by ldh2013 » Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:46 am
JACKSON, Miss. . - Sebastian Cappelen narrowly missed earning his PGA Tour card last season and needed a sponsor exemption to make the field in the Sanderson Farms Championship. The 24-year-old from Denmark is making the most of his opportunity. Cappelen shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday in his first PGA Tour round to take the lead at the Country Club of Jackson. He opened with a bogey before making eight birdies to take a two-shot lead over Robert Streb, Scott Pinckney and Canadas Nick Taylor. I couldnt be happier, to be honest, Cappelen said. Obviously, I came here just trying to get a new experience and get a feel of how it feels like to play on the real tour, and I had a great time out there today. Hit a lot of good shots. Cappelen was an All-American in college at Arkansas. He won the Air Capital Classic in June on the Web.com Tour. He was in good position to earn his PGA Tour card, but a poor performance in the final regular-season Web.com Tour event dropped him to 26th place on the money list — one spot shy of the top 25 finish needed to make the PGA Tour. I mean, obviously, its a heartbreaker being so close and then not getting it, Cappelen said. So getting a chance here where I felt like I should been, its everything. I couldnt thank the sponsors here more for what theyve done. Cappelen said he had some nerves before the round, but the early bogey was a sobering moment. Thats usually how it is for me when I have a good round, Cappelen said. I usually start with a bogey on the first hole, and then just kind of like, OK, Ive got to get going. Play was suspended because of darkness with 15 players unable to finish. The tournament is being played at the 7,354-yard Country Club of Jackson, a course about 10 miles south of Annandale Country Club, where the tournament was held for 19 years. Overnight rain made for a soft course early, but players said it firmed up as the day progressed. Streb is back in contention two weeks after winning the McGladrey Classic in a playoff for his first PGA Tour title. After taking a week off to relax at home and watch his hometown Kansas City Royals in the World Series, Streb made six birdies and just one bogey Thursday. I didnt play a whole lot of golf last week, Streb said. But a little bit of work on the range, and it didnt take too long to find it, so it was pretty exciting. Defending champion Woody Austin had a 70. There were 13 players within three shots of the lead. . He then tried the other side of the ice, and that worked out quite well for him and the Chicago Blackhawks. Bickell had a goal and two assists, and the Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. . The NBA began to issue punishments last season for flopping, the art of exaggerating contact to deceive referees into calling a foul, but only retroactively. If a player is determined to have flopped after a postgame review, he is given a warning for the first offence and a $5,000 fine for the second. . Montoya made 34 saves in his first win in his hometown and Andrew Ladd scored his 150th goal, leading the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-1 victory over the slumping Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Rudy Gay watched from a sky box seat as his new Sacramento teammates easily handled the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. The short-handed Kings looked formidable against the Mavericks. DeMarcus Cousins had 32 points and 19 rebounds, and Derrick Williams scored a career-high 31 to pace the Kings to a 112-97 victory over Dallas. Earlier in the day, the Kings completed a seven-player deal with Toronto that brought them Gay, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy. Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes went to the Raptors. "I guess I came on a good day because the team was playing great," said Gay, a veteran forward who is expected to make his Kings debut Wednesday at home against Utah. "Obviously DeMarcus and Derrick played well. So this is a good start and I cant wait to get out there with the guys." A proven scorer, Gay will no doubt add more punch to a Kings lineup that has been unproductive at times this season. He was Torontos second-leading scorer and has averaged 18 points and 5.9 rebounds in his eight-year career. On this night, the Kings showed plenty of offence without Gay. Sacramento shot 47 per cent, had 23 assists, and outscored the sluggish Mavericks 24-3 on fast-break points. Using just 10 players, the Kings led by 19 points after three quarters and by as many as 24 in the fourth in winning their second straight. "We didnt care if we had 10 or 15 players, we had enough talent to win this game," Kings coach Michael Malone said. "... Our next challenge is to figure out the new guys and how theyre going to play and at what position." Malone knows one thing -- Isaiah Thomas will be his starting point guard. Thomas had 24 points and a career-high 12 assists, and Jason Thompson added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Kings. Sacramento has played 13 of its 19 games at home this season, going 4-9. With Vasquez, the starting point guard gone, Thomas made his first start of the season. The teams second leading scorer and one of the NBAs most productive reserves, he got off to a great start, getting 10 points and three assists in the first quarter when Sacramento established an 11-point lead. "That little Isaiah and DeMarcus Cousins are a handfful," Dallas forward Shawn Marion said. . "Thats a heck of a duo right there." Production from Cousins and Thomas, Sacramentos leading scorers this season, was predictable. What was unexpected were the contributions by Williams, who had struggled a bit since arriving in a trade with Minnesota on Nov. 26. Williams hit 12 of 16 shots and connected on three 3-pointers, one more than he had made entering the game. He also added five rebounds and a career-high five steals. "I finally hit a 3-point shot," said Williams, who was 0 for 5 with the Kings and 2 of 25 overall entering the game. "Its good to make that first shot, and its good when the first couple go in." Monta Ellis had 21 points for the Mavericks, who had won three straight, including the last two on the road. The loss also snapped a five-game win streak against the Kings. Dallas had won 15 of the previous 16 meetings and was 23-3 against the Kings dating to April 4, 2006. Dirk Nowitzki had 18 points, Jose Calderon scored 11 and Shane Larkin had 10 for Dallas. Coming off an impressive win Saturday at Portland, the Mavericks shot 40 per cent and were 5 of 27 on 3-pointers. "I dont think we took them lightly, I think they just outplayed us," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "It was one of those nights where they made a lot more plays than we did." Sacramento continued to play well offensively in the third quarter, outscoring the Mavericks 35-26 to take a 92-73 lead. Williams made a pair of 3s, had two impressive dunks, and scored 13 points. Both Thomas and Cousins had 11 points. The Kings squandered a 16-point lead in the second quarter, but scored 13 unanswered points in taking a 57-47 lead into the intermission. Ellis scored 13 points for Dallas. NOTES: Sacramento outrebounded the Mavericks 29-14 in the first half and 51-39 overall. . Dallas concludes a four-game road trip Wednesday at Golden State. . Center DeJuan Blair started his fourth straight game, but was relatively ineffective with four points and four fouls in 14 minutes. . Rookie guard Ray McCallum made a jumper with just under a minute to play for his first NBA points. He had played only one minute previously. . Cousins had nine of Sacramentos 21 turnovers. ' ' '
