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..

Phil Mickelson's apology for his U.S. Open penalty may well endear him more to the group of everyday players who relate to Lefty as one of their own

Kevin Na took a stroll down memory lane this Throwback Thursday. You wouldn't think he'd gone very far, though, if you just looked at the photo the PGA Tour pro shared.
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Na posted a pic from when he won the 2002 Volvo Masters of Asia at 19 and something immediately stands out:
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Hmm, what could it be? Oh yeah, HE LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME AS HE DOES NOW!
Seriously, check out this photo of Na (and Justin Timberlake NBD) the last time he hoisted a trophy in 2011:
FacebookPinterestScott HalleranHere's a photo of Na, who will turn 35 in September, from 2016:
FacebookPinterestMarianna MasseyAnd here's one from freakin' Wednesday:
FacebookPinterestArep Kulal/Asian TourAmazing. And we know we're not crazy, because the majority of comments on Na's Thursday Instagram share the same sentiment with people saying things like “You look exactly the same!” and “You haven't aged ..

Jennifer Lopez upgraded from a mansion without a mini golf course to one with a mini golf course last year. But while that was a no-brainer, it doesn't seem like she's been practicing her putting.
On Wednesday, boyfriend Alex Rodriguez shared a clip on Instagram of Lopez badly missing a putt. Hey, they call her Jenny from the Block, not Jenny Bobby Locke, am I right? Sorry, that's a bad golf joke even by bad golf joke standards. Anyway, Lopez compounded her weak attempt by hurrying after her putt and taking a swipe at her golf ball while it was still moving — and missing again. Sound familiar? Have a look:
Not quite Phil Mickelson's raking form, but good effort. Then again, there probably wasn't a hidden message behind the video considering this celebrity couple has no problem posting embarrassing stuff on social media. Here's a video Rodriguez shared of the two getting lost driving in a golf cart the same day:
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Just a couple regul..

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Jarrod Lyle’s wife says the Australian golfer is struggling through a ”really scary” period in his third battle with cancer.

Lyle, 36, underwent a bone marrow transplant last December following a recurrence of acute myeloid leukemia.

”It’s been 190 days since Jarrod’s stem-cell transplant and we are going through a really rough patch at the moment,” Briony Lyle wrote on jarrodlylegolf.com. ”I’m typing this blog on his behalf because he’s not able to do it. Jarrod’s not able to drive, struggles to prepare any food for himself, can’t read stories to the girls and is not able to offer much help at all around the house.

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”He is also starting to look like a very frail, sick person.”

Briony Lyle added: ”We are both very aware of the amount of drugs and medication that has gone into Jarrod’s body over the years but things are starting to get really scary at the moment. It looks as if this recovery is going to be the longest and hardest..