I Dig Sports
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Michael McCann Jr. completed a weekend sweep of TCR competition on Sunday afternoon at Watkins Glen Int’l.
TCR championship leader Michael Hurczyn led the TC America field to the green flag, with Saturday’s winner McCann and the No. 3 McCann Racing Audi RS3 LMS quickly moving past Nate Vincent for second.
James Walker would also slip by Mason Filippi’s No. 12 Copeland Motorsports Hyundai Veloster N for fourth. Filippi would need to pit for a mechanical issue a few minutes later, essentially ending his race.
With 27 minutes remaining, McCann would take the lead after slip-streaming past Hurczyn going into the bus stop and instantly gapping the field, pulling a 1.2 second lead. McCann would go on to cruise to the overall victory, his second of the weekend.
“It was a really good weekend. The Audi had really good pace, especially in a straight line. The guys got the car ready and we made it happen,” said McCann.
In TCA, Mark Pombo and the No. 59 MINI Cooper JCW would lead from the start with Nate Norenberg in second, Tomas Mejia in third and Tyler Maxson in fourth. Taylor Hagler, who spun on lap one and fell to the back of the grid, would fight her way back through the field and find herself fifth in class with 20 minutes remaining.
Maxson would get past Mejia for third with 19 minutes left on the clock and would start his pursuit of Norenberg for second. With 11 minutes left in the race, Maxson would catch and pass Norenberg going into turn one while Mejia would get past Norenberg on the next lap. Later in the lap both Norenberg and Halger would suffer flat tires and retire.
Mark Pombo would control the TCA field and go on to take the class win with Tyler Maxson second, and Tomas Mejia third.
“Early in the season we had some trouble with the MINIs, but the guys at LAP Motorsports have really found something with the car and this weekend has saved our season,” said Pombo.
PJ Groenke and Sally McNulty would round out the top-five.
TCR Cup saw the No. 41 TWOTh Autosport Audi RS3 LMS of Travis Hill grab his second win of the weekend with Stephen Vajda finishing second.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Jarett Andretti raced to his first overall Pirelli GT4 America Sprint victory on Sunday afternoon at Watkins Glen Int’l.
Gar Robinson got the jump on the start of the event, but Andretti’s No. 18 Andretti Autosport McLaren 570S GT4 stayed close. Andretti snatched the lead away from Robinson in the bus stop on lap one and never looked back.
“We were good on new tires, so I knew I had to get Gar early in the race,” said Andretti. “It was a really good run, but I spent the last three laps defending for my life! It feels great to win here at the Glen. This team and everything its about is great. These guys did not go to the hotel last night, they stayed at the track all night, and I appreciate everything they’ve done. It’s awesome, it means a lot.”
With 39 minutes remaining in the race, Shane Lewis would attempt a pass on Michael Cooper at the bus stop, but would make contact, forcing Lewis to fall down to 19th position, with Cooper’s car also suffering damage that slowly dropped him through the field.
At the same time, Spencer Pumpelly would inherit third position, with championship leader Ian James moving into fourth.
For the next 15 minutes, the top three overall leaders would run nose to tail – Andretti, Robinson and Pumpelly – with fourth-placed Ian James slowly reeling the trio in. With 20 minutes remaining, a safety car would be called for an incident involving Jeff Burton’s No .91 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4, grouping the field back together for a long caution period.
The race would get back under green with just more than seven minutes remaining with Andretti leading Robinson, Pumpelly, James and Jeff Courtney, who was leading the Am category.
On the last lap, James would make a run at Spencer Pumpelly for the final podium position, but bump him slightly at turn nine and allow both Courtney and Drew Staveley through to finish first and second in the Am class, third and fourth overall. James would let Pumpelly back through to take third in the Pro class, fifth overall, while James would end up seventh overall and fourth in class.
Courtney would take the Am-class win with Drew Staveley second and Alan Brynjolfsson third. Aristotle Balogh would finish fourth in class with Sean Quinlan fifth.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Christian Szymczak and Matthew Fassnacht were declared the winners of Sunday’s Pirelli GT4 America SprintX race from Watkins Glen Int’l after a late crash heavily damaged a barrier.
