Mickelson dominates Royal Troon

TROON, Scotland (AP) — Phil Mickelson flirted with golf history while taking the first-round lead in the British Open at Royal Troon on Thursday.

145th Open Championship - Day Two
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Mickelson would have been the first golfer in major championship history to fire a 62 if he sank a 16-foot birdie putt on his final hole. Instead, the putt caught the lip of the cup and rode the edge without dropping before he signed off on a 63. That gave him a three-shot lead over Martin Kaymer (KY'-mur) and Patrick Reed through 18 holes.

It was the 28th round of 63 at a major, and ninth in the Open Championship. Mickelson also set a course record in taking a sizeable lead.

Defending champ Zach Johnson tops a group with 67s.

Former champ Rory McIlroy opened with a 69 and Jordan Spieth (SPEETH) turned in a 71.

GOLF-MARATHON CLASSIC

Three-way tie for lead

SYLVANIA, Ohio (AP) — Hyo Joo Kim, Mirim Lee and Haru Nomura share the first-round lead at the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio. Kim had four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the second nine before closing with a bogey for a 5-under 66. Top-ranked Lydia Ko birdied her final two holes to join second-ranked Brooke Henderson in the group at 68.

GOLF-BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP

Cabrera shares lead with Vegas

OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) — Angel Cabrera and Jhonattan Vegas are co-leaders through one round of the Barbasol Championship in Alabama after each fired 6-under 65s.

Cabrera and Vegas both eagled the par-5 13th on Grand National's Lake Course, holing a 60-footer from the fringe, and birdied the two other par 5s in a bogey-free round.

MLB-RED SOX/PADRES TRADE

Bosox get Pomeranz

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox have added another arm to their starting rotation.

The Bosox have acquired All-Star lefty Drew Pomeranz from the Padres for right-handed prospect Anderson Espinoza. Pomeranz tossed a scoreless inning in Tuesday's All-Star game after opening the season 8-7 with a 2.47 ERA in 17 starts for San Diego.

Baseball American ranks Espinoza as the No. 3 prospect in the Red Sox system.

MLB-DIAMONDBACKS/MILLER

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have sent pitcher Shelby Miller to Triple-A Reno.

Miller has been a major disappointment after being acquired in an offseason trade with Atlanta, going 2-9 with a 7.14 ERA. He was on the disabled list with a finger injury and made a couple of minor league starts to find his form.

MLB-SCHEDULE

Road looks tougher for Cubs in second half

UNDATED (AP) — The second half of the Major League Baseball season gets underway Friday when the All-Star break ends with a 15-game schedule.

The Cubs raced out to a seven-game lead at the break by playing the second-easiest schedule in the majors. But things might get a little tougher for the NL Central leaders in next few weeks.

Chicago returns from the All-Star break with three games against AL-leading Texas and then plays the Mets, Brewers, White Sox and Mariners to close out July. All but Milwaukee are over .500 and competing for playoff spots.

The Rangers rotation will get a boost when right-hander Yu Darvish returns from the disabled list to start Saturday against the Cubs. Darvish missed the beginning of the season following Tommy John surgery and only made three starts before going back on the DL on June 9 with shoulder discomfort.

NFL-BRONCOS-MILLER

Broncos sweeten pot with Miller

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos have increased their contract offer to Super Bowl MVP Von Miller.

A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press the Broncos are prepared to guarantee a record $70 million of the six-year deal.

Miller's agent and the Broncos agreed to the parameters of a six-year, $114.5 million deal last month, but Miller's camp held out for more guaranteed money.

The sides have until 4 p.m. EDT Friday to get a signed deal into NFL headquarters.

NBA-SPURS-GASOL

Gasol signs with Spurs

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The Spurs have signed Pau Gasol (POW guh-SAWL') to bolster a front line that just lost Tim Duncan to retirement.

The 7-foot Gasol averaged 16.5 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for the Bulls last season. He is a six-time All-Star and one of six players in NBA history to reach 19,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 blocks.

Gasol won two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010.

A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that the 36-year-old Gasol received a two-year deal worth more than $30 million.

NBA-DIVERSITY HIRING

NBA tops leagues in diversity hiring

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The NBA remains the best among its professional sports peers when it comes diversity hiring.

The report by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport gave the NBA an A-plus for the second year in a row for racial hiring and dropped to a B in gendering hiring practices. The league's overall grade of A was its eighth in row as the NBA scored higher than other professional sports league in all three categories.

Reports are also issued on the NFL, MLB, MLS, WNBA and college sports.

NHL-RED WINGS

Glendening gets 4-year, $7.2 million deal

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings have signed center Luke Glendening to a four-year, $7.2 million extension that runs through the 2020-21 season. The former Michigan star had eight goals and a career-high 21 points last season after producing a career-high 12 goals and 18 points in 2014-15.

NASCAR-SPRINT CUP

Little-E scratched from Loudon field

LOUDON, N.H. (AP) — Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not compete in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway due to symptoms of a concussion. Doctors declined to clear him to race after evaluating him in Charlotte this week. Earnhardt was involved in a 22-car wreck in Daytona earlier this month but said last weekend that he was feeling fine and thought the problem was allergies.

Alex Bowman will drive in his place.

CYCLING-TOUR DE FRANCE

De Gendt wins wind shortened stage

MONT VENTOUX, France (AP) — Belgium's Thomas De Gendt conquered winds of around 80 mph to win the 12th stage of the Tour de France. The conditions on Mont Ventoux forced organizers to shorten the stage by nearly four miles to 111-miles.

Defending champ Chris Froome survived a crash near the finish to hold onto the yellow jersey of the overall leader. He increased his lead to 47 seconds ahead of fellow British rider Adam Yates.

 

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