by ldh2013 » Thu Jun 16, 2016 8:34 am
LOS ANGELES -- Bae Sang-moon is off to another great start at the Northern Trust Open. . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. Baddeley, who hasnt won since Riviera three years ago, birdied his last four holes for a 65. Garrigus played in the afternoon, when its a little more difficult to make putts, and managed just fine with a 67. Bae was at 9-under 133. The 27-year-old South Korean was tied for the lead going into the weekend at Riviera last year. Bae struggled to a 76 in the third round and never got back into contention. "It was really, really good experience, and I learned a lot," Bae said. "I improved a lot from last year." He wound up winning the Byron Nelson Championship a few months later for his first PGA Tour victory. Patience surely will be required at some point over the weekend on what has shaped up as one of the best weeks of weather at Riviera -- an abundance of sunshine and only a trace of wind. Despite what would appear to be pristine scoring conditions, no one has reached double digits under par this week, a testament to one of the best golf courses on the PGA Tour. "Its a strong course, especially when its dry and firm like it is," Baddeley said. "If you miss it out of position, its really hard to get the ball up-and-down. Today was good, because I made a couple good saves but coming in, I had some good looks and made them." And while Bae is in the lead, the tournament remains wide open, with 22 players separated by only five shots. One of them is Dustin Johnson, who led after the first round and opened with two quick birdies. Johnson never made any more progress, however. He dropped shots on the 12th and 15th holes to negate a few more birdies, and missed several good looks inside 12 feet. He had to settle for a 70 and was three behind at 6-under 136. "I played pretty solid today, just hit a couple of bad drivers on the back. But thats going to happen," Johnson said. "But I still had a lot of really good looks at birdie and just couldnt capitalize on any of them." Also three shots out of the lead was Jim Furyk, who had a 68. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., followed his opening round 70 with a 73, leaving him 10 shots back at 1-over 143. Among those missing the cut was Matt Kuchar, who failed to qualify for the weekend for the first time since the 2012 PGA Championship. His streak of 30 straight cuts was the longest active on tour, though still behind the record 142 by Tiger Woods. Baddeley was in the middle of the pack until he hit his approach on the 15th hole to about 8 feet. He followed with a short birdie putt on the par-3 16th, rolled in a birdie putt from 15 feet on the par-5 17th and finished it off with a 25-foot birdie on the 18th. Garrigus has made the cut only once in four previous trips to the Northern Trust Open. He decided to bring a new attitude, and it seems to be working. "I have pretty good willpower, so as soon as I stepped on the first hole this week, Im like, I absolutely love this place. ... And Im really starting to like it," Garrigus said. He also figured it would be one last chance to get into the Match Play Championship next week, though someone will have to break the news to him that the Match Play field is closed. Garrigus wont be playing even if he wins. Jordan Spieth managed to get in the mix, especially after he was on the cusp of leaving early. The 20-year-old Texan had tough par putts on four straight holes at the start of his round. When he finally missed one on the fourth hole for his first bogey, he took off. Spieth birdied four of his last five holes for a 66, leaving him in the large group that was at 4-under 138 along with Keegan Bradley and Jimmy Walker, still in the hunt for his fourth win this season. "I putted great today, a lot of par saves on the front," Spieth said. "I could have been 4 or 5 over at the turn, and instead I was at even, so very happy with the finish. Back in contention." Not so fortunate was Fred Couples, who had a tiny cut on the tip of his left thumb that opened up to the size of a dime, making it difficult for him to hang onto the club. Couples has gone his entire Hall of Fame career without wearing a glove. Asked if it bothered him, he said, "Yeah. I couldnt hit the ball." Couples made his 32nd appearance in this tournament, but at 2-over 144 was certain to miss the cut. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot a 75, leaving him at 145. . