IRVING, Texas — Keegan Bradley still hasn't gotten things right on the 18th hole at the Byron Nelson Championship, even when finally going left.     The bogeys on the closing hole at TPC Four Seasons haven't cost him the lead yet.     Bradley overcame consecutive bogeys early and bogeyed No. 18 for the third round in a row Saturday to finish with a 2-under 68 that kept him in the lead.     "(Sunday) is ... Read More

    BALTIMORE — Everything's a go for Orb. Read More

ROME — Novak Djokovic can't seem to find any consistency on clay courts. And with the French Open less than 10 days away, he will enter Roland Garros on the back of two early defeats. The top-ranked Serb wasted a chance to serve out the match and was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 by sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the Italian Open quarterfinals ... Read More

IRVING, Texas — Keegan Bradley again bogeyed Nos. 1 and 18 in the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship. Unlike the first round, Bradley didn't set a course record. But he still finished with a three-stroke lead. Bradley started and ended his round Friday with those bogeys, part of a 1-under 69 that ... Read More

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Georgia Southern golf team posted a 14-over-par 298 and sits in ninth place after the first round of the NCAA Regionals at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course Thursday afternoon.     The Eagles are one shot back of eighth-place San Francisco (+13) and five behind fifth-place Auburn (+9). Texas Tech (+15) is in 10th, a stroke behind GSU. Charlotte (+3) leads the field, and South Carolina (+4) is second, followed by Stanford ... Read More

    IRVING, Texas — Keegan Bradley had no thoughts about a course record, or the possibility of a 59, after consecutive bogeys in the middle of his opening round at the Byron Nelson Championship.     Until his 136-yard wedge shot on his final hole Thursday.     "It was going right at it. (A 59) crossed my mind for a second, and it would be unbelievable if I buried this," Bradley said. "But I had 3 ... Read More

BALTIMORE — Growing up, Kentucky Derby winner Orb was just another horse who fit in with the crowd.

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LONDON  — David Beckham is retiring from soccer, ending a career in which he transcended the sport with forays into fashion and a marriage to a pop star that made him a global celebrity.

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    IRVING, Texas — Guan Tianlang is one of five amateur players being honored this week for the Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Awards. Read More

    BALTIMORE — The Preakness draw was over, and trainer Shug McGaughey listed a variety of reasons why he was OK with having Kentucky Derby winner Orb starting Saturday's race from the rail. Read More

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State coach Bill O'Brien is fervently disputing suggestions raised in a report that player medical care has been compromised after the team doctor was replaced. Speaking often in an angry tone that might be otherwise reserved for an argument with an official, O'Brien told reporters in a conference call that the health and safety of his players ... Read More

Brady Hoke was talking the way football coaches do, the way university presidents can't. Imagine, if you will, the snickering in academia if Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman, a biochemist by trade, accused her counterparts at Notre Dame of chickening out on a science fair. Might as well go all the way and tell them their pocket protectors are two pens shy ... Read More

I recently noticed in the newspaper that the age old debate concerning the pros and cons of corporal punishment has resurfaced as it does from time to time. Read More

    BALTIMORE — Rosie Napravnik's motivation for winning the Preakness has little to do with making history. Read More

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tiger Woods has faced more scrutiny that any other golfer from his generation. Maybe ever. Just not this variety. Woods must long for the days when the golf world obsessed over his swing changes (all four of them) and questioned his coaches (all three of them). He was criticized ... Read More

MIAMI  — Dwyane Wade is limping around in obvious pain. LeBron James' shooting percentage is down. Shane Battier and Ray Allen have struggled to get anything going from 3-point range. The Eastern Conference semifinals have been far from perfect for the Miami Heat. And the reigning NBA champions are now in absolute control of ... Read More

BALTIMORE  — Orb has settled into the place reserved for royalty at Pimlico Race Course — stall 40.

