Golf

Furyk, Woods each carry momentum to 2nd round

AKRON, Ohio – Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods each carried momentum into the second round of the Bridgestone Invitational. That meant the best 36-hole score for Furyk in his PGA Tour career and the worst start for Woods in nearly four months.

Furyk had another good day with the putter, making a few birdies early and saving par from the bunker four times on the back nine at Firestone for a 4-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain.

It helped that Furyk opened with a 63 on Thursday afternoon, allowing him to turn around Friday morning and try to resume his good play. That’s what he did, starting with a tricky birdie putt on the second hole.

Woods, a seven-time winner at Firestone, threw away three shots on the back nine Thursday, the last one a three-putt on the 18th hole for a 70. He started his second round by driving into a bunker and making a bogey on the 10th hole, and it never got much better. For the second consecutive day, he had to lay up with his third shot on the par-5 16th.

Woods had a 72 and was at 2-over 142, leaving him 13 shots behind on the course where he never had finished worse than fifth the first 11 times he played. It was his highest 36-hole score to par since his 3-over 145 start at the Masters.

NFL

A $1 billion deal to bring ‘winning back to Cleveland’

BEREA, Ohio – The new Browns owner said he’s ready to bring “winning back to Cleveland” and proclaimed there’s “zero chance” he’ll move the team.

A day after agreeing to purchase the Browns for a reported $1 billion, truck-stop magnate Jimmy Haslam III held a news conference Friday at the club’s training camp facility.

Haslam said he’s is excited to be in Cleveland, and he’s “100 percent committed to making the Cleveland Browns winners again.”

That’s been a tough task for a club still looking for its first NFL championship in nearly a half century. Since the Browns returned, they have made the playoffs once. They’ve had two winning records in 13 seasons and are 68-140 since their NFL return.

ESPN reported the sale price was more than $1 billion; the Miami Dolphins sold for more than $1 billion in 2009.

The Browns were valued at $977 million last year by Forbes magazine, 20th in the NFL.

Obama’s no Tebow fan, but Rex Ryan passes on razzing

CORTLAND, N.Y. – Rex Ryan is no trash talker when it comes to the president.

A day after President Barack Obama told an Ohio radio station that he is not a fan of Tim Tebow being on the New York Jets, the normally brash and bold coach resisted taking the expected humorous swipe. Instead, Ryan said Friday that he respects Obama, and “I respect the fact that this is opinion.”

Wait. That’s it? From the guy who has guaranteed Super Bowls and said in 2009 that the team would soon meet the president?

“That’s it,” Ryan said with a big grin. “I’m not taking that layup.”

Obama told 97.1 The Fan in Columbus that “I don’t like the idea of a quarterback controversy at the start of a season.”

Boxing

Mayweather looks fit upon gaining his freedom

LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather Jr. was released from a Las Vegas jail early Friday after serving two months of a three-month sentence in a misdemeanor domestic battery case.

The undefeated boxer walked out of the Clark County Detention Center to resume a boxing career that his lawyers and personal physician said might be at risk because jail food and water didn’t meet Mayweather’s dietary needs, and lack of exercise space in a cramped cell threatened his health and fitness.

Mayweather looked fit as he shared hugs with family members and friends.

He said nothing to the media as he got into a blue Bentley sedan with friends, including rapper 50 Cent, and drove away.

Associated Press