MEDINAH, Ill. -- Phil Mickelson had a hasty start to the final round of the BMW Championship on Sunday, arriving at Medinah Country Club less than 40 minutes prior to his tee time, changing his shoes in the parking lot and scrambling to get warmed up.

Mickelson had been locked out of his nearby hotel room for 90 minutes because of a lightning strike that caused a fire and an evacuation. He tweeted about the circumstances and feared he might miss his tee time.

How's this for crazy? My hotel was struck by lighting, I was on top floor,we were evacuated and the place is on fire(only thing of mine on fire this week.) I can't get back into my room and may miss my tee time because I am without clubs and clothes.

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 18, 2019

Mickelson, 49, credited the power of social media with helping him make it. The PGA Tour got involved, as did local police. Mickelson's brother and caddie, Tim Mickelson, said Phil was soon allowed back into his room and would make the tee time. He was staying at the Eaglewood Resort & Spa hotel in Itasca, Illinois, adjacent to Medinah Country Club, so his journey was not far.

He was scheduled to tee off at 11:52 a.m. ET off the 10th tee, which is a considerable distance from the clubhouse and parking lot. He only had time to swing a weighted club in the parking lot, then to hit a few drivers and chips on the range before heading to the course.

Mickelson tweeted again that the "EMT's were awesome and I'm going to make it," and then joked that his clubs "acted as a fire retardant."

AUSTIN, Texas -- Former NFL and Texas running back Cedric Benson, one of the most prolific rushers in NCAA and University of Texas history, has died in a motorcycle crash in Texas. He was 36.

Benson's attorney, Sam Bassett, says Austin law enforcement told him that Benson was killed in a motorcycle crash Saturday night.

One of the top high school recruits in the country out of Midland, Texas, Benson was a key player in the Longhorns' resurgence under former coach Mack Brown. Benson played at Texas from 2001 to '04. He won the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation's top running back, in 2004.

His 5,540 rushing yards for the Longhorns still ranks second in school history, behind only Ricky Williams' total.

Brown and Williams posted on social media after learning of Benson's death.

Saddened by the reports on the passing of Cedric Benson. We've coached a lot of tough players but none were tougher than Cedric. He was a true spirit. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family on this sad day. pic.twitter.com/6afR0AFiJW

— Mack Brown (@CoachMackBrown) August 18, 2019

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Just learned that fellow Longhorn Cedric Benson has passed on to the other side. RIP to one of the greatest to have played for the University of Texas ?? #cedricbenson #hookem #runningbacks #thisistexas #rip @nufced

A post shared by Ricky Williams (@williams) on Aug 18, 2019 at 10:49am PDT

Tom Herman, the current coach at Texas also expressed his condolences.

"It's an unbelievably sad day with the news of the passing of Cedric Benson," Herman said in a statement. "We lost a true Longhorn Legend, one of the best running backs in college football history and a really special man. He was far too young, and my heart aches for his family, friends and the entire Longhorn community. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all."

Benson was drafted No. 4 overall by the Chicago Bears in 2005. He also played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers.

He reached Super Bowl XLI with Chicago but had his best individual success in Cincinnati, topping 1,000 rushing yards three times. He had 6,850 career yards from scrimmage and 33 touchdowns.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

We can't recommend enough the importance of taking part in some mock fantasy football drafts before your real ones arrive. It's easy (just click here and join one), doesn't take much time and gives you the chance to make mistakes that don't count, while getting a feel for where players may land in your specific league size and format.

That latter part is key, because player value changes dramatically based on how many managers are in your league, the makeup of your rosters and your scoring system.

To that point, the value of quarterbacks rose in our recent 10-team, 2-QB mock when compared to our 10-team PPR, 10-team non-PPR and 12-team PPR drafts that rostered only one starting QB.

This time around, we turned to a 12-team, 1-QB, non-PPR format -- and not surprisingly, with no bonus point for receptions, running backs ruled the early part of the first round. In fact, the top eight picks were running backs.

Throughout the draft, those whose value gets a big boost from receiving in PPR formats also took a hit. For example, Travis Kelce slipped out of the first round (No. 17), while James White (No. 57) and Tarik Cohen (No. 66), who make their fantasy mark catching passes, sank as well.

Meanwhile, with off-field questions, Melvin Gordon and Antonio Brown dropped all the way to No. 22 and 23, respectively. On the other hand, Keith Lipscomb snagged Ezekiel Elliott at No. 2 (over pass-catcher extraordinaire Christian McCaffrey), despite his current holdout, believing at this time that it will get worked out before Week 1.

Check out each of the picks below and compare them to our other mocks -- then go do your own mocks to warm up for the real ones.