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    ATLANTA  — More than a week after getting bounced from the NBA playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks are still trying to figure out who's going to coach them next season.     It might be Larry Drew, their coach the last three seasons. It might be someone else, since general manager Danny Ferry inherited Drew from the previous regime and made it clear he's looking at other options.     At the moment, Drew remains in limbo. ... Read More

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tiger Woods had the last word against Sergio Garcia by winning The Players Championship on Sunday. Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — Pablo Sandoval splashed a home run into McCovey Cove, Brandon Belt and Marco Scutaro also connected to back Tim Lincecum, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 5-1 on Sunday to wrap up a strong homestand. Read More

    PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — A rift between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia attracted all the attention on a stormy day at Sawgrass. Swedish rookie David Lingmerth quietly went about his business and wound up atop the leaderboard Saturday in The Players Championship.     Lingmerth finished a wild day with an 8-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th and a 10-foot birdie on the island-green 17th to reach 12-under par when the third round ... Read More

    GREENSBORO, N.C. — For the second-straight day Georgia Southern Softball needed 11 innings to win, but this time the game-winner came in the form of a Kourtny Thomas solo home run. The junior’s heroics clinched the second-straight SoCon Tournament Championship for the Eagles and guaranteed a repeat trip to the NCAA Tournament.  Sarah Purvis blanked UNCG for 11 innings to pick up her 17th win of the season as the Eagles dismissed UNCG 1-0. ... Read More

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The Players Championship already provides plenty of theater because of its thrill-a-minute golf course. Making it even more compelling is the star attraction of Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods, playing in the final group on the weekend for the first time in nearly seven years. Garcia made seven straight putts — six of them for birdie ... Read More

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — One spectator wore fake deer antlers. Another yelled about eating venison. And a group of guys shouted, "Stay off the spray, Vijay."

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Parity has struck the NBA playoffs, where the conference semifinals are all fit to be tied.

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    PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy had their best start ever Thursday in The Players Championship. It still wasn't enough to catch Roberto Castro, who had never played the TPC Sawgrass and made a debut he won't soon forget.     Castro hit shots into tap-in range on the famed 17th and 18th holes on his way to a 9-under 63 in perfect scoring conditions in the morning. He tied the ... Read More

    CLEVELAND — Major League Baseball said the umpires were wrong.     The Athletics knew that all along.     "We saw what we saw last night," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.     One day after umpire Angel Hernandez and his crew failed to reverse an obvious game-tying home run by A's infielder Adam Rosales in the ninth inning following a video review, MLB executive vice president Joe Torre said an "improper call" was made in ... Read More

MIAMI — It was the biggest postseason win in Miami Heat history, and the biggest postseason loss in Chicago Bulls history. Read More

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Adam Scott never had to take this much time walking from the clubhouse to the practice range at TPC Sawgrass. He couldn't take more than a few steps without a player or a caddie stopping to congratulate him for his feel-good win at Augusta National. There were so many fans pressed against the fence to get his ... Read More

The Players Championship should consider changing the name of its course to the TPC Mystery. Read More

When one thinks of going to prison the normal sequence of events goes something like this: Read More

It's tournament time in the NCAA. Georgia Southern has been wildly successful in spring sports in recent years — by mid-major standards — and there's a lot on the line for the Eagles as spring begins to turn over into summer. Read More

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Orb was so far behind a wall of horses at the Kentucky Derby that even his jockey wasn't sure he could master the muddy track and make a run for the roses.     "I was really far back," Joel Rosario said. "I said hopefully he can go faster than that. I was saying maybe I was too far back, but it was so easy."     The bay colt made it look ... Read More

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney wound up tied for the lead Saturday in the Wells Fargo Championship, minus the separation from the rest of the field.     Mickelson hit a shot out-of-bounds on the 15th hole and hit another shot that struck a spectator in the head, costing him three shots over the last four holes at Quail Hollow in his round of 1-over 73. Watney hit a semi-shank with a ... Read More

