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Published

3 years ago

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8:07 PM ET

  • Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Rory McIlroy was trying to illustrate how deep the talent pool is on the PGA Tour by sharing a story about how impressed he was with Keith Mitchell the first time they played together.

Mitchell is providing McIlroy and everyone else with plenty of more fodder through two rounds of the CJ Cup at Summit.

One day after matching his career low with a 62, Mitchell followed that with an 8-under 64 on Friday to build a five-shot shot lead going into the weekend at The Summit Club.

Jordan Spieth had eight birdies and an eagle to counter a few soft bogeys for a 65 and was tied for second along with Harry Higgs (67) and Seonghyeon Kim (63), one of eight South Korean players who will be in the second stage of Korn Ferry Tour qualifying next week.

Joining them was Adam Scott, who had two eagles on his last five holes and played his last seven holes in 8 under for a 63.

Mitchell was at 18-under 126, breaking by five shots his best 36-hole score on tour.

“I spent a lot of time in the last few days leading up to this tournament working hard on my game and it’s showing,” said Mitchell, whose lone victory was in the Honda Classic two years ago. “I’m very thankful for that. Just shows you that hard work pays off as long as you’re doing the right things.”

Not much has gone wrong for Mitchell.

He was between clubs on No. 10 and had to scramble for par. That indecision carried over to the tee on the par-3 11th where his worst swing of the day led to his lone bogey. He answered with three birdies the rest of the way to widen his lead.

“If I’m sitting here saying I’m 18 under with only two bad swings, I’m going to take it every time,” Mitchell said.

Scores were even lower than the opening round, at least for most players in the 78-man field. That wasn’t the case for Robert Streb, who opened with a 61 and was six shots behind when he started his round. Streb was 11 shots worse with a 72.

Abraham Ancer made an albatross by holing out from the fairway on the par-5 14th with a shot that rolled onto the green and broke some 30 feet to the left and right into the cup.

Dustin Johnson nearly had one on the par-5 third. His second shot banged into the middle of the spin and settled a few inches away. The world’s No. 2 player started with a 74, shot a 66 and actually lost ground. He was 14 shots behind.

Spieth hit a 3-wood so pure that he told his caddie as the ball was in flight that it was a shot he couldn’t have hit last year when he was struggling with his game. That led to an eagle on the par-5 sixth, and while he’s still five back, he is in range.

“Everybody would have signed for 18 through two rounds,” Spieth said. “I think the hardest part is regrouping and almost feeling like you start fresh to put your foot on the gas pedal versus tapping the brakes.”

Spieth would rather be five shots ahead, though he doesn’t mind a five-shot in one respect.

“That will help me keep the foot on the gas pedal,” Spieth said.

That’s the only way to fly around The Summit, which doesn’t provide too much stress as long as shots are kept in the grass instead of the desert.

McIlroy brought up Mitchell at the start of the week when the topic turned to how hard it is to win on the PGA Tour. He thought back to the Wells Fargo Championship in May, when he played the final round with Mitchell, trailing by two shots.

“He came out and he hits it in the left bunker on 1, hits an unbelievable 7-iron to like 10 feet and holes he putt,” McIlroy said. “People wouldn’t maybe pick a Keith Mitchell to win a tournament at the start of the week, but you play with him in a final round on a Sunday, he stopped me in my tracks. I was like, ‘He is a hell of a player.’

“People don’t realize … I mean, you could say that about 100 guys out there,” McIlroy said. “That’s the thing. You turn up to a PGA Tour event, you feel like three-quarters of the field have a chance to win.”

The best chance belongs to Mitchell, who knows a thing or two about depth on the tour. Anyone can low at any minute, especially in conditions like this.

Ian Poulter played with Mitchell and had rounds of 66-67. He was seven behind.

“We’re trying to birdie every hole on the golf course and you can’t be any more aggressive than that,” Poulter said. “It’s just the first two rounds that Keith has played is pretty impressive. Eighteen under for two days is some good golf.”

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5-star wide receiver Moore decommits from LSU

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33 mins ago

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May 17, 2024

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5-star wide receiver Moore decommits from LSU

  • Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Staff WriterMay 17, 2024, 09:12 AM ET

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    • ESPN staff writer
    • Joined ESPN in 2011
    • Graduated from Central Michigan

Five-star wide receiver Dakorien Moore decommitted from LSU on Wednesday.

Moore is the No. 3 prospect overall in the 2025 class, and a 5-foot-11, 185-pound recruit from Duncanville, Texas. He had been committed to the Tigers since August, but announced on Wednesday that he is reopening his recruitment.

In his announcement on X (formerly twitter), Moore said that he will not be considering new offers from schools.

Prior to committing to LSU, he had Ohio State, Oregon and Texas in his top group, and those three schools have continued to recruit him despite his commitment to LSU.

He was the second-highest ranked commitment in the class for LSU, behind No. 2 ranked Bryce Underwood, a five-star quarterback out of Belleville, Michigan.

Despite Moore’s decommitment, LSU still has six ESPN 300 commitments, including Underwood, the No. 1 ranked running back Harlem Berry, cornerback Jaboree Antoine, offensive linemen Devin Harper and Tyler Miller, as well as linebacker Charles Ross.