The participants, in order of draft position, were:

Mike Triplett, Keith Lipscomb, André Snellings, Tom Carpenter, Tristan H. Cockcroft, Kyle Soppe, Matt Bowen, KC Joyner, Mike Clay, Field Yates, Jim McCormick and Eric Karabell

With the platform of USA Basketball's road to the FIBA Basketball World Cup in store, several players have looked to turn heads with their patriotic pairs during the team's training camp and early exhibition games.

For Kyle Kuzma and P.J. Tucker, it could be their final stretch in Nike sneakers, as both will be among this fall's most sought-after sneaker free agents, with their current swoosh endorsement deals set to expire in late September.

Both have been wearing exclusive pairs of the Kobe 4 Protro in navy, red and white so far, with Kuzma expected to continue carrying the torch for the former Los Angeles Lakers legend's signature sneaker line as he continues on with the national team.

After suffering an ankle injury just before team USA's exhibition win over Spain, Tucker was forced to withdraw -- a personal disappointment for the 34 year-old excited to represent his country, and a letdown for sneakerheads looking forward to his rotation of FIBA footwear.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, a fellow 2017 draft classmate of Kuzma's, has kicked off his new sneaker deal with Jordan Brand during his time with USA Basketball, after officially transferring over from Nike's basketball category to the Michael Jordan subsidiary in late June.

"I've been wearing Jordans since before I could walk, when I was 10 months old," Tatum said. "Fast-forward 20 years later, now I'm a part of the brand."

After a process that began at the start of the year -- "a bunch of phone calls," he jokes -- Tatum welcomed the internal shift to become a Team Jordan member after just the second season of his rookie shoe deal with Nike.

"I told my mom, the only way athletes get to come to the brand is if Jordan approves," he said. "Getting the approval from the greatest player of all time at 21 [years old] is an incredible feeling."

When his mother asked what went into his thought process of accepting the transfer, it was apparently a straightforward decision.

"I was like, 'Jordan knows who I am?' Yeah, I'm down," he said with a laugh.

In the week leading up to his official announcement, Tatum says 50 pairs of Jordans arrived on his doorstep. Several limited edition exclusives were packaged alongside recent performance models, along with a handful of his favorite Air Jordan 1 colorways.

During his time with USA Basketball, Tatum has helped to headline Jordan's newest performance sneaker, the Jumpman Diamond, coincidentally, alongside his new brandmate and teammate in Kemba Walker. Each is wearing slightly different editions of the team shoe in navy, white and red accents, before they switch to green-based kicks for the regular season.

"The creativity and freedom that you can have over here, and the back and the forth with athletes is really creative and new in the basketball world," Tatum said.

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different arena, same @spidadmitchell ❤️ (repost @utahjazz) #NBAKicks

A post shared by NBA Kicks (@nbakicks) on Aug 16, 2019 at 11:18pm PDT

Though several of the NBA's biggest stars with their own signature shoe opted against playing in this summer's FIBA World Cup, that allowed for Donovan Mitchell to step in as the only USA Basketball player with his own signature model. The timing couldn't be better, as Adidas just launched his debut D.O.N. Issue #1 sneaker, highlighted by an acronym short for "determination over negativity," and complete with comic book themes.

Just as he did throughout the past NBA season, Mitchell continued his ongoing ritual of giving away his game-worn sneakers to fans, leaving a young boy in awe as he handed off his player exclusive navy and white Adidas signature shoe.

While both Tucker and Kuzma are just now beginning the early stages of their pending sneaker free agency, Celtics guard Marcus Smart might have already tipped his hand in Las Vegas on his next shoe deal. After originally signing with Adidas as a rookie in 2014, Smart was spotted in head-to-toe Puma gear as he arrived for USAB training camp, hardly a subtle move. The following day, he laced up Puma's recent Uproar sneaker in white, blue and red, perhaps plainly foreshadowing his plans.

Talks between the two sides are ongoing, according to industry sources. With Puma-sponsored athlete Terry Rozier leaving the Celtics in free agency, the Boston-based basketball category of the company is said to have mutual interest in signing Smart to continue their local pro presence, once his Adidas deal officially expires Oct. 1.

Last but not least, head coach Gregg Popovich even turned heads during the team's practices, breaking out a clean white and navy pair of the once mass friendly-turned-cult classic defining "dad shoe," Nike's Air Monarch. He even caught the attention of the league's reigning sneaker champ.

"Pop killed me with the Air Monarchs!" Tucker said.

Check out all of the best sneakers worn so far during USA Basketball's sessions leading up to the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and vote for your favorite pair in the poll below. For real-time sneaker updates and community discussions, join our SneakerCenter Facebook Group and follow us on Instagram.

