Sports
Storms bring down trees at Masters, play halted in 2nd round
|
|
Three towering pine trees fell near patrons as storms rolled through Augusta National in Georgia on Friday, though nobody was hurt, and the second round of the Masters was suspended for the day amid heavy wind and rain.
The course was cleared once for 21 minutes by an earlier band of storms. The air horns sounded again at 4:22 p.m. as another set of arrived, forcing the evacuation of patrons and sending players and officials searching for cover.
Play was suspended for the day 90 minutes later. The second round is scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. EDT Saturday before the third round begins.
“The safety and well-being of everyone attending the Masters Tournament will always be the top priority,” Augusta National said in a statement. “We will continue to closely monitor weather today and through the Tournament.”
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/themasters?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#themasters</a> <a href=”https://t.co/QI16LEw3hQ”>pic.twitter.com/QI16LEw3hQ</a>
—@TheMasters
Just before the second horn sounded, three enormous pines slowly fell near the 17th tee box, sending about 50 people below them scattering. On the nearby 16th green, Harrison Crowe saw the tree falling and started to backpedal in surprise, while on the 15th green, Sergio Garcia stopped and stared at what seemed to be happening in slow motion.
“You could feel it down there. This little tornado whipped up,” Crowe’s caddie, John Serhan, told Australian Associated Press. “It caught those trees. You could see them start to sway. They were lucky no one got killed. Very, very lucky.”
“We were cresting the fairway on 15. We thought it was a scoreboard or a grandstand,” said Sahith Theegala, who is playing in his first Masters. “We were hoping it wasn’t something that hit anybody.”
The uprooted pines fell slowly with two of them acting as support for the third, and that provided time for the patrons below to get out of the way. But the close call was evidenced by several crushed chairs beneath the fallen trees.
“I was talking to friends next to me and all of sudden we heard a crack,” said Katie Waites, who was attending the second round from Charleston, South Carolina. “And there were three trees across the pond, and all of a sudden we saw them falling and everybody — it was just like ants. They were like, scattering just like ants from beneath. All three fell at the same time. And then I just grabbed my friends’ hands we were like, `Is everyone OK?’ And it was silent.”
Waites said she saw one woman standing between two of the fallen trees, and she heard that a man had crawled out from beneath some of the limbs. She added that it was “absolutely a miracle” that nobody was hurt.
well THIS was terrifying <a href=”https://t.co/qfIm2w4zKW”>pic.twitter.com/qfIm2w4zKW</a>
—@bubbaprog
“Then the alarms went off and they evacuated again because of weather,” Waites said. “I called my dad. He’s a judge. And he said this time they are not going to open it back up. Get out of there now.”
Workers quickly arrived with chainsaws to begin clearing the trees away.
The storms had been expected throughout the day, and tournament officials moved all starting times up 30 minutes in the hopes of getting the second round in as scheduled. The morning dawned hot and humid, with plenty of sun, but it gave way to ominous clouds churning through from the east shortly after the lunch hour.
Koepka continues to roll
Brooks Koepka was the leader at 12 under when play stopped, taking advantage of fortuitous tee times that left him in the clubhouse long before the storms arrived. Jon Rahm was three shots back in second but had nine holes still to play, while U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett had finished his second round and was 8 under for the championship.
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was 4 under through 13 holes to put him at even par overall. He was the lone Canadian above the projected cut line.
Rain is expected to continue throughout the weekend with high temperatures plummeting into the 50s for Saturday.
“Weather can be interesting, especially when you get storms coming in,” said defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who struggled to a 3-over 75 on Friday and was 1 under for the championship. “So we’ll see what happens.”
Staring down a 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals, as the visitors in a hostile arena where no road team had prevailed in more than two months, the Miami Heat decided to do what they’ve done throughout the post-season.
They found a way. Against all odds. Again.
“Our guys are competitors,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They love these kind of moments.”
Evidently.
They were down by as many as 15 points, down eight going into the fourth, and those numbers signified they were going to lose. Denver was 11-0 in these playoffs when leading by double digits at any point in a game, and 37-1 this season overall when leading by at least eight going into the fourth.
The Heat didn’t care. They outscored Denver 17-5 in the first 3:17 of the fourth to take the lead for good, eventually went up by 12, then frittered most of it away and had to survive a 3-point try by Jamal Murray as time expired.
Keep leaving Nnamdi open. <a href=”https://t.co/S2qAWtVNg5″>pic.twitter.com/S2qAWtVNg5</a>
—@MiamiHEAT
“This is the finals,” Adebayo said. “We gutted one out.”
Max Strus scored 14 and Duncan Robinson had 10 — all of them in the fourth — for the Heat, who had a big early lead, then got down by as many as 15. They had no answers for Jokic, who was 16 of 28 from the floor, the last of those shots a 4-footer with 36 seconds left to get the Nuggets within three.
Denver elected not to foul on the ensuing Miami possession and it paid off. Butler missed a 3, and with a chance to tie, Murray missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“I just contested it,” Butler said. “Pretty glad that he missed it.”
‘Let’s talk about effort’
Denver lost at home for the first time since March 30, and for the first time in 10 home playoff games this year. And just as he did after a Game 1 win, Nuggets coach Michael Malone sounded the alarm after a Game 2 loss.
The Kitchener, Ont., native Murray had 18 points and 10 assists for Denver, while Aaron Gordon had 12 points and Bruce Brown scored 11.
