Sports
Lucas Herbert breaks course record in LIV United Kingdom first round
Jul 17, 2026; Southport, ENG; Lucas Herbert shakes the hand of his caddie, Nick Pugh, following his round of during the second round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Fresh from a sixth-place finish at the Open Championship, Australia’s Lucas Herbert fired an 11-under-par 61 on Thursday to take a three-shot lead after one round of LIV Golf United Kingdom in Rocester, England.
Herbert broke the JCB Golf and Country Club course record by one shot when he birdied No. 16, but he settled for pars on 17 and 18 to short-circuit his bid to break 60.
“I actually hit a poor putt on 16 and underread it and it went in,” Herbert said. “Then hit a good putt on 17 and it missed and forgot to hit the ball on 18. ‘Pughy’ left the head cover on.”
Leaving aside Herbert jokingly blaming caddie Nick Pugh for coming up short at 18, Thursday’s round marked the second time in seven days that Herbert finished a brilliant round with a missed putt on the final hole with history at stake.
On Friday at Royal Birkdale, Herbert tied the record for lowest round in a major with his 62. Though he missed a five-footer for par at No. 18 that would have claimed the record for himself, the 30-year-old still claimed the Open lead after 36 holes to set up his best finish in a major.
On Thursday, Herbert opened his round birdie-birdie-birdie and finished with nine birdies, one eagle and no bogeys.
“Yeah, just continuing on that fun momentum from last week at The Open,” Herbert said. “It’s nice when those putts roll in and golf feels the way it does right now.”
Bryson DeChambeau, who also enjoyed most of his Open experience, stands second after a roller-coaster of a 64. He started with three birdies before suffering a bogey at No. 4 and earning an eagle at No. 6. He added four straight birdies on the back nine before a bogey landed him at 8 under for the day.
Herbert and DeChambeau will go head-to-head in the final group on Friday. That was the plan for the third round of The Open, too, until DeChambeau was assessed a two-stroke penalty after the second round for alleged shenanigans in the rough on the fifth hole.
“Like [the pairing] is a week late?” DeChambeau said. “Look, golf is golf, right? I wish we could have gone to battle last week. It wasn’t that way. But life goes on. There’s moments of adversity in everybody’s life, and I was passionate about what I believed and thought was right.
“For me, it’s now in a place that it is what it is, and you keep moving through it. You keep moving past it.”
Harold Varner III and England’s Tyrell Hatton share third place at 6 under while Canada’s Richard T. Lee and South Korea’s Byeong Hun An are another stroke back.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Raiders sign No. 1 overall pick QB Fernando Mendoza
Jun 3, 2026; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) warms up during organized team activities at Intermountain Health Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images The Las Vegas Raiders signed quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, on Thursday.
The Heisman Trophy winner’s four-year rookie deal is worth a fully guaranteed $57.27 million and includes a fifth-year option.
Mendoza, 22, guided Indiana to its first national championship and a 16-0 season in 2025. He completed 72.0% of his passes for 3,535 yards with 41 touchdowns and six interceptions in his lone season with the Hoosiers.
The Raiders signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins as the likely Week 1 starter for this season, with Mendoza as the long-term face of the franchise.
Mendoza and the Raiders reportedly had been at odds over his signing bonus. The team did not disclose those details on Thursday.
Rookies were due to report to training camp for Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Mendoza played his first two collegiate campaigns at Cal from 2023-24, throwing for a combined 4,712 yards with 30 TDs and 16 interceptions in 20 games for the Golden Bears.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Homer-happy Braves power past Padres in series finale
Jul 23, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Harris II (23) celebrates with Atlanta Braves third base coach Tommy Watkins (84) after hitting a home run against the San Diego Padres during the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images Four Braves hit home runs, and Chris Sale earned his 11th victory when Atlanta took a 6-5 win against the visiting San Diego Padres on Thursday afternoon.
Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies, Dominic Smith and Drake Baldwin each went deep for the Braves, who won the series 3-1. Atlanta is 5-2 since the All-Star break and has scored at least five runs in 11 of its past 13 home games.
Sale (11-6) pitched six innings and allowed three runs on five hits and one walk. He matched his season high with 11 strikeouts and improved his career record against the Padres to 5-0.
Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth to earn his 21st save. He gave up a pair of two-out singles but came back to strike out Luis Rengifo to end the game.
Griffin Canning (1-9) took his fourth consecutive loss. He pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits with four strikeouts.
The Padres jumped on Sale for three runs in the second, ending his scoreless streak at 11 innings. Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a bases-loaded walk, a plate appearance kept alive by a successful ABS challenge that reversed a strike. Rengifo followed with a two-run single.
With the Braves using a heavy left-handed lineup at the top of the order, San Diego opted to use southpaw Kyle Hart as an opener. He retired the Braves in order in the first and gave way to Canning, the scheduled starter.
The strategy backfired when Harris hit the second pitch from Canning for a solo homer, his 19th of the season. The 420-foot shot settled deep into the right-field stands.
The Braves went deep twice more off Canning in the fourth. Albies added a solo shot, his 16th home run of the year, and Smith launched a three-run shot, his seventh homer.
Atlanta got another solo homer from Baldwin, his 19th, in the seventh inning against reliever Matt Waldron.
The Padres cut the lead to 6-5 in the eighth when Ty France hit his 16th home run of the season, a two-run shot, against reliever Tyler Kinley. It was the fifth home run for France since the All-Star break.
–Field Level Media
Sports
WTA roundup: Barbora Krejcikova cruises to quarterfinals in Prague
Jul 1, 2026; London, United Kingdom; Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic tosses the ball to serve during her match against Mirra Andreeva on day three at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images Second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova scored an easy straight set victory over Lucie Havlickova 6-4, 6-2 to cruise to the quarterfinals at the Prague Open in the Czech Republic on Thursday.
Krejcikova won the tournament in 2021 but has yet to return to the semifinals. On Thursday, she was able to put the pressure on Havlickova, forcing 12 break point opportunities and taking three while saving the lone break point she faced.
In the other matches, Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand outlasted fourth-seeded Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic in a marathon match, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (6). Tararudee landed just 67 percent of her first service points and Bartunkova just 69 percent. Tararudee fell behind in the final set 5-2 but staved off four match points throughout the set to advance to the next round.
Third-seeded Sara Bejlek cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Maria Timofeeva of Uzbekistan. Bejlek will now face off against Austria’s Lilli Tagger in the next round after Tagger took down Japan’s Mai Hontama 6-4, 6-4.
MSC Hamburg Ladies Open
Top-seeded Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine had to fight through a three-set match to advance and was the only seeded player to do so on the day in Germany.
Oliynykova came out on top 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 over Spaniard Leyre Romero Gormaz despite saving only 4 of the 11 break points she faced. It was her return game that came in handy as she broke Romero Gormaz seven times and had a 75 percent first serve percentage in the deciding set.
Oliynykova will now have to prepare for Elina Avanesyan of Armenia who upset seventh-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Avanesyan is currently ranked 208 in the world but picked apart Putintseva by breaking her nine times across the three sets.
Egypt’s Mayar Sherif took down France’s Elsa Jacquemot 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals. She’ll take on Paula Badosa of Spain after Badosa defeated third-seeded Panna Udvardy of Hungary, 6-4, 6-1.
–Field Level Media
Raiders sign No. 1 overall pick QB Fernando Mendoza
Homer-happy Braves power past Padres in series finale