Washington Nationals closer Sean Doolittle was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with right knee tendinitis, a day after he blew his sixth save chance of the season.

Doolittle, 32, allowed three home runs and four runs in the ninth inning Saturday night against the Milwaukee Brewers to blow a three-run lead for the Nationals. Washington eventually lost the game 15-14 in 14 innings.

"He has always had knee issues," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Sunday, according to the Washington Times. "He can't get on that front side like he wants to (on his delivery). I told him, 'You are not letting anybody down. But we have to get you right.' It came to a head."

Martinez said Sunday that he he will play matchups with his bullpen in the ninth inning during Doolittle's absence. But he made it clear that Doolittle will not lose his job.

"When he does come back, he's our closer," Martinez told reporters.

"I'm still searching for answers," Doolittle said after Saturday's game. "I don't know. ... It just wasn't coming out tonight. That part of the order, that team, there's just nowhere to hide."

Right-hander Kyle McGowin was recalled from Double-A Harrisburg in a corresponding move.

The Nationals (66-56) currently hold the first wild-card spot in the National League, with a 1½-game lead over the Chicago Cubs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

PITTSBURGH -- The memories come flooding back. Ask a major leaguer what he did last week at the plate, and he might need to look at a box score to remind himself. But ask about his Little League experiences, and boy, does he have memories.

"My 12-year-old season, I broke the home run record for our Little League," Chicago Cubs star Kris Bryant said recently. "Before the season started, I told my parents I wanted this drum set. Really bad. They said if you break -- his name was Chuckie Howard -- if you break his record of 18 home runs, we'll get you the drum set. I hit 19, but I changed my mind at the last minute and asked for golf clubs. That was my first set of golf clubs."

Bryant and his teammates will get to experience Little League all over again -- and finally make it to Williamsport, Pennsylvania -- when they and the Pittsburgh Pirates take in a game on Sunday before playing each other later that night in the hometown of the Little League World Series. It's a dream come true -- even if it comes decades later for some.

"To win a district playoff game back then and advance was a pretty big deal," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "It was hard to imagine being good enough to get that far."

"That far" wasn't very far at all for Maddon. He grew up in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, just 73 miles from Williamsport, but he has never been there. Not until Sunday, at least.

"As a community, we were more football- and basketball-oriented," Maddon said. "But as baseball players, we really wanted to go."

Across the country, in Las Vegas, Bryant had the same dream. But it was his brother who actually got closer.

"He made it to regionals, in San Bernardino, [California]," Bryant said. "I don't even remember the game. I was busy trading pins. I still have that collection."

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo also dreamed of making it to Williamsport. In Parkland, Florida, he watched every year.

"We never got close," Rizzo said with a bit of a disappointment that still lingers. "But it was always a goal."

What's left are those memories of attempting to get there.

"In my first Little League game [T-ball], I ran the bases backward," Bryant said, laughing. "I didn't know what direction to go. And there were no bathrooms because it was Saturday, and the school was closed. So my grandma had a bucket in her car, and that's where I went to pee.

"You remember the stupid things, but they're great."

"I remember going from my first Communion straight to my Little League game and playing in my suit, just with a jersey over it," Rizzo said.

Like Bryant, Rizzo was coached by his dad. Both profess theirs were the good kind -- the kind who didn't care about anything but making sure the kids had fun.

"My dad's signs were pretty easy," Rizzo said with a laugh. "He would just scream from the third-base coach's box, 'Steal!' or 'Bunt!'

"We had a play, if I was pitching or catching. We had, like, a padded backstop, so if there was a guy on third, we would purposely pitch it back there, and it would bounce back to the catcher, and we would nail the guy trying to steal home. My friend Christian and I would do that."

Ask the players and even Maddon how good they were as Little Leaguers, and they aren't shy -- or forgetful.

"When I was 12, you could only pitch in every other game," Maddon said, smiling. "I was 8-0, and the other guy was 0-7, so we went 8-7 for the year. ... I hit .500 when I was 9. They used to post the stat sheet in the clubhouse."

Said Bryant: "My last year in Little League, I hit .720 with 19 home runs. ... I wanted to go to Williamsport so we could miss some school in August. It was a fairy tale to get there. It didn't happen for us."

But it's happening now -- for them and the fortunate Little League teams still in the tournament. Maddon and his players promised to soak in the game they attend before taking on the Pirates. It's bound to bring back even more memories.

"There was a water tank out in left-center field, and there was a dude by the name of Brown that used to hang out there," Maddon said. "Just an old man by the name of Brown. He would sit there and yell, 'Hit the water tank!' Finally, I hit the water tank, and I knew that if you could hit the water tank, it was a pretty significant development in your Little League career."