    ATLANTA — One day after the Atlanta Hawks were bounced from the NBA playoffs, Larry Drew remained their coach.     Whether he sticks around much longer is the most pressing issue for a team that expects a radical transformation this summer.     General manager Danny Ferry, who will get to put his imprint on the franchise heading into his second year, said Saturday it was too soon to make a call on the future ... Read More

CHICAGO — You've probably never heard of Holly Peterson or Jonathan Jean-Pierre. One came out as a lesbian at age 15, when she was playing high school basketball. The other, a college rower, told his ... Read More

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A trainer flooding the field with five horses. A black jockey trying to make history, and a woman rider, too. Louisville coach Rick Pitino seeking a double — champions in racing and basketball. He's sure in the right place.     The 19-horse field for Saturday's Kentucky Derby is balanced, with no definitive favorite.     Orb is the pre-race choice, just barely. Nearly overshadowed is his trainer, Shug McGaughey, who really, really ... Read More

    ATLANTA — George Hill and David West each scored 21 points and the Indiana Pacers withstood a furious Atlanta comeback in the fourth quarter, beating the Hawks 81-73 on Friday night to close out the opening-round playoff series four games to two. Read More

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson has figured out the secret to the greens at Quail Hollow. Or maybe he's just had a lot of good bounces for two days. Mickelson opened with a pair of 15-foot birdie putts, dropped in a 40-foot putt at the turn and made back-to-back birdies late in his round Friday. He finished with a 5-under 67 ... Read More

WASHINGTON — It's been a rough offseason for the Washington Redskins, and not just because of the knee injury to star quarterback Robert Griffin III.

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ATLANTA — After a dismal playoff performance, the Atlanta Hawks decided it was best to spend some time away from each other.

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    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It's easy to figure out where Todd Pletcher got the idea to enter five horses in this year's Kentucky Derby. He used to work for D. Wayne Lukas.     For the longest time, Lukas was the biggest star in the sport, the guy in the white hat with an army of thoroughbreds stashed coast-to-coast, winning every big race in sight.     In 1996, Lukas won his third Derby with Grindstone, a ... Read More

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For all the talk about the greens, Rory McIlroy's most important club was his driver Thursday in the Wells Fargo Championship.     McIlroy kept the ball in play at Quail Hollow and gave himself plenty of birdie chances on a cloudy, soft afternoon. He ran off six birdies in a seven-hole stretch around the turn and finished with an 8-foot birdie putt for a 5-under 67 to share the lead with ... Read More

INDIANAPOLIS — David West scored 24 points and Paul George had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Indiana past Atlanta 106-83 on Wednesday night, taking a 3-2 playoff series lead. The Pacers have all won three home games in the best-of-seven series and are 5-0 at home this season against the Hawks. They'll go to Atlanta on Friday with a ... Read More

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Twenty-one horses have been entered for Saturday's Kentucky Derby, one more than the maximum field of 20. Read More

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Quail Hollow has been a symbol of perfection for 10 years since it returned to the PGA Tour lineup, a beautifully manicured golf course where the six major champions who have won ranged from Tiger Woods to Rory McIlroy. It is less than perfect this year. Some have even compared the greens to a rundown municipal course.

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INDIANAPOLIS — NCAA President Mark Emmert looks and sounds increasingly frustrated. Some of the fast-track reforms he championed in August 2011 have been slowed down by the governing body's legislative process. Simplifying the rule book has proven trickier than expected. His own enforcement staff got swept into a major scandal earlier this year, and Emmert has come under increasing scrutiny for ... Read More

Sometimes I just need to soothe my frayed nerves. I normally can accomplish this by pretending to be a fishing guide (for no pay) or playing a little golf with my buddies (for money). When these two activities don’t work I always have my go to strategy. Read More

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Falling Sky has been plenty frisky in his gallops at Churchill Downs, a sign the speedy colt could be a major factor in setting the early pace in the Kentucky Derby. Whether he has the stamina to last 1 ¼ miles is a question to be answered Saturday. "He was really into it," trainer John Terranova said after Falling ... Read More