Karl Wittmer, aboard the No. 24 Ian Lacy Racing Ford Mustang, led the field to the green flag under cool and cloudy skies at Watkins Glen Int’l.
At turn one Trent Hindman swung around the outside of the No. 34 Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG of Szymczak to go from fourth to third and would begin his pursuit of Jan Heylen. At the same time, Heylen began reeling in the Wittmer-driven Mustang and would close to within two-tenths of a second of the leader.
With 40 minutes left on the clock, Heylen would power past Wittmer for the lead on the inside of turn 11 and instantly pull a gap of 2.2 seconds over his rivals. Trent Hindman would then close on Wittmer and begin stalking as the clock ticked down closer to the pit window opening for driver changes.
As the pit window opened, Wittmer would see an issue with his car and fall from second to sixth overall in just a few turns. While that was happening Steven McAleer would slide past Hindman for second.
With 27 minutes remaining, the leading No. 37 RS1 Porsche of Jan Heylen would unexpectedly go wide at turn six and hit the tire barriers, ending his race. Nearly the entire field would dive for the pits, expecting a safety car to be called with the #34 Murillo Racing Mercedes, now with Matthew Fassnacht driving, coming out in first.
A safety car would be called for a separate incident with 23 minutes remaining as Patrick Byrne and Randy Mueller had a massive incident at turn 10, with both cars getting into the armco barrier.
Due to armco repairs needed, race officials would call the race with eight minutes remaining, with the No. 34 Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 shared by Fassnacht and Szymczak taking the win.
“The end result was obviously good, but I would have liked more time in the car,” Fassnacht enthused. “I want to thank Murillo Racing for a great car this weekend and Christian [Szymczak] for driving a good, clean race.”
Trent Hindman and Alan Brynjolfsson were scored second, with Sean Quinlan and Gregory Liefooghe completing the podium.
Late McIlroy (67) rally ends in playoff loss at European Masters
A late rally wasn't quite enough for Rory McIlroy at the Omega European Masters, as the newly-minted FedExCup champ lost in a five-man playoff after an electric close to his final round.
McIlroy was well off the pace before a furious run of birdies, with makes on five of six holes from Nos. 12-17. It was that final birdie on No. 17 that truly opened the door for a possible win, as tournament leader Sebastian Soderberg followed McIlroy's make with a three-putt bogey from close range to create a logjam at the top.
McIlroy's antics weren't done, though, as he sprayed his final tee shot into the trees, just feet from a plaque commemorating a memorable escape in 1993 by Seve Ballesteros. The Ulsterman chipped out, nearly holed his lengthy third shot en route to a Ballesteros-like par save and ended up in a playoff at 14 under that also included Soderberg, Andres Romero, Lorenzo Gagli and Kalle Samooja.
One week after leaving East Lake with an extra $15 million in his account, McIlroy gave himself a chance for another win by hitting his approach on the first extra hole to within 15 feet. But after Soderberg made a putt from similar length, McIlroy was unable to match him.
"I made enough birdies, but I just didn't quite have it over the weekend," McIlroy said. "Obviously made a great run there on the back nine today. Hit one good shot there into 18 (in the playoff), and the putt just lacked a bit of speed. I felt like I started it on the right line, I just didn't hit it with the pace that I wanted."
When Samooja missed from inside 10 feet, Soderberg had his first career European Tour win during a week when he began with his 2020 status in jeopardy.
"I don't know what to do with this, really. Didn't play my best today, but my chipping and putting was unbelievable," said Soderberg, who carded five straight birdies from Nos. 10-14 to pull in front. "I thought it was exciting enough just to come out here and play with Rory. I can't really describe it right now. It hasn't really sunk in yet."
For McIlroy, it's another near-miss in the altitude of the Swiss Alps. He appeared in line for what would have been his first Euro Tour win when he made his tournament debut in 2008, only to miss a short par putt on the 72nd hole and lose in a playoff. Sunday marked a similar result for the world No. 2, who vaulted into contention with a second-round 63 and carded a 3-under 67 in the final round after a red-hot close.