“They just played hard, and like I said, it was more discipline,” Murray said. “It’s defeating when you’re giving up mistake after mistake, and it’s not them beating you, you’re giving them open dunks or open shots. That’s tough to come back from.”
WATCH | Kitchener, Ont., cheering on Murray:
Fans in Canadian basketball star Jamal Murray’s hometown of Kitchener, Ont., are ecstatic as he and the Denver Nuggets drive for a historic NBA championship victory over the Miami Heat.
Strus, who was 0 for 10 in Game 1, had four 3-pointers in the first quarter of Game 2. Butler made a jumper with 4:56 left in the opening quarter to put Miami up 21-10, tying the second-biggest lead any opponent had built in Denver so far in these playoffs.
In a flash, it was gone — and then some.
The Nuggets outscored Miami 32-11 over the next 9 minutes, turning the double-digit deficit into a double-digit lead thanks to an absolute 3-point barrage.
Boom, boom, boom, and boom. Murray had five straight points to end the flurry, and Denver led 44-32 when it was over. It looked like everything was going Denver’s way.
Miami insisted otherwise. And for the 44th time this season, the Heat won a game by five points or less. None of them was bigger than this one.
“When it comes down to the wire,” Vincent said, “we’re strangely comfortable.”
Sports
Montreal Canadiens sign Cole Caufield to eight-year contract extension – Habs Eyes on the Prize
The forward re-signs with the team for the maximum length.
The Montreal Canadiens have signed forward Cole Caufield to an eight-year contract extension, the team announced on Monday.
The Canadiens have agreed to terms on an eight-year contract extension (2023-24 to 2030-31) with forward Cole Caufield.#GoHabsGohttps://t.co/BZ1gBIzndL
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) June 5, 2023
The contract will have an average cap hit of $7.85 million per season, just under the AAV for the same length of contract signed by team captain Nick Suzuki last year. The contract will last until the end of the 2030-31 season.
Caufield finished last season with 26 goals, and held the team lead in that category for most of the season despite playing only 46 games before undergoing shoulder surgery. He also had 10 assists.
The contract now locks in the two franchise cornerstones Caufield and Suzuki for the maximum length and cap hits under $8 million. It’s a good bit of business for Kent Hughes to get this done before free agency, and has the potential for great cap management as the years go by.
In the sixth year of the contract, per CapFriendly, there is a 15 team no-trade clause that drops to 10 teams in year seven and five in year eight.
Patrik Bexell, Matt Drake, and Jared Book discuss the contract in a special Habsent Minded Extra.
|
|
The Toronto Blue Jays had a memorable few days in New York, thanks to a three-game sweep of the Mets, but that’s not the biggest reason starting pitcher Chris Bassitt is all smiles these days.
Bassitt and his wife, Jessica, welcomed their second child over the weekend, with the veteran right-hander reporting that both mother and baby are doing well.
“Perfect weekend complete,” Bassitt wrote on Twitter. “Momma and Colson are doing great.”
Jessica went into labour Friday, while her husband took his normal turn in the Blue Jays’ rotation. Bassitt channelled all of his “dad strength” in that outing against the Mets, firing 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball with eight strikeouts in a 3-0 Toronto win. In a cruel twist from the universe, the start of the game was delayed more than 90 minutes due to inclement weather.
Once his outing was over, Bassitt rushed back to Toronto via private plane to be with Jessica for Colson’s birth. He made it in plenty of time, tweeting Saturday morning that the baby hadn’t arrived yet.
The 34-year-old will now be able to enjoy a few days with his family, as the Blue Jays placed him on the paternity list Saturday. Reliever Jay Jackson took his place on the 26-man roster.
Bassitt’s Blue Jays teammates gave him even more reason to cheer by eking out a 2-1 victory Saturday before getting the brooms out with a 6-4 win in the series finale.
Brandon Belt was the hero Sunday, connecting for a go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh inning after Toronto squandered an early 4-0 advantage. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also went deep for the Blue Jays, while Whit Merrifield delivered a two-run double in the second inning.
Next up, Toronto welcomes the Houston Astros to Rogers Centre for a four-game series that begins Monday. Bassitt is listed as the probable starter for Wednesday’s contest.
Chinese warship nearly hits U.S. destroyer in Taiwan Strait during joint Canada-U.S. mission – Global News
Award-winning Hong Kong journalist wins appeal in rare court ruling upholding media freedom – ABC News
Heat ride 17-5 run in 4th quarter to draw even with Nuggets in NBA Finals – CBC Sports
-
Science13 hours agoBehind Galactic Bars: Webb Telescope Unlocks Secrets of Star Formation
-
News19 hours ago
Toronto’s Future: A Crap Shoot.
-
News13 hours ago
Why are mosquitoes so bad in 2023?
-
Tech23 hours ago
‘Diablo 4’ Patch Notes Bring Fast Barbarian, Druid, Rogue Nerfs, Necro Buffs
-
Tech11 hours ago
Diablo 4 Received Its First Big Patch and It’s All About Class Balance
-
Tech12 hours ago
Apple prepares for game-changing WWDC 2023: Mixed reality headset and new features in the spotligh
-
Economy23 hours ago
Canada’s largest solar farm, GDP growth and an immigrant jobs boom: Must-read business and investing stories
-
News15 hours ago
Quebec town devastated by fishing accident that killed local man, four children