Bryant loves all that he has now as a pro ballplayer, but his Little League days can never be replicated.

"I really enjoy watching now, still," he said. "It's very innocent. A batter gets hit, and you go over and shake hands. You miss those days. That's when it really felt like a game. ... Some of my favorite memories are from Little League and my dad coaching me. It didn't matter if you won or lost, you were just happy to be out there playing."

Former world 100m champion Yohan Blake edges out Brit Adam Gemili at the Müller Grand Prix in Birmingham

It took a photo finish to separate Yohan Blake and Adam Gemili in the 100m, but both men left the Alexander Stadium in good spirits and knowing their countdown to Doha is on track. Blake, the 2011 world champion, was given the verdict as each athlete shared the same time of 10.07. Runner-up Gemili was happy, though, as he continues his comeback from hamstring problems.

Helped by a following wind of 2.0m/sec, Mike Rodgers was third in 10.09 with fellow American Christopher Belcher fourth in 10.13. Andre De Grasse, the Olympic 100m bronze medallist from Canada, was fifth followed by Jamaican champion Tyquendo Tracey and Commonwealth gold medallist Akani Simbine of South Africa.

“It was good, it was coming,” said Blake. “The weather wasn’t great but I’m saving the big day for the World Championships and the Diamond League finals in Zurich.”

Gemili said: “It wasn’t my best start but I’m just so happy to be healthy and back up running. It’s good to be in the mix with some of the best sprinters in the world.

“To win my heat and finish second in the Diamond League race, it bodes well for the British Champs and hopefully I can make the team for Doha.  I’ve put a lot of training in this winter and I’m healthy finally.”

The men’s 800m saw a number of top domestic runners going head to head one week before the British Championships. An English man won, but it was Mark English from Ireland who timed his kick to perfection to run 1:45.94 to beat Kenya’s 1:42 man Alfred Kipketer.

Close behind, Elliot Giles won the battle of the Brits as he clocked 1:46.27 ahead of Jamie Webb, Guy Learmonth and Spencer Thomas. In a rare race in the UK, Colorado-based Thomas Staines misjudged his effort and finished eighth, while UK junior record-holder Max Burgin found the early pace of 50.6 at the bell too hot and the 17-year-old will now make a decision over whether to tackle the British Championships back in Birmingham next weekend.

Cheng Chao-tsun, the Asian record-holder from Chinese Taipei, caused a mild upset to take the men’s javelin with 87.75m from Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic as Magnus Kirt, the 2019 world No.1 from Estonia, was third, German duo Andreas Hofmann and Thomas Rohler fourth and seventh, while London Olympics winner Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad & Tobago was last.

Akeem Bloomfield of Jamaica took the men’s 400m in 45.04 as local star Matt Hudson-Smith ran a decent 45.55 in third. It was the European champion’s first race for almost a year due to what he described a ‘career threatening injury’ sustained in the spring. But he is back on track for the British Championships and confident of getting back inside 45 seconds in Doha.

“It’s always good to be home,” said the Florida-based and Birmingham-born athlete. “I put on a good showing and it’s nice to do that. Now it’s on to the trials.”

There was another Jamaican victory in the 110m hurdles as Omar McLeod won in 13.21 (-0.2) – one 10th of a second ahead of Freddie Crittenden as Cameron Fillery finished first Brit in fifth in a PB of 13.54.

At the start of the afternoon the European champion Thomas Young, 19, continued his build up to the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai by winning the T35-38 100m in 11.37 (1.4m/sec).

Elsewhere, Yasmani Copello took the men’s 400m hurdles in 49.08 ahead of South American junior record-holder Alison Santos (49.20) while Britain’s Jacob Paul was seventh in 50.71.

Ronald Musagala of Uganda won the men’s 1500m in 3:35.12 from Stewart McSweyn of Australia and Craig Engels of the US. Chris O’Hare was the best of the Brits but only in 10th as he clocked 3:41.98.

Brandon Starc jumped 2.30m to win the high jump as home hope Chris Baker finished sixth with 2.19m.

Britain's Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski lost their Cincinnati Masters semi-final in straight sets.

Murray and Skupski were defeated 6-1 6-4 by Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek in the rain-hit match.

A torrential downpour stopped the game for around an hour at 4-3 in the second set, but the delay did not effect the winning duo's dominance.

Murray, 33, and his partner reached the semis by beating his brother Andy and Feliciano Lopez in the previous round.

Bosnia's Dodig and his Slovakian Polasek will play Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in Sunday's final, after they defeated Bruno Soares and Mate Pavic 6-3 6-2.