GOLF
Laurent Desmarchais of Bromont, Quebec, and William Duquette of Leval, Quebec, earned entry to the U.S. Amateur golf tournament Thursday during a qualifying tournament at The Ledges Golf Club in York.
The qualifier was completed Thursday morning after thunderstorms curtailed play on Wednesday with many golfers still on the course.
Desmarchais, 22, topped the 80-player field by shooting a 10-under 134 over 36 holes. Duquette, also 22, shot a 6-under 134. Only the top two golfers qualified for the U.S. Amateur, scheduled for Aug. 14-20 at Cherry Hills, Colorado.
Bennett Berg of Portland was the top Maine finisher, placing ninth with a 4-over 148. Eli Spaulding, who will be a senior this fall at Freeport High, tied for 11th at 6-over 150.
PGA TOUR: Taylor Moore and Monday qualifier Peter Kuest shot 8-under 64s to share the first-round lead in the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, with a slew of players chasing in what’s expected to be a shootout.
Dylan Wu had the third albatross on the PGA Tour this season and shot 65, joining Sam Ryder, Aaron Rai, Ludvig Aberg, Sam Bennett, Justin Suh and Adam Schenk.
Collin Morikawa was among those two shots back while Rickie Fowler was three off the lead at Detroit Golf Club.
EUROPEAN TOUR: As expected, Justin Rose set the pace in the first round of the British Masters in Sutton Coldfield, England with a 7-under 65.
Rose, the World No. 31 and top-ranked player in the field, had eight birdies and a solitary bogey at the Belfry. The Englishman has a one-shot lead over former Ryder Cup teammate Jamie Donaldson.
Donaldson birdied five of the last six holes in his 66, with Germany’s Yannik Paul, English amateur John Gough, James Morrison and Spain’s Sebastian Garcia all on 4 under.
BASEBALL
EASTERN LEAGUE: Isaac Coffey pitched six shutout innings and Nathan Hickey hit a solo home run in the sixth inning as the Portland Sea Dogs beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 2-0 in the first game of the second half of their schedule at Manchester, New Hampshire.
The Sea Dogs took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Niko Kavadas scored on an error.
Coffey allowed there hits, walked two and struck out four. Joely Rodriguez, on a rehab assignment from the Red Sox, pitched a scoreless seventh, allowing a hit and a walk.
NECBL: Trent Farquhar was 2 for 3 with two RBI and a run scored as the Newport Gulls beat the Sanford Mainers 6-2 at Goodall Park in Sanford.
Jeremiah Jenkins hit an RBI double and scored on a single by Logan Poteet in the eighth inning for Sanford.
FOOTBALL
NFL: The Patriots and wide receiver DeVante Parker agreed on a reworked three-year contract Wednesday worth up to $33 million, per a source.
Parker was set to enter a contract year, but his new deal runs through 2025. He can earn $14 million in guarantees and per-game roster bonuses alone. Parker caught 31 passes for 539 yards and three touchdowns last season, his first in New England, while starting 11 of 13 game appearances.
Parker’s previous base salary for 2023 was set to be $5.7 million. His new base salary is expected to be lower, according to ESPN, but Parker can earn more than $5.7 million this season if he triggers enough per-game roster bonuses and incentives. The 30-year-old has a lengthy injury history.
Parker projects to start for the Patriots alongside free-agent acquisition JuJu Smith-Schuster.
His new contract is not expected to affect the team’s pursuit of free-agent DeAndre Hopkins, who visited Foxboro earlier this month.
• J.J. Watt has signed a multi-year deal with CBS Sports to serve as a studio analyst.
Watt’s first appearance will be on “The NFL Today” during Week 1 on Sept. 9. He’ll also be an analyst for NFL shows on CBS Sports Network and online.
SWIMMING
U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS: Caeleb Dressel is down to his final shot to make the U.S. team for the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Dressel tied for fifth in the final of the 100-meter butterfly, making him 0-for-3 at the U.S. national championships in Indianapolis.
His last opportunity to qualify for worlds comes Saturday, the final day of the meet, when he competes in the 50 freestyle.
TENNIS
U.S. OPEN: Caroline Wozniacki, a former No. 1-ranked tennis player and the 2018 Australian Open champion, announced that she is returning to competition three years after she retired to start a family.
The U.S. Tennis Association said it will grant Wozniacki a wild-card invitation to participate in the U.S. Open, which begins in New York on Aug. 28. She also is receiving a wild-card entry for a tournament in Montreal that begins earlier in August, she intends to play in the Australian Open next January and hopes to represent Denmark at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
WIMBLEDON: The All England Club has increased its security plans for Wimbledon in coordination with London police and other agencies ahead of the beginning of play next week, in part as a result of protests at other major sports venues in Britain this year.
On Wednesday in London, environmental activists ran onto the field and briefly disrupted play about five minutes after the start of the second Ashes cricket test between England and Australia. Players from both teams intervened when the protesters attempted to spread orange powder on the field.
“Based on what has happened at other sporting events, and on the advice from our key partners, we have reviewed our security plans, which have now been uplifted for The Championships accordingly,” All England Club operations director Michelle Dite said.
SOCCER
U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM: Gregg Berhalter’s first matches in his return as United States men’s national team coach will be exhibitions against Uzbekistan on Sept. 9 at St. Louis and Oman three days later at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Oman is ranked 73rd and Uzbekistan 74th, while the U.S. is No. 13. Many nations are unavailable for friendlies because of 2024 European Championship qualifying and the start of 2026 World Cup qualifying in South America.
Berhalter was rehired as coach on June 16, 5 1/2 months after the U.S. Soccer Federation allowed his contract to expire. He was replaced him with an interim coach after the Reyna family notified the USSF of a three-decade-old domestic violence allegation involving Berhalter and the woman who later became his wife.
MLS: Inter Miami is still targeting a July 21 debut match for Lionel Messi, though stopped short of saying that date was guaranteed.
Sporting Director Chris Henderson said that the paperwork for Messi and new coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino is still being processed. Martino was introduced by the team Wednesday but cannot actually begin coaching until his visa process is complete; Messi is expected to sign with the team sometime in early July and there are plans for an introduction event July 16.
PREMIER LEAGUE: Manchester United has agreed to sign midfielder Mason Mount from Chelsea for 55 million pounds ($69 million).
The agreement was confirmed by two people with knowledge of the negotiations, which have been on-going since the end of the Premier League season.
FOOTBALL
NFL: J.J. Watt has signed a multi-year deal with CBS Sports to serve as a studio analyst.
Watt’s first appearance will be on “The NFL Today” during Week 1 on Sept. 9. He’ll also be an analyst for NFL shows on CBS Sports Network and online.
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