost one point on his serve in that last set.

Cameron looks a total professional and looks like he belongs in this company. I thought he put in one heck of performance and hopefully he starts to get some decent draws.

Wins for Medvedev and Cilic

Russia's Daniil Medvedev and Croatia's Marin Cilic both progressed on the opening day of the tournament.

Fourth seed Medvedev gained a routine 6-2 6-4 win over Spain's Fernando Verdasco before Cilic, the 2018 winner, saw off the challenge of Chile's Cristian Garin by a 6-1 7-6 (7-5) margin.

World number six Stefanos Tsitsipas is the top seed and plays Britain's Kyle Edmund on Tuesday.

Fellow Britons Jay Clarke and Dan Evans also play on Tuesday, against Lucas Pouille of France and Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka respectively.

Tuesday's order of play

Centre court (from 12:00 BST): Stan Wawrinka (Sui, 7) v Dan Evans (GB), Juan Martin del Potro (Arg, 3) v Denis Shapovalov (Can), Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre, 1) v Kyle Edmund (GB), Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) v Felix Auger-Aliassime (Can, 8).

Court 1 (from 12:00 BST): Jay Clarke (GB) v Lucas Pouille (Fra), Marton Fucsovics (Hun) v Feliciano Lopez (Esp), Marco Cecchinato (Ita) v Milos Raonic (Cro, 6), Nick Kyrgios (Aus) v Adrian Mannarino (Fra).

There will be live coverage on BBC Red Button and the BBC Sport website from 12:00 BST, with live coverage on BBC Two from 13:00 BST.

Pro14: Conferences re-jigged for next two seasons

Published in Rugby
Monday, 17 June 2019 06:27

The conferences for the Pro14 championship have been revamped for the next two seasons, with six teams switching from one to the other.

Champions Leinster are with runners-up Glasgow Warriors, semi-finalists Ulster and top-ranked Welsh team Ospreys in Conference A.

Munster and Connacht are in Conference B with Edinburgh, Blues and Scarlets.

The draw is based on 2018-19 finishing positions and allows for an equal spread of teams from each nation.

The new conference make up will stay in place until the end of the 2020-21 season.

Conferences were introduced for the 2017-18 season when the championship was expanded from 12 to 14 teams with the addition of South African outfits Southern Kings and Cheetahs.

The 2019-20 season is not expected to start until the weekend of 27 September because of the World Cup.

The 21-match season allows teams to play home and away derbies against all the teams from their own union, irrespective of which conference they are in.

Conference changes

Conference A

2018-19: Glasgow, Munster, Connacht, Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, Cheetahs, Zebre

2019-20: Glasgow, Leinster, Ulster, Ospreys, Dragons, Zebre, Cheetahs.

Conference B

2018-19: Leinster, Ulster, Benetton, Scarlets, Edinburgh, Dragons, Southern Kings

2019-20: Edinburgh, Munster, Connacht, Cardiff Blues, Scarlets, Benetton, Southern Kings.

Harrison Burton’s Solid Iowa Double Dip

Published in Racing
Monday, 17 June 2019 13:00

NEWTON, Iowa – Harrison Burton put together an impressive Sunday at Iowa Speedway, completing 450 laps between two different race vehicles and scoring top-five finishes in both the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Though he started 10th in both races, Burton didn’t stay mired in traffic for very long all day.

He cracked the top six by the end of the second stage of the Truck Series event and ultimately crossed the line fourth at the checkered flag, elevated to the podium after apparent race winner Ross Chastain was disqualified for failing post-race inspection.

The third-place run matched Burton’s best Truck Series finish of the season, and coupled with Chastain’s issues, allowed him to strengthen his hold on the eighth and final spot on the provisional playoff grid.

However, Burton – ever the racer – wanted more out of a short-track event he felt he could have capitalized on.

Harrison Burton (18) battles Kyle Benjamin Sunday at Iowa Speedway. (Toyota Racing photo)

“We had a tough race because we had really high expectations for Iowa. We had a chance to win last year and ran fourth this year, which isn’t bad, but it’s not what we come here to do,” noted Burton. “It was a good points day overall; we just really had to battle there. We really struggled firing off and couldn’t get spots on restarts, but over the long runs we could maintain and get better and better.

“Iowa is pretty fun. I love this race track,” Burton added. “It’s a lot of fun to pull slide jobs on people and things like that – it’s like a dirt track sometimes. I’m proud of the way we fought and had good pit stops and made it work to come away with a good result.”

Burton was also pleased to have the amount of options that he did, particularly in the Truck race, where the groove widened out dramatically as the afternoon progressed.

“I think no matter where you are, it’s all about clean air – like at a mile-and-a-half – because there are just so many options for lanes,” Burton noted of Iowa. “The top and bottom were just as good for me in one and two … either way in the truck.”

In the Xfinity Series race, Burton showed quickly that he was going to be a threat for the long haul, and made plenty of noise in the No. 18 DEX Imaging Toyota Supra.

