GOLF
HOUSTON (AP) — Hinako Shibuno shot a 4-under 67 for a 135 total and a three-shot lead after the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open.
Shibuno’s lone mistake on a damp, soft day at Champions Golf Club was a three-putt bogey on the par-3 16th at the Jackrabbit course. Her objective was to avoid dropping more shots by being overly aggressive. She wound up with a 10-foot birdie putt to restore her lead over Arizona State sophomore Linn Grant (69) of Sweden.
Grant was in second after a 69 at Jackrabbit and Texas senior Kaitlyn Papp had a 68 at Cypress Creek and was another shot back.
BASEBALL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Dave Dombrowski wants to win again sooner rather than later.
The longtime executive moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in September as a consultant for Music City Baseball but found out this week that expansion won’t be entertained for more than a year at least. So he finalized a deal Friday to become the Philadelphia Phillies‘ president of baseball operations, convinced the team is not far from its first World Series title since 2008.
He views the Phillies as ”sort of a sleeping giant because they’ve got a big market. And they’ve got a good, solid owner that wants to spend money to win.”
He cited right fielder Bryce Harper, starting pitchers Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler and Zach Eflin, manager Joe Girardi and managing partner John Middleton as cause of hope.
NFL
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) – The Detroit Lions have interviewed three internal candidates for their general manager vacancy.
The team announced on Twitter that Kyle O’Brien, Lance Newmark and Rob Lohman have interviewed for the job. O’Brien is the team’s vice president of player personnel, Newmark is director of player personnel, and Lohman is director of pro scouting.
The Lions fired GM Bob Quinn late last month along with coach Matt Patricia.
HOUSTON (AP) – The Houston Texans have placed running back David Johnson on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Johnson missed practice on Thursday and the report said his absence was not injury-related. On Friday morning, before Johnson was placed on the COVID-19 list, interim coach Romeo Crennel said Johnson missed practice a day earlier for a ”personal issue.”
Johnson has had a difficult time in his first season in Houston since being traded from Arizona for DeAndre Hopkins. The 28-year-old has just 452 yards rushing this season in a year where the Texans rank last in the NFL, averaging 84.4 yards rushing a game.
Johnson missed three games after suffering a concussion on Nov. 8 before returning last week in a loss to the Colts. He had 10 carries for 44 yards and a touchdown in that game.
The Texans (4-8) play the Bears (5-7) in Chicago on Sunday.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
LOGAN, Utah (AP) – Utah State has canceled its football game against Colorado State amid concerns voiced about religious discrimination during the search for a new football coach.
Aggies players issued a statement on Friday, saying they were opting out of Saturday’s game because of alleged comments made by University President Noelle Cockett about the religious and cultural background of interim coach Frank Maile.
Cockett’s comments were reportedly made during a video call Tuesday with athletic director John Hartwell and the Utah State University Leadership Council to discuss Maile’s candidacy for the permanent head coaching job.
Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson resigned to take over Utah State, a source told The Associated Press on Thursday.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – D.J. Taylor returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and Arizona State scored twice in the opening 56 seconds to rout rival Arizona 70-7.
Arizona State (1-2) made a mockery of the annual Territorial Cup game from the opening kick return, capitalizing on a string of Arizona turnovers to build a 35-0 lead by early in the second quarter.
Freshman DeaMonte Trayanum converted an opening Arizona fumble into a 4-yard TD run 43 seconds after Taylor’s TD return and the Sun Devils piled on one score after another.
Rachaad White ran for 133 yards and three touchdowns, Jayden Daniels accounted for three scores and Arizona State won its fourth straight in the series for the first time since 1975-78.
OLYMPICS
TOKYO (AP) – Domestic sponsors already have contributed a record $3.3 billion to help pay for the Tokyo Olympics.
That’s at least twice as much as any previous games. But it’s still not enough.
Now they’re being asked to pay millions more to cover some of the soaring costs of the one-year postponement.
This comes as Japanese businesses are battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, raising doubts about re-investing in an Olympics that may be short on fans but long on pandemic-related rules to discourage tourists, sightseeing and spending.
None of the nearly 70 domestic sponsors is saying ”no”- at least publicly – to an Olympics backed by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and driven by Japan’s powerful advertising conglomerate Dentsu Inc., the official marketing agency for the Tokyo Olympics.
Dentsu helped land the Olympics, lined up the sponsors and stands to profit with the Olympics opening on July 23, 2021.
