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Keegan Bradley goes from last man in to BMW Championship winner and on to East Lake

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CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) — Keegan Bradley went from the last man in the BMW Championship to a winner Sunday, closing with an even-par 72 for a one-shot victory that opened up all sorts of possibilities he never imagined possible a week ago.

Bradley pulled away from mistake-prone Adam Scott early on the back nine and delivered a clutch shot into the par-5 17th that all but sealed the seventh victory of his PGA Tour career, and the most unlikely.

He was biting his nails a week ago, needing help just to finish at No. 50 in the FedEx Cup and qualify for the second postseason event. And then he managed the mile-high air, the wind and the Sunday pressure to win at Castle Pines.

“It just shows why you’ve got to grind it out because you never know how fast it can switch,” Bradley said on the 18th green, where he stood alongside his father. Mark Bradley, a longtime club professional, had never seen his 38-year-old son win in person.

The victory moved Bradley from No. 50 to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup, sending him to the Tour Championship where he will start four shots behind Scottie Scheffler in a 72-hole chase for the $25 million prize.

There’s also another cup in play. Bradley, the first Ryder Cup captain to win a PGA Tour event since Davis Love III nine years ago, moved to No. 10 in the Presidents Cup standings. The top six after the BMW Championship automatically qualified, and Jim Furyk gets six captain’s picks. Bradley will surely be in the conversation after winning for the third straight year.

Bradley heard plenty of “U-S-A! “U-S-A!”” chants as he went along the back nine at Castle Pines, the loudest coming on the 18th when thousands of spectators were allowed to encircle the green for the final touch of a big week.

Scott, a runner-up at the Scottish Open last month, was tied for the lead until starting the back nine with three soft bogeys, two of them with a wedge in his hand from the fairway. He birdied the closing par 5s, but lost a big chance when he overshot the 15th green from 101 yards.

He closed with a 72, though it also moved him into the top 30 who qualifying for East Lake.

Sam Burns finished with a Sunday-best 65, including a bogey on the par-5 14th, and shared second place with Scott and Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, who let another good chance get away with too many Sunday mistakes.

Aberg was 12 under on the par 5s going into the final round, and he played them at even par. He closed with a 71.

Taylor Pendrith (73) of Richmond Hill, Ont., tied for 13th at 5 under. It’s expected that he’s the only Canadian to advance to next week’s Tour Championship. Corey Conners (73) of Listowel, Ont., tied for 22nd at 4 under and Adam Hadwin (72) of Abbotsford, B.C., tied for 41st at 3 over.

Justin Thomas somehow made it to East Lake for the Tour Championship, even though he was already home in Florida in the same nail-biting spot as Bradley was a week ago.

Thomas needed plenty of help to get the 30th spot, and it came from former British Open champion Brian Harman and Alex Noren. Harman needed a par on the last hole to stay in the top 30 and made double bogey.

Noren, who has never made it to East Lake, was poised to finish in the top 30 when he holed a 25-foot par putt on the 13th hole and made birdie on the 14th. But he finished with three straight bogeys, the most damaging on the par-5 17th, the easiest hole at Castle Pines. He had to lay up from a drive in the rough and hit wedge into a bunker. He shot 75.

The 17th is where Bradley, who finished at 12-under 276, all but sealed it.

Burns had posted at 277. Aberg and Scott remained closed. Bradley hit a 5-iron between two bunkers to a back left pin on a firm green to 16 feet, the closest shot of the day. He missed the eagle chance, but it gave him a two-shot lead going to the 18th.

And while he missed a 4-foot par putt that only determined the margin, he reacted with energy that has come to be expected from the 38-year-old New Englander. He thrust his arm in the air and soaked up the “U-S-A! U-S-A!” chants.

Bradley earned $4 million for his second title in the BMW Championship, also winning at Aronimink in 2018 when he was the No. 52 seed in what was then a 70-man field.

Bradley and Scott joined Tommy Fleetwood (69) and Chris Kirk (69) who moved into the top 30 to qualifying for the Tour Championship. They bumped out Harman, Jason Day, Davis Thompson and Denny McCarthy.

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Bologna prepares for Champions League debut with draw at Como while Juventus held

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MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.

Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.

Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.

AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.

Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.

Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.

Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.

Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.

Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.

Unbeaten sides

Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.

Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.

On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.

Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.

The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.

Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.

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Liverpool ‘not good enough’ says Arne Slot after shock loss against Nottingham Forest

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MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.

A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.

“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.

“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”

Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.

But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.

Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.

United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.

Unstoppable Haaland

Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.

The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.

Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.

“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.

Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.

Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.

He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.

He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.

Rashford snaps run

Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.

Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.

Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.

Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.

“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.

De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.

It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.

Villa comeback

After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.

Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.

Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.

Late drama

Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.

Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.

But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.

Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.

West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.

Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.

ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.

The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.

The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.

Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.

His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.

Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.

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