The second-generation driver cracked the top five within 20 laps and remained there for nearly the rest of the distance, snagging stage finishes of fifth and third before slotting into fourth following the final restart of the day with 10 to go.

Harrison Burton (18) leads Zane Smith (8) and Austin Cindric Sunday at Iowa Speedway. (Toyota Racing photo)

It marked Burton’s best-career finish in his young Xfinity Series career and backed up the top-10 effort he run in during his series debut at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in April.

“I wanted to win one of these things, but we had a really good run and I had a lot of fun doing it,” said Burton. “Me and (Justin) Allgaier had a really fun race there at the end. This place is so hard to pass and he did a really good job of blocking, to where I just couldn’t necessarily give him a slide job. He drove it in deeper than I thought I could because he was on the top and kind of blocked that for me, so he did a good job holding me off there.

“I just had a lot of fun driving this Xfinity car. These cars really match my style and this race track matches my style,” he added. “I had a lot of fun today and I hope to be able to come back and do it again soon.”

Despite nearly 400 miles of racing in an eight-hour time span, Burton still flashed his trademark grin after his second race of the afternoon, as well.

“I feel pretty good,” he noted. “This was a great day, all around.”

Keating Motorsports Loses Le Mans Class Win

Published in Racing
Monday, 17 June 2019 14:03

LE MANS, France – A penalty has cost Keating Motorsports the 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE-Am class victory.

The No. 85 Ford GT, which was shared by team owner Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Felipe Fraga, was disqualified Monday because the total onboard fuel volume was in excess of the permitted limit.

The penalty elevated the Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR of Jorg Bergmeister, Egidio Perfetti and Patrick Lindsey to the top step of the podium in the GTE-Am class.

The penalty against Keating Motorsports is the second such penalty levied against a Ford GT following the conclusion of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Earlier on Monday the No. 68 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT, which finished fourth in GTE-Pro with drivers Sebastien Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Muller, was disqualified for the same reason.

VIDEO: A Photo Finish At Jennerstown

Published in Racing
Monday, 17 June 2019 14:10

A .001-second margin of victory for Zane Ferrell allowed him to eek out Jennerstown Speedway Complex veteran Barry Awtey in a nailbiter on Saturday night at the .522-mile facility in Pennsylvania! (Video Courtesy of Pit Row TV)

CARSTAR Supporting Bowman At The Glen

Published in Racing
Monday, 17 June 2019 14:54

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – CARSTAR, a North American network of independently owned collision repair facilities, will support Alex Bowman at Watkins Glen Int’l.

The opportunity to sponsor Bowman’s No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is thanks to a joint promotion with paint partner Axalta Coating Systems, which sponsors the No. 88 team and Bowman.

The CARSTAR logo will be featured on the roof and television panel.  In addition, Bowman will wear a unique helmet in the race featuring a design created through a contest with cystic fibrosis chapters across North America.

“What CARSTAR is doing by building awareness in the need for a cystic fibrosis cure is amazing,” Bowman said. “I’m excited to see the winning design of the ‘Accelerate the Cure’ contest and will be honored to wear that helmet at Watkins Glen.  Our team plans to put on a great show for everyone at Axalta, CARSTAR and their guests.”

“We appreciate the co-branding opportunity with one of our most important North American customers, CARSTAR,” said Seth Wilcox, Sales & Distribution Director, North America, for Axalta Coating Systems. “We’ve been partnered with CARSTAR for several years and our partnership has never been stronger. We are thrilled to go build on that relationship here and as we continue to grow together in the future. CARSTAR is one of the fastest growing MSOs in North America and we are fortunate to be their partner. We’d also like to acknowledge Alex for offering up his helmet to be custom designed in a promotion between Axalta, Hendrick Motorsports, CARSTAR and Cystic Fibrosis.”

“This year marks our 30th anniversary and we’re doing something special every month to celebrate this tremendous milestone, ” said Michael Macaluso, president of CARSTAR. “For our August celebration we are thrilled to take the CARSTAR brand to one of North America’s top spectator sports with a young star like Alex Bowman, as he helps us raise awareness for our charity of choice – cystic fibrosis. We can’t wait to see the No. 88 Axalta/CARSTAR Chevrolet on the track and share the CARSTAR story with millions of race fans.”

The Accelerate the Cure contest allows participants to illustrate what a cure for cystic fibrosis would allow them the freedom and ability to do. The contest is open to those with cystic fibrosis, their families and those affected by the disease. To participate, visit the Accelerate the Cure contest page www.acceleratethecurecf.com to download the helmet design template and contest rules.  The contest runs June 17 to July 5.

The winning design will be selected by representatives from Axalta, Hendrick Motorsports, CARSTAR, Cystic Fibrosis Canada and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The winner will receive a special VIP race experience at the Watkins Glen race from Aug. 2-4, including travel and accommodations and suite passes for the NASCAR Cup Series race.

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