PULHEIM, Germany (AP) Sebastien Gros carded a 4-under 68 in windy conditions to lead by one shot after the opening round of the BMW International Open on Thursday.

The Frenchman had four birdies to take the lead before the turn, and a six-footer on the 15th hole moved him two ahead. But a bogey on the next hole left the 28-year-old Gros just one ahead of Jorge Campillo, Scott Jamieson, Aaron Rai and Henric Sturehed.

Sturehed eagled the par-5 No. 13 to take the lead in the morning at the Gut Laerchenhof club.

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Christofer Blomstrand, Nico Geyger, Mark Tullo, Victor Perez, David Howell and Nicolai von Dellingshausen are a further stroke back on 2-under 70.

Defending champion Andres Romero was among a large group at 1 under, including 2013 winner Ernie Els and three-time European Tour winner Andy Sullivan.

Romero is bidding to be the first player to retain the title.

Local favorite and 2008 champion Martin Kaymer shot 72, ahead of Sergio Garcia (73) and To..

Ross KinnairdBrooks Koepka celebrates with the U.S. Open Championship trophy after winning the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.CROMWELL, Conn. — Brooks Koepka never considered skipping the Travelers Championship, despite an exhausting week and whirlwind couple of days since winning his second straight U.S. Open on Sunday at Shinnecock Hills.
The trophy, however, didn’t make the trip.
“It’s at my house,” he said Thursday. “It’s just chillin’.”
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Of course it is. Koepka isn’t much of a trophy guy he says, though he does keep his first U.S. Open trophy on display in the wine room in his house.
“I wasn't going to bring it this week,” he said. “We've got enough. I've got to go to Boston next week to hang out with my buddies. We've got a bachelor party.”
Seems like it would be the perfect vessel from which to consume a few Mic Ultras, among other beverages, no?
Koepka isn’t even quite sure where he left it,..

For two decades, Derek Jeter was the King of New York. So it makes sense the soon-to-be Hall-of-Famer owns an actual castle. At least, for now.
The former Yankees shortstop has listed his Empire State lake home, the historic Tiedemann Castle, for $14.75 million. According to Pricey Pads, Jeter has a special connection to the property because it's where his adopted grandfather grew up. But when you stand to make a potential 2,000-percent profit (Jeter bought stole it for $425,000 in 2003 before renovating) — plus, you just sunk a chunk of your money into becoming a part owner of the Miami Marlins — it makes more sense to sell.
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Located on Greenwood Lake in Orange County (about an hour north of Yankee Stadium), the four-acre estate boasts 700 feet of shoreline, a 12,500-square-foot main home with four indoor kitchens and one outdoor kitchen (You can never have too many kitchens), a turret, an infinity pool with a waterfall, a..

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) Brian Harman shot a 66 on Friday to move to 10-under par and into first place after the morning rounds at the Travelers Championship.

Harman had his short game working again, putting just 26 times on the second round after needing just 23 on the first round. He finished two shots ahead of Bryson DeChambeau, who also shot a 4-under 66, and Paul Casey, who was 3-under par for the day.

Two-time Travelers champion Bubba Watson, who was at even par coming into Friday, shot a 63 to move into contention heading into the weekend, three shots behind the leader.

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Defending champion Jordan Spieth, who was tied for the lead after a first-round 63, shot a 73 on Friday, which included an eight on the par-5 13th hole.

Thursday’s other co-leader, Zach Johnson, was on the course Friday afternoon.

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) Zack Johnson has shot a first-round 63 to take an early lead at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

The former Masters and British Open champion birdied six straight holes on the back nine and finished 7 under par, one shot ahead of American Peter Malnati.

Brooks Koepka followed his U.S. Open championship with a 2-under 68 on the TPC River Highland’s course, putting him five shots off the pace.

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The Travelers was selected by the PGA last year as its ”Tournament of the Year” and the ”Players Choice.” That has helped attract a 156-player field that includes five of the world’s top 10 ranked golfers and all four reigning major championship winners.

Masters winner Patrick Reed, PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, the defending British Open and Travelers champion, all are on the course Thursday afternoon.

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) Brian Harman shot a 4-under 66 on Friday to move to 10-under par and watched that hold up for the second-round lead in the Travelers Championship, thanks in part to a 10-second rule.

Harman finished a stroke ahead of Matt Jones and first round co-leader Zach Johnson, who lost a stroke during his round of 68 when his birdie putt hung on the lip of the cup at the third hole for longer than the maximum allowed 10 seconds before falling in, giving him a par.

”After 10 seconds, the ball was moving and at that point even if the ball is moving, It’s deemed to be at rest, because it’s on the lip,” Johnson said. ”Don’t ask me why, but that’s just the way it is.”

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Harman had his short game working for the second consecutive day, taking 26 putts after needing only 23 during the first round.

”The putter has been really good so far, but I’ve been in position a lot,” he said. ”I’ve had a lot of good looks at it. I’m just able to put a little press..

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) Jordan Spieth has no idea what it is like to play from behind at the Travelers Championship.

The defending champion led after every round last year in his first visit to TPC River Highlands, and a shot a 7-under 63 on Thursday to match Zach Johnson for the first-round lead.

Spieth had six birdies and an eagle out the bunker on par-5 sixth hole – a shot reminiscent of the greenside bunker shot that gave him a victory last year over Daniel Berger in a playoff.

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”They’ve got some sort of magnetic sand for me,” Spieth joked. ”But it was actually a pretty tough shot there, almost a little downslope and I had to hit close to the ball, which you just have to commit to it. I just hit the shot that was necessary. I probably could have gone 4-5 feet bye, but I couldn’t hit it any better than I did and I was obviously fortunate for it to hit the pin and go in.”

Johnson went out in the morning and led for most of the day. He had eight birdies, i..

Watching baseball at times can be. . . (how do we put this lightly?) . . . boring. And yes, we say that fully aware that golf has its own pace-of-play problems. But watching baseball in person helps — unless you're some dude named Tim who was caught snoozing during a College World Series game on Wednesday.
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There are so many great things about this situation, which was chosen as Scott Van Pelt's “Best thing I saw today” on SportsCenter. For one it took place in the SECOND inning. For another, this wasn't just a quick dozing off a la Mike Francesa, this was a full nap that lasted at least well into the third inning of the elimination game between UNC and Oregon State. How do we know that? Well, that's the best part.
ESPN sent Laura Rutledge to Tim's vicinity to get a full, live report. Rutlege whispered to keep from waking him, although she couldn't help but crack up at one point. Most..

PING's mission to help golfers play their best has evolved. The company's latest PING Vault 2.0 putters feature True Roll (TR) face technology that's an evolution of Karsten Solheim's theories, resulting in our most forgiving face ever.

Like most kids who liked both sports and video games growing up, I was guilty of buying the same games with updated rosters and no real new features every year. Madden, NHL, NBA Live (RIP, actually, don't RIP?), MVP Baseball (RIP for real, I’m actually tearing up), NCAA March Madness (triple RIP. Am I getting old? All my video games are dead), etc. You get the picture.
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As I got older and my brother and I got an updated system, Xbox One to be more specific, only one game really ever kept our attention: NHL. In my opinion, it’s the only good sports video game left. But now that I’m closing in on the wrong side of 25, I barely even play anymore.
In fact, I don’t think we even got NHL 18, and even NHL 17 was pretty lame. There was a stretch run there between 2010 and 2014 where the game peaked, and then it just got too real, too hard, and less fun.
All of this is a long-winded way of saying that I ma..