In his first year of eligibility at the U.S. Senior Open, George McNeill shot a 4-under-par 66 to take the 36-hole lead on Friday at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.

McNeill posted the low round of the championship thus far and separated from the pack by birdieing two of his final four holes. At 6-under 134, he has earned a two-stroke lead over Irishman Padraig Harrington, who’s chasing his third U.S. Senior Open title in five years.

Harrington, like McNeill, improved on his first-round score by two shots with a 3-under 67. The defending champion will play in the final pairing with first-timer McNeill on Saturday.

“I don’t think I’m going to try to do anything different than I normally would at a tournament,” McNeill said.

McNeill turned 50 last October and hasn’t won in his first season on the PGA Tour Champions. He won twice on the PGA Tour, with his latest victory in 2012, and he openly acknowledged that his record at USGA championships isn’t the best either.

“My best (U.S. Open) finish, I think, was Oakmont in 2007. I think I finished — I made the cut on the number, and I think I finished last of the guys that made the cut,” McNeill said. “So nothing too exciting. All the other championships, I believe I missed the cut.

“Never really had a good feel for U.S. Opens. I don’t know if age is helping me. This Senior Open is obviously I’m doing OK so far.”

McNeill started his round on the back nine and birdied Nos. 12, 13, and 17. His only bogey came at the par-4 third, dropping him to 4 under. But a two-putt birdie at the par-5 sixth put him back ahead of Harrington again, and he drained a long birdie putt at the par-3 ninth to extend his lead.

Harrington’s round of four birdies and one bogey was enough to keep him near the top of the leaderboard. The World Golf Hall of Famer has been around the block enough to know what championship golf can throw at him.

“Look, as I said, I’d like to play well on the weekend, but if I don’t play well, I’m going to try to win this tournament another way. It’s just one of those things that with experience I know things don’t go your way at times when you’re leading, and things can feel like bad breaks,” Harrington said. “It doesn’t mean I have any perfect ability to deal with it. I’ve certainly seen all these situations. So I won’t be surprised by anything, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going to handle it that well either.”

Stewart Cink and South Korea’s Charlie Wi were tied for the first-round lead. After posting identical even-par 70s Friday, they are tied for third at 3 under along with Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez (68).

Cink won the first two majors of the season, the Senior PGA Championship and the Regions Tradition. He was 3 over for his round before birdieing Nos. 6, 7 and 9 to get back to even for the day.

“It was really not just the last hole, but I made significant putts on my last four holes. So that definitely helps the confidence,” Cink said. “Just seeing the ball go in the hole is huge in this game. I salvaged an OK round today when it was really pretty rough all around … Dug myself a little hole, but the last four were — it was really good to salvage those.”

–Field Level Media

Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene will make his season debut on Saturday night against the Baltimore Orioles.

Greene has been sidelined since undergoing surgery in March to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow.

Greene made three minor league rehab starts totaling 14 1/3 innings across two levels and didn’t allow a run. He struck out 13 and allowed five hits and two walks.

In his last outing, Greene gave up one hit over 6 1/3 shutout innings on Sunday for Triple-A Louisville. He struck out four and walked none while throwing 82 pitches.

Reds manager Terry Francona said Greene will not be limited against the Orioles.

“I think he’s strong enough (and) stretched out enough, healthy enough, where we’re going to get him back, not just in name only, but in production also,” Francona said.

Greene, 26, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft by the Reds.

He has displayed flashes of greatness during four big league seasons but stands just 25-29 with a 3.65 ERA in 91 career starts. He has 617 strikeouts in 495 2/3 innings.

Last season, he went 7-4 with a 2.76 ERA in 19 starts while being hindered by groin injuries. One year earlier, he was 9-5 with a 2.75 ERA in 26 starts and was a National League All-Star.

The Reds are hopeful Greene will stay healthy and form a top-rate tandem with right-hander Chase Burns, the No. 2 overall pick in 2024.

Burns, 23, has emerged as one of the top pitchers in the NL this season and is 10-1 with a 2.40 ERA in 17 starts. He has fanned 116 batters in 97 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Argentina scored yet another vital World Cup goal with the help of a hand, but this one was completely legal.

In the 111th minute, Cristian Romero headed Lionel Messi’s corner kick off the hand of Cape Verde defender Diney Borges, redirecting it inside the far post to complete a 3-2 victory in extra time of the round of 32 for the defending champions in an all-time great World Cup match Friday in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Messi added his 20th career World Cup goal and tournament-leading seventh early in the contest, and Lisandro Martinez scored early in extra time to give the Argentines a 2-1 advantage.

Cape Verde, the smallest nation ever to reach the World Cup knockout round, answered those first two goals. Deroy Duarte’s 59th-minute leveler was well-deserved after his side’s bright start to the second half. Sidny Lopes Cabral’s world-class strike stunned the crowd and evened it at 2-all in the 103rd minute.

But 40 years and 11 days after Diego Maradona’s famous “Hand of God” goal — which would have certainly been ruled out in the modern era of VAR — the manual intervention this time around was above board because it came from a defender.

The advantage law allows a referee to ignore a foul — including a handball — by a defensive team if it benefits the attack. Had Borges’ handball prevented Romero’s header from going across the goal line, it likely would’ve resulted in an Argentina penalty kick.

Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez made two crucial late interventions, including a denial of another attempt from Cabral, to set up a round of 16 meeting with Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday.

The match was easily Argentina’s most difficult of the tournament, and will leave Cape Verde as one of the competition’s feel-good stories.

While they become the seventh African side to be eliminated from the competition, they earned worldwide respect with a performance that also included draws against two other World Cup-winning nations, Spain and Uruguay.

After leading 1-0 late in the first half through Messi’s 29th-minute contribution, Argentina regained their lead two minutes into extra time.

Messi struck a corner kick to the near post, where Alexis Mac Allister met it with a flick-on header.

From there the ball bounded across the goalmouth before Lisandro Martinez reached it on the far side of the penalty area, took a touch forward and then powered a left-footed strike seemingly through Vozinha into the roof of his net.

Improbably, Cape Verde leveled again through Lopes Cabral’s world-class strike.

With Mac Allister defending, Lopes Cabral took a pass at the left edge of the box, cut past Mac Allister and then bent a looping strike well beyond the reach of the goalkeeper into the top right corner.

Vozinha, 40, was credited with eight saves after making seven in the tournament-opening scoreless draw with Spain.

–Field Level Media