McIlroy opens with 67 at Wells Fargo Championship
For all the talk about the greens, Rory McIlroy’s most important club was his driver Thursday in the Wells Fargo Championship.
McIlroy kept the ball in play at Quail Hollow and gave himself plenty of birdie chances on a cloudy, soft afternoon. He ran off six birdies in a seven-hole stretch around the turn and finished with an 8-foot birdie putt for a 5-under 67 to share the lead with six other players.
Rangers fall to White Sox 3-1
Hector Santiago allowed two in five-plus innings filling in for Jake Peavy on Thursday night, Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer and the Chicago White Sox beat Texas 3-1, handing the Rangers their first series loss of the season.
Flowers’ drive just inside the foul pole in left field was the third straight hit after Texas right-hander Justin Grimm (2-1) retired 10 in a row on the day he was named AL rookie of the month.
Sports take: To flop or not to flop?
The National Basketball Association has been maybe the most criticized league in sports over the past decade. From officiating, referee scandals, biased treatment to even the financial aspects, the league is somewhat of a joke.
For a while now, players have brought a new technique to the game: flopping. Flopping is defined as an intentional fall by a player after little or no physical contact by an opposing player in order to draw a personal foul call by an official against the opponent.
Gilmore signed to play professional soccer in Chicago
After months of challenges and uncertainty, former Baylor midfielder Hanna Gilmore found a home with the Chicago Red Stars as she signed to the team’s final roster as part of the newly formed National Women’s Soccer League. As she adjusts to her new life as a professional soccer player, Gilmore answered some questions about the journey she is on and what the future may hold for her.
Houston Texans have many options in 2013 NFL Draft
The Houston Texans have loaded up their defense through the draft in recent years. It seems like a good time for the Texans to turn their eyes toward offensive help, particularly a big-play receiver to pair alongside All Pro Andre Johnson.
NBA Playoffs to begin Saturday; matchups set
The Western Conference seeding wasn’t established until the very last day of games. The Utah Jazz just barely missed out on the postseason, the Los Angeles Lakers avoided having to play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round and the Houston Rockets slipped from the No. 6 spot down to the No. 8 spot in just two games.
NFL events chief tours Houston
NFL vice president of events Frank Supovitz came to town Wednesday for a “voyage of reacquantaince” as he sized up the city’s bid for Super Bowl LI.
Owners are expected to vote at the league’s spring meeting next month on host sites for the 2016 and 2017 Super Bowls. Miami and San Francisco are in the running for the 2016 Super Bowl and the runner-up will compete with Houston for the game the following year.
Summerall dies; NFL loses legend
Pat Summerall was the calm alongside John Madden’s storm.
Over four decades, Summerall described some of the biggest games in America in his deep, resonant voice. Simple, spare, he delivered the details on 16 Super Bowls, the Masters and the U.S. Open tennis tournament with a simple, understated style that was the perfect complement for the “booms!” and “bangs!” of Madden, his football partner for the last half of the NFL player-turned-broadcaster’s career.
Texans one-up Cowboys with new giant video boards
The Houston Texans are hoping two massive new video screens will help lure the 2017 Super Bowl to Reliant Stadium.
The Texans are in the process of installing the video boards, which will be ready for use in Houston’s first preseason game in August. Cowboys Stadium in Arlington currently has the biggest screens, and Houston’s will be about 30 percent larger than those.
Garcia 6-under par, leads after first round at Masters
Sergio Garcia might have written himself off too quickly at the Masters.
When last seen walking off the course at Augusta National, the impetuous Spaniard was moping about his bad luck at this tournament and said last year it was increasingly evident he would never be fitted for a green jacket.
