Auto Racing
Havick wins his 7th pole for Chase’s 3rd race
DOVER, Del. – Kevin Harvick turned a lap at 162.933 mph to win the pole Friday at Dover International Speedway, leading the field for the third Chase race.
Led by Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup championship drivers took the top four spots and six of 10. Kyle Busch will start second, followed by Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.
Jeff Gordon is sixth, and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson is eighth. The rest of the Chase field has Kasey Kahne 12th, Matt Kenseth 14th, Joey Logano 16th, Carl Edwards 18th, Ryan Newman 20th, Aric Almirola 21st, Kurt Busch 22nd, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 25th, Greg Biffle 27th and AJ Allmendinger 28th.
Four drivers will be eliminated after every third race, and a win guarantees a driver an automatic berth into the next round. The first cutoff race is Dover.
Golf
Europe comes from behind for a 5-3 lead Day 1
GLENEAGLES, Scotland – A look at the first day of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles:
Score: Europe leads 5-3.
Fourballs: The United States did not trail after the fourballs for the fourth consecutive time.
Foursomes: Europe had 3½ points, its most ever in a foursomes session.
Shot of the Day: Sergio Garcia’s 5-wood approach from the rough onto the 18th green, setting up a birdie that gave him and Rory McIlroy a half-point against Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker in foursomes.
Match of the Day: Walker, playing with Fowler in fourballs, holed out twice to win holes and made a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th to earn a half-point against Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer.
Best Debut: U.S. rookies Patrick Reed (24) and Jordan Spieth (21) – the youngest pairing in Ryder Cup history – took down Stephen Gallacher and Ian Poulter 5 and 4 in fourballs.
Curious Decision: U.S. captain Tom Watson chose not to play Reed and Spieth in the foursomes.
Saturday Morning Fourballs’ Pairings: Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson, United States, vs. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, Europe; Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan, United States, vs. Jamie Donaldson and Lee Westwood, Europe; Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, United States, vs. Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer, Europe; Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker, United States, vs. Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter, Europe.
Quoteworthy: “That was probably as good as a win, to come back from where they were,” European captain Paul McGinley said of the half-point earned by Garcia and McIlroy after being down by two with two holes to play against Fowler and Walker.
Television: 2:37 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, KOBF, KUSA; and 1-9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 11 a.m., Golf Channel.
MLB
Arizona’s house cleaning continues with Gibson
PHOENIX – The Diamondbacks fired manager Kirk Gibson three years after he won the NL’s manager of the year award for leading Arizona to the playoffs.
The Diamondbacks are assured of at least a tie for the worst record in the majors this season, having lost 96 games entering the final series of the year.
The move came as the Diamondbacks’ front office restructures under chief baseball officer Tony La Russa after a third disappointing season in a row. Arizona went 81-81 in 2013 and 2012. Former major league pitcher Dave Stewart was hired Thursday as the team’s new general manager.
Bench coach Alan Trammell also was let go Friday, but Trammell will stick around to manage the Diamondbacks’ final weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday through Sunday in Phoenix.
Associated Press