While the PGA Tour remains in a two-week offseason, there's very little time to rest for McIlroy and other European stars. He's expected to skip the next two weeks before playing two events in a row, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth followed by the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland at the end of the month.
"This is my seventh event in eight weeks. I've played a lot of golf," McIlroy said. "I think just playing that much, sometimes those mental errors creep in here or there. The sloppy finish yesterday probably cost me, but I fought back today and I did my best. Just wasn't meant to be."
Quotes of the Week: McIlroy finds new outlook, but still questions Tour schedule
It may be the PGA Tour's first of two off weeks before the fall season starts, but there's plenty of other action going on around the world of golf. From Rory McIlroy capturing the season-ending Tour Championship to J.Y. Ko going bogey-free for 114 straight holes, here are this week's top quotes.
“It was really weird and hard teeing off on Thursday ahead of everybody. I don't know how everybody else feels, but I had a pretty hard time playing the normal way that I play. It's hard to just imagine everybody starts at zero when you don't. So that was tough.” - Justin Thomas on the debut of the staggered-scoring start at the Tour Championship following his T-3 finish after beginning the week with a two-shot lead
"It was one of those days where even on the range, I didn't feel very comfortable with the driver. I felt iron play was good. Just the driver, I just couldn't – it wasn't fading enough. Everything was kind of left, and it happens once in a while. … I mean, I can't bring it every day." - Brooks Koepka after coughing up the 54-hole lead at the Tour Championship where he finished T-3 at the season finale
“Some of the work that I've put in on the mental side of the game and some of the things I've been doing, I definitely think you're starting to see the fruition of that. Just a different approach, a little bit of a different attitude. That attitude and that consistency day in, day out, I think that's what you've seen over the course of this year.” - Rory McIlroy on his 2019 season that saw more consistency and three wins, including The Players, RBC Canadian Open and his second Tour Championship title
“When I got in [the locker room], the first thing I saw was another topless photo of Phil Mickelson, so that made my day." - Rory McIlroy on seeing another photo of the rising social media star during the weather delay at the Tour Championship
“A lot of stability, a lot of experience. Really, both Morgan [Pressel] and Stacy [Lewis], they filled what I needed. I have a lot of rookies. I have a lot of players who have played just one year. I needed a little veteran leadership, and I know I can rely on them to bring that to my team.” - Juli Inkster said on Golf Channel's Morning Drive of her two Solheim Cup captain's picks rounding out her squad that will head to Scotland
“It’s with a heavy heart that I say I won’t be going to the Solheim Cup. I hold no bad feelings for Captain Inkster or any of the team. At the end of the day, you want the USA to bring home the trophy, and I could have made the team outright over the last 2 years. I want to sincerely wish captain @juliinkster and Team USA the best of luck and want to say congratulations to my amazing friend @mpressel for making the team. You’ve worked so hard these past few years! I’m so very proud of you!! Go bring that cup back girls!!! USA ALL THE WAY . . ." - Cristie Kerr on Instagram after not being selected as one of the two captain's picks for the Solheim Cup
“I would like to thank Dr. Cooley and his team. I’m walking now and hope to resume practice in the next few weeks. I look forward to traveling and playing in Japan in October.” - Tiger Woods said in a statement following arthroscopic surgery to repair minor cartilage damage in his left knee
"I feel that if I keep doing the things I’m doing, sooner or later I’ll get another [major] and all this noise will then go away. However, if the narrative becomes that the majors are the only important thing in golf, then that’s dangerous because are fans not going to care for the other 48 weeks of the year? ... If they are spaced so closely together will fans only care from the second week of April to the third week in July? ... I’d like to see them spaced out like tennis does. With the Australian Open in January and the US Open going on now, they’ve a nice nine-month window of relevancy.” - Rory McIlroy said at the European Masters, questioning the spacing of the new PGA Tour schedule, especially how closely the majors are played
“Bogey-free is amazing round [for] 18 holes. I did 114 holes, and then done. It’s cool. ... Now it’s done. I’m free. So I want to do it again, 115 holes bogey-free.” - J.Y. Ko after her bogey-free run ended at 114 holes, passing Tiger Woods who previously held the record with 110 consecutive bogey-free holes
"Unfortunately had to withdraw from @tourchampulf to head back to Florida and evacuate the family. Cat-4 #HurricaneDorian2019 estimated to make landfall in 72hrs. See you all @PGATOUR in a couple of weeks. #familyfirst" - Anirban Lahiri on withdrawing from the Korn Ferry Tour Championship to return to Florida to help family evacuate ahead of Hurricane Dorian
More heartbreak for Korn Ferry Tour player who again narrowly misses card
Kevin Dougherty has been on the bubble a few times in the past two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour.