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie is reporting the extension is worth $24 million. In 18 games with the Kings this season the 27-year-old Martinez has scored two goals and added five assists. . A flu bug couldnt stop him, and neither could the Bucks. Irving made four free throws in the final 21.5 seconds of overtime and finished with 39 points despite being sick, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 114-111 win over short-handed Milwaukee on Friday night. . Trevor Bauer continued that trend Sunday by taking a shutout into the seventh and Cleveland hung on for a 3-1 win over the Houston Astros.LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Chris Jones and Louisville have done a tremendous job protecting the basketball this season and thats led to easy victories. The junior committed his second turnover of the season early in the second half of the No. 3 Cardinals 87-48 win over Hartford in the Hall of Fame Tipoff on Tuesday night. He joked around after the game that they should change the rule for turnovers. "I think they should change the rules when you try to save the ball off the steal," he said. The Cardinals, who entered the game second nationally for fewest turnovers per game with 6, had seven on the night compared to Hartfords 25. Its the seventh straight game dating back to last season that the Cardinals have had 10 or fewer -- the longest streak in Pitinos 13 seasons with the team. The junior from Memphis played his first 67 minutes without committing an error before his pass slipped through freshman Anton Gills hands in Louisvilles last game against Cornell. He now has 17 assists in four games, including four Tuesday, compared to his two unfortunate miscues. His steady play at the point has eased the transition from Louisville legend Peyton Siva, now with the Detroit Pistons, and has earned the trust of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino. "I think Chris Jones is a tremendous point guard," Pitino said. "He is very low to the ground and does not make a lot of mistakes." Pitino, known for his pressure defence, said he has emphasized not giving the ball back to opponents once his club has forced a takeaway. "One of the points of emphasis this year is we are going to not turn the ball over because we are a possession team," Pitino said. "If youre going to press, you are going to be all over the floor trapping and using that much energy. If you just give it away, all that energy was for naught." The Cardinals protective nature continued Tuesday, turning the ball over only twice in the first half. The first came more than 14 minutes into the game when Harrell was tied up under the basket and alternate possession was given to the Hawks. A Russ Smith offensive foul at the 1:54 mark was its only other error in the first half. Even when Louisville gave the ball to Hartford, they were hustling. Their final turnover came following a Chane Behanan steal when his behind-the-back save from his own corner to keep the ball inbounds hit the Louisville rim and nearly went in. . In addition to committing mistakes, Jones is developing a bond with Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell. "I got a great feel for Trez," Jones said. "I know I can throw it to the rim and hell go get it." Harrell led No. 3 Louisville with 20 points and nine rebounds as Cardinals string of blowout wins to start the season continued. He was 9 of 12 from the field with six dunks, one off the school record. Harrells string of slams included a slam off Behanans missed free throw with 4:09 left that put Louisville up 81-46 with 4:11 to play. Russ Smith added 14 points as the Cardinals (4-0) extended their winning streak to 20 games dating to last seasons run to the national title. Jones and reserve Chane Behanan added 11 points apiece. Louisville shot 50 per cent from the field, outrebounded Hartford 35-29. Mark Nwakamma scored 16 points for the Hawks (2-3), and reserve Yasin Kolo finished with 12. Louisville jumped on Hartford right at the start, scoring the first eight points of the game and 22 of the first 30. Harrell passed to Wayne Blackshear for a 3-pointer and Terry Rozier converted a layup with 1:42 left in the first half to give the Cardinals a 42-19 lead before leading by 21 at halftime. The Hawks stayed within reach during the first 10 minutes by hitting 3 of their first 5 3-pointers, clawing back to a 22-11 deficit following Louisvilles opening run. But they missed their next 11 from behind the arc before Kolos triple with 5:01 remaining made it 79-44. Hartford finished the game 4 of 17 (24 per cent) on 3-pointers after hitting a season best 10 of 20 in its win last out against Fairleigh Dickinson. Louisvilles Luke Hancock went 2 for 4 as Louisville made 7 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc. The Hawks saw their winning streak end after beating its last two opponents by double digits. It was their fifth game in 11 nights. Louisville will play away from home for the first time on Saturday when it travels to Connecticut for two games to conclude the Hall of Fame Tipoff, the first against Fairfield. The Cardinals will then play either Richmond or North Carolina on Sunday. ' ' '
