NCAA MEN
Stanford leads NCAA men’s golf tournament
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) β Stanford topped the leaderboard Saturday in the suspended second round of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, while the Cardinal’s Cameron Wilson and South Carolina’s Will Starke shared the lead in the individual standings.
After rain wiped out more than eight hours of play Thursday at Prairie Dunes, Stanford had a 13-under 267 in the second round for a 12-under 548 total.
Top-ranked defending champion Alabama and South Carolina were tied for second at 8 under. Alabama had a 2-under 278 in the second round, and South Carolina had yet to start the second round.
Starke opened with a 6-under 64, and Wilson also was 6 under after rounds of 71 and 63. Stanford star Patrick Rodgers was in the group at 5 under after rounds of 67 and 68.
The teams will play 54 holes of stroke play to qualify for the eight-team championship playoff, which will be conducted in a match-play format. Those eight will be whittled down to two Tuesday for the title match Wednesday. The individual title will be decided Monday after 72 holes of stroke play.
SEC-KENTUCKY-FLORIDA
Florida edges Kentucky 6-5 to make SEC title game
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) β Josh Tobias’s single with two outs in the eighth drove in the go-ahead run and Florida beat Kentucky 6-5 Saturday to move into the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game.
The top-seeded Gators (40-20), who lost their tournament opener to the Wildcats (35-23), face LSU on Sunday seeking their second championship in four years.
Florida reliever Eric Hanhold (4-3) left runners stuck at second base in both the bottom of the eighth and ninth.
Hanhold got Storm Wilson to ground out to end the game. He pitched 3-1/3 scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing two hits.
Harrison Bader went 3 for 4 and drove in three runs for the Gators. The No. 9 hitter, Tobias had two hits and scored twice while driving in his eighth run of the year to score Ryan Larson.
Kentucky’s Austin Cousino drove in a pair of runs while Max Kuhn also had two RBIs.
CAR-NASCAR-NATIONWIDE
Larson wins Nationwide race at Charlotte
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) β Kyle Larson raced to his second Nationwide Series victory of the season Saturday, holding off Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The 21-year-old Larson passed Keselowski on the 118th lap in the 200-lap race and led the rest of the way. Larson also won at Fontana.
Keselowski was second, followed by Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brian Scott.
Busch won the previous three Nationwide Series races at Charlotte and has eight victories at the track, but wasn’t much of a factor after leading the first 23 laps.
Larson won on car owner Chip Ganassi’s 56th birthday, and one week after Jamie McMurray won the Sprint Cup All-Star race.
KURT BUSCH
All eyes on Busch in ‘Double’ attempt
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) β All eyes are on Kurt Busch this weekend as he attempts The Double.
Busch will be the fourth driver to attempt the driving 1,100 miles in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Only John Andretti, Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon have tried it, and Gordon was the last in 2004. Stewart is the only one to complete both races.
Busch has been auto racing’s cover boy for more than a month. His bid has been dissected, publicized and splashed on the main page of every major website and news outlet. Fox is all in on Busch with the Coca-Cola 600.
ABC will air the Indy 500 at noon Eastern time Sunday and Fox has the NASCAR race six hours later.
NASCAR-CHARLOTTE
Earnhardt Jr. looks to win NASCAR’s longest race
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) β Some of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s earliest NASCAR memories came at Charlotte Motor Speedway and he hopes to add another big one by winning the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night.
Earnhardt grew up watching his late father, Dale Earnhardt, race here more than 30 years ago and has long wanted to win NASCAR’s longest race as he dad accomplished three times, the last in 1993.
Dale Jr. has come close, most notably in 2011 when he broke free from a late restart to take the lead. He got the white flag just fine, then ran out of gas on the front straightaway and coasted through the final turn before Kevin Harvick passed him for the win. Earnhardt finished seventh, his sixth top-10 finish in the Memorial Day weekend race.
NASCAR-JEFF GORDON
NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon has back spasm treatments
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) β Sprint Cup points leader Jeff Gordon cut short his practice Saturday because of back spasms and the No. 24 team has Regan Smith on standby should the four-time champion not be able to run the Coca-Cola 600.
Gordon went just 11 laps before he told his crew he couldn’t continue. He left out of a side door of his hauler and was escorted out of the track to get treatment. Crew chief Alan Gustafson said the team would not run the car in the final practice session Saturday and instead get it ready for Sunday’s race.
Gustafson said the plan was for Gordon to start the longest event in NASCAR. Should the pain be too much for the 42-year-old Gordon, Smith would take over the Hendrick Motorsports car.
NASCAR-ROUSH-FENWAY-BAYNE
Bayne to drive No. 6 for Roush-Fenway in 2015
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) β Former Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne will race Roush-Fenway Racing’s No. 6 car fulltime in Sprint Cup next season.
Car owner Jack Roush said Saturday that he would like to field four Sprint Cup teams in 2015, but the lineup was still “in flux.” Roush did not have any updates on negotiations with Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.
The 23-year-old Bayne had been running a part-time Sprint Cup schedule for the Wood Brothers while competing on the full Nationwide circuit for Roush-Fenway.
Roush said Bayne’s team would have fulltime sponsorship from AdvoCare, Bayne’s Nationwide backer.
Bayne won Daytona in 2011. His best showing in four Sprint Cup races this season was 19th place at Texas Motor Speedway last month.