The Oklahoma State product nearly chipped in a year ago at the Portland Open and ended up missing his PGA Tour card by a shot. This year he was just outside the top 25 in points, at No. 26, before missing three straights cuts to end the regular season. He then entered this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship at No. 21 in Finals points, needing to only finish among the top 25 to earn a card.
But a double bogey on his 36th hole, the par-4 18th at Victoria National, on Saturday ensured that Dougherty’s bubble would burst for a second time. The 28-year-old shot 1-over 73, missed the cut by one and will watch as he drops outside the magic number.
“I never wanted to feel Portland again and I’m kind of feeling that right now,” Dougherty said.
Dougherty, needed at least a two-way tie for 22nd to guarantee a card come Monday, was two shots inside the cut line when he stepped on the 18th tee on Saturday.
“The worst part was I hit a perfect drive on 18 and picked up my tee and somehow it went a lot further than we were expecting, which got me into some serious trouble,” he said, “and I was just trying to salvage a way to make a 5.”
Dougherty ended up making double-bogey 6, and he will be heading back to the Korn Ferry Tour next season after again failing to graduate to the PGA Tour.
“Right now, it hurts a lot,” Dougherty said. “[I’m] frustrated and angry and all this stuff, but it’s a long journey. It’s going to make me better and shows me that I’ve gotta get better. I don’t like being on the bubble.”
Lewis leads as drama-filled Monday finish on tap at Korn Ferry Tour finale
Tom Lewis fired another 6-under 66 Sunday at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship to move closer to securing a PGA Tour card for the first time.
The 28-year-old Englishman, who made a last-minute decision to play the Korn Ferry Tour Finals finale at Victoria National, leads Lanto Griffin by two shots at 16 under. A victory would move Lewis to second in Finals points while anything solo-sixth and better would likely clinch a spot among the top 25 on that list, which would come with a card.
Griffin already has his card via the regular season but can improve his priority rank with his finish Monday. However, he can’t catch Scottie Scheffler, who is T-3, along with Grayson Murray and Fabian Gomez, and in great position to lock up fully-exempt status as the leading player in combined points.
Matthew NeSmith, who missed the cut at Victoria National, has already clinched a full card as the leading player in Finals points as just three other players in the top 10 on that list decided to tee it up this week.
Murray, who was the first player currently in the top 25 of Finals points to have not yet clinched his card, is projected to rise from 14th to seventh while Gomez is projected to climb from T-51 to 11th.
Chris Baker (T-6 on the leaderboard), D.J. Trahan (8th), Doug Ghim (T-9), Blayne Barber (T-9), Billy Hurley III (T-16) and Harris English (T-22) are the other players projected to move inside the top 25 according to their current position. Joseph Bramlett (T-35) is projected at the 26th player in Finals points at the moment, followed by Curtis Luck (MC), Richy Werenski (T-9), Julian Etulain (T-9) and Ben Martin (T-59).
Inter Milan's Belgium international Romelu Lukaku was subjected to racist abuse as he scored a second-half penalty to earn his new side a 2-1 victory at Cagliari in Serie A on Sunday.
The former Manchester United striker appeared to be the target of monkey chants from the home crowd at the Sardegna Arena as he prepared to take the decisive spot kick.
Former Juventus forward Moise Kean was also on the receiving end of racist abuse by Cagliari fans at the same stadium last season.
The 26-year-old Lukaku sent goalkeeper Robin Olsen the wrong way with 20 minutes remaining to mark his second goal in as many games for his new club before turning to glare at the home fans responsible for the taunts.
"I think that in Italy we must improve a lot and be more educated and respectful towards those doing their job," Inter coach Antonio Conte told a news conference.