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Hunter, Ewers, Edwards share video game cover

Published

33 mins ago

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May 17, 2024

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Hunter, Ewers, Edwards share video game cover

  • Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterMay 16, 2024, 11:16 AM ET

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    • College football reporter.
    • Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
    • Graduate of Northwestern University.

DALLAS — After dazzling at cornerback and wide receiver for Colorado in 2023, Travis Hunter often hears people describe him as a video game player. Now he is on the cover of the long-anticipated return of the college football video game from EA Sports.

Hunter, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Michigan running back Donovan Edwards share the cover of EA Sports College Football 25, set to be released July 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The popular game, which has been on hiatus since 2014, will include all 134 FBS teams and the names, images and likenesses of a large majority of current players.

Eight days after EA Sports set up NIL deals for current college players, more than 10,000 had opted in to the game. Each player who opted in will receive $600 and a copy of the game, valued at around $70. Hunter and Ewers were among the first high-profile players to opt in.

The main cover shows Hunter in the middle with Ewers to his right and Edwards to his left. The cover for the deluxe edition displays the backs of Hunter, Ewers and Edwards in the tunnel at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, where an extensive photo and video shoot took place in early March.

“It’s just a blessing to be able to be on the cover,” Hunter told ESPN. “We grew up watching this and looking at the covers, and now we’re on it. When I was young, I waited till 12 o’clock to get every NCAA. It was my favorite game by far. I still play the old NCAA 14 to this day.”

Hunter has created himself in the previous games, saying, “I’m a 90-something [rating] overall, so I’m pretty good, but my speed is kind of slow.”

Former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson was on the cover for NCAA Football 14. The last shared cover, for NCAA Football 13, featured Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner, and 1988 Heisman winner Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State.

Like Hunter, Ewers has played the older versions of the game after EA Sports stopped producing it in the wake of a lawsuit filed by former players over the use of their names, images and likenesses.

“Obviously, I grew up in an era of playing this game, as it was big for my age group,” Ewers told ESPN. “It’s been, what, 10 years now since this NCAA game has come out, and to be on the cover with these two guys, I can’t really put it into words. It’s just an honor.”

EA Sports announced the planned return of the game in early 2021 and in December 2022 said the game would be released summer 2024. Every FBS school will be represented, along with the College Football Playoff and bowl games. Dynasty and Road to Glory modes — two features in the previous NCAA games that were immensely popular — will return to the game, which will also feature facets of the transfer portal and NIL.

Ewers and Hunter knew each other previously and connected with Edwards before the cover shoot. They posed for pictures together around the Cotton Bowl and did videos, including Ewers throwing a downfield pass to Hunter, who had 57 receptions for 721 yards and five touchdowns last season to go along with three interceptions and five pass breakups on defense.

“Donovan, Quinn and Travis are extraordinary talents who impressed and entertained millions of college football fans on the field last season and are poised to do so again this year,” Daryl Holt, senior vice president and group general manager of EA Sports, said in a statement. “We’re proud to be able to incorporate thousands of current athletes in College Football 25, and featuring this trio of playmakers and their iconic college programs on the cover is a perfect fit as we usher in a new era for EA SPORTS and college football.”

The photo shoot also included actors dressed in uniforms for Notre Dame, Georgia, Alabama, USC, Ohio State, Florida and Oregon. Other than Hunter, Ewers and Edwards, the cover includes jerseys showing the names of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck and Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins.

Edwards grew up playing NCAA Football and Call of Duty and described NCAA Football as “the best game that I ever played.”

“Just the fact that it hasn’t come out for a decade, you miss it more,” said Edwards, who had 497 rushing yards and five touchdowns in 2023. “The graphics were top tier, the play style was top tier, there was no lag, no glitches in there. I’m just very blessed to be able to be on the cover and to be able to represent the University of Michigan.”

ESPN’s Michael Rothstein contributed to this report.

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Michigan to sell alcohol at football games in ’24

Published

33 mins ago

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May 17, 2024

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Michigan to sell alcohol at football games in '24

  • Associated Press

May 16, 2024, 05:28 PM ET

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Alcohol sales will begin this football season at Michigan Stadium, following the lead of in-state rival Michigan State and a trend of booze being made available at college sports venues across the nation.

The Michigan athletic department made the announcement Thursday following successful rollouts of alcohol sales at its hockey and basketball arenas. The university’s board of regents voted to implement a liquor license at the “Big House” starting with the Aug. 31 opener against Fresno State.

According to a survey by The Associated Press of Power Five conference schools and Notre Dame, 55 of 69 sold alcohol in the public areas of their stadiums last season. Michigan State, Kentucky and Stanford began alcohol sales at their football stadiums in 2023.

Michigan started alcohol sales at Yost Ice Arena and Crisler Center in February as a trial run for sales at the football stadium. The athletic department said there were no reported issues related to drunken behavior or medical responses.

Fans will be required to show identification while making a purchase, and each sale will be limited to two alcoholic beverages per legal drinking age person.

The athletic department said alcohol revenue will be used for operational expenses, and a portion will be directed to the university to help fund campus research projects.

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