"In other countries you support the team, you don't insult the opposition like this. There must be the maximum respect.
"Today I was treated well and wasn't insulted, other times it hasn't happened like that and it's not nice."
Lautaro Martinez had opened the scoring just before the half-hour only for the hosts to level through Joao Pedro soon after the break.
Inter lead Serie A after two rounds on six points along with Torino and champions Juventus, while Cagliari have yet to pick up a point.
The Milan club had got their season off to the perfect start with a 4-0 home win over promoted Lecce, but they struggled to find the same swagger against a Cagliari side featuring former Inter midfielder Radja Nainggolan.
"It was a different game to the win against Lecce, as I had warned everyone this would be tough," Conte added.
"Coming to Cagliari is never a walk in the park. Let it be known, I am very demanding and there is a lot we need to do in order to improve, but I also say we are glad to have won in a difficult arena."
Martinez headed the visitors in front after 27 minutes but his celebrations were cut short by a raised offside flag, although the goal was awarded after a lengthy Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review.
The Sardinian side levelled five minutes into the second half when Pedro powered a header home from a whipped Nahitan Nandez cross.
Stefano Sensi's free-kick rattled the bar for Inter on the hour mark and the midfielder then proved crucial in the winning goal as he was tripped by Fabio Pisacane to hand Lukaku the chance to convert from the penalty spot.
Conte's side welcome Udinese to San Siro in their next league fixture after the international break.
Gareth Bale twice came to Real Madrid's rescue to salvage a 2-2 draw at Villarreal in La Liga on Sunday but the Wales forward ended the night in despair as he was sent off in added time for receiving two yellow cards.
Real were severely weakened by six injuries to attacking players and fell behind in the 11th minute when captain Sergio Ramos lost the ball in his own half and Villarreal broke quickly, with Gerard Moreno scoring on the rebound.
Bale equalised in stoppage time of the first half by tapping in a cross from Dani Carvajal from close range but Villarreal restored their lead in the 74th minute through Moi Gomez, after Karim Benzema had a goal ruled out for offside.
Bale again pulled Madrid out of trouble with a powerful low strike in the 88th minute but somehow contrived to get himself sent off by earning two yellow cards for fouls in stoppage time.
Madrid have picked up five points from their opening three games, one more than champions Barcelona, but Zinedine Zidane's side are four points behind early leaders Atletico Madrid, who have won all three matches.
Zidane criticised his side for their lacklustre start but was pleased with how they reacted to going behind.
"We began the game without any intensity, we were barely in the game for the first 15 minutes, it's always important to make a strong start," he told a news conference.
"But we reacted well and we deserved to score more goals. We were up against a good opponent and we have to improve in defence because we know what we are capable of in attack.
"But I'm focusing on the positive things we did today, above all our reaction, because it was very important that we didn't lose today."
Josh Sargent scored a brilliant goal on his first Bundesliga start of the season and Yuya Osako grabbed two as Werder Bremen defeated 10-man Augsburg 3-2 on Sunday.
Ruben Vargas canceled Osako's sixth-minute opener in the 12th before Sargent scored a contender for goal of the month with his right foot in the 21st.
"It was a good goal, but also a super pass," Sargent said.
The 19-year-old American forward controlled Nuri Sahin's ball over the defense with his first touch and then lifted it over the Augsburg goalkeeper with his next, before tapping into the unguarded net - all without letting the ball touch the ground.
"That was outstanding," Bremen coach Florian Kohfeldt said.
Sargent is on the 26-man United States roster for exhibition games in September against Mexico and Uruguay after getting cut ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.
"Josh is on the right path. He has no problem with speed, as he showed today. That's not something you can learn," Kohfeldt said. "How he scored the goal, that's just unbelievable."
Augsburg was dealt another blow in the 34th when Stephan Lichtsteiner was sent off with a second yellow card for bringing down Niclas Füllkrug. It looked a harsh call.
Vargas scored his second just after the break to put Augsburg level, but Osako's second goal in the 67th was enough for Bremen's first points of the season.
Augsburg remains with one point from the first three games.
Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: 
Email: 
