ATLANTA -- Six spectators were injured when lightning struck a tree at East Lake Golf Club on Saturday afternoon during a weather delay at the Tour Championship.

Lightning struck the top of a tree near the 15th green/16th tee and shattered bark all the way to the bottom. The PGA Tour said in a statement that debris from the strike injured four people, who were transported via ambulances to local hospitals along with two others.

According to the PGA Tour, the injuries "do not appear to be life-threatening.''

Play in the third round of the event had been halted at 4:17 p.m. ET due to dangerous weather in the area. Players were taken off the course and many spectators left. There were two lightning strikes that occurred at approximately 4:45 p.m.

Due to the circumstances, the third round was suspended for the day, with play set to resume at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday.

"I think most of us saw what happened yesterday (when there was a weather delay), and we'd adjust accordingly today,'' said Matt Kuchar, who had completed seven holes when play was called. "We trust the Tour to do the right thing. This is an easy one to Monday morning quarterback and we should of and could of, but we didn't.''

Tee times began at 1 p.m. on Saturday despite ominous weather reports for the mid-to-late afternoon. Leaders Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas did not tee off until 3:20 p.m.

"We had a situation where there were pop-up thunderstorms,'' said Mark Russell, the PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competitions. "We have a meteorologist on staff. We can monitor that. And a lot of times we get lucky and we don't get hit with thunderstorms, especially when it's a situation when they're pop-ups like that.

"Now, that's what we were faced with. So, we're going to see if we can deal with that. We can suspend play and get people out of here if that does happen, but a lot of times we're on the positive side, hoping that we can play golf and get lucky and not be in the path of those thunderstorms.''

Asked why tee times were not moved up far earlier in the day to take any luck out of the situation, Russell said: "I think if we did that every time we had a possibility of thunderstorms in the Southeast, we'd do that basically every time we played golf.''

Added Tyler Dennis, the tour's vice president and chief of operations: "We have a professional meteorologist that's on site every week on all of our tours. And forecasting the weather, the safety that goes along with it -- that is critical to us. Safety obviously, but just managing what we do out here. I think many of you that follow the Tour around know that just about every day of the year when we're looking at the scheduled play for the next day or the format, we're taking into account all kinds of factors with that. You know, safety, as we're talking about right now, and other things related to the competition.

"And so we have a lot of scenarios throughout the year where we look at it, and there's a very high degree of certainty that there will be storms coming. And there's a lot of other days when we look at it and we see, as it was today -- I believe it was a 50 to 60% chance of storms from 3:00 to 6:00 this afternoon -- and we just have to evaluate it and make our best decision when we make the schedule.

"Obviously when it comes down to suspension of play, we don't leave any room for error there. Safety is a huge priority for us.''

ESPN's Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.

HOUSTON -- James Harden isn't just playing around in pickup games when he launches the one-legged, step-back 3-pointers seen in viral videos shot during open runs this summer.

Harden, the Houston Rockets' superstar who led the NBA in scoring the past two seasons, is searching for ways he can continue to improve and innovate his game.

"I'm always trying to be creative," Harden told ESPN after giving away bicycles to dozens of children at Houston's Tuffly Park as part of his annual charity weekend. "I'm always trying to get better -- at basketball, life, business-wise. I'm always trying to find ways to be impactful. With basketball, you have to be creative. This is my 11th year, and every single year I want to get better. I don't want to stay the same. You've got to find ways to keep growing."

Harden, whose step-back has emerged as arguably the league's most lethal weapon over the past few years, said he doesn't know whether he's yet confident enough in the one-legged variation to use it in games that count. But that goal has been in Harden's mind as he made that shot a focus of his summer work.

"I'm not sure; it's something that I work on," Harden said when asked if he'll use the one-legged, step-back 3 this season. "But you know how Mike [Jordan] has his fadeaway and Dirk [Nowitzki] has his one-leg and [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar] had the sky hook, I want my step-back to be one of those moves that last forever. So when I travel around the world and I see little kids that [say], 'Hey James, I got a step-back!' -- I love to see that.

"It's me being a creator and me being an innovator and paving the way in basketball in my own way, doing it how I want to do it, and that's what it's all about. As a little kid playing in these parks, that's what I imagined, that's what I dreamed of. Now it's coming to reality, so it's pretty cool."

When Harden mentioned playing in the parks, he motioned toward the Tuffly Park basketball court, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey and will be refurbished with funds from his foundation 3 The Harden Way. It is one of several courts throughout the city that Harden's foundation will pay to refurbish.

"It means everything," said Houston mayor Sylvester Turner, whom Harden reached out to for guidance with his charitable efforts. "When you know you have needs in your city, especially parks that need substantial improvement, and then all of the sudden you get a phone call on your cell from The Beard and then for him to follow through -- man, it's a shot in the arm for these kids. It's a reminder to them that they have not been forgotten and that people care."

The event at Tuffly Park was part of the third annual JH-Town Weekend, which includes a concert, a comedy show and a celebrity softball game to raise money for Harden's foundation, which also has annual events in Houston to help the less fortunate at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"Since I stepped here day one, they've embraced me," said Harden, a seven-time All-Star entering his eighth season in Houston. "They've opened the door and just showed me so much love that I felt the need to give it back.

"Obviously, I try to do my best to win games and do all that good stuff on the court, bring a championship to the city. That same time that I spend on the court doing what I need to do to prepare for basketball, I feel like that same energy needs to be spent in the community."

NEW YORK -- The first-place Atlanta Braves have signed catcher Francisco Cervelli and immediately plugged him into the starting lineup against the New York Mets.

Cervelli, who has a history of concussions, was recently granted his release by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He gives the National League East leaders a veteran replacement for injured catcher Brian McCann, who is sidelined with a sprained left knee.

The 33-year-old Cervelli joined the Braves on Saturday at Citi Field and was set to bat seventh against Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler. Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said Cervelli will split playing time with Tyler Flowers behind the plate and likely remain with the club when McCann returns because by then rosters will have expanded in September.

Cervelli batted .193 in 34 games for the Pirates this season before getting hurt. He is a .269 career hitter with 36 home runs in 700 major league games.

To make roster room for Cervelli, the Braves optioned catcher Alex Jackson to Triple-A Gwinnett and transferred left-hander Grant Dayton to the 60-day injured list.

San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval will have Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, ending his season, the team announced Saturday.

The decision to have reconstructive surgery was made after Sandoval met with Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Wednesday in Los Angeles. He will have the procedure in early September.

Sandoval, 33, hit .269 with 14 home runs and 41 RBIs in 107 games for the Giants this season.

The Giants had placed him on the 10-day injured list earlier this month with elbow inflammation, a condition manager Bruce Bochy said has bothered Sandoval to varying degrees for several years.

"He is in pain," Bochy said. "This has flared up before, but not quite like this. Sometimes it goes away in two or three days, and other times it's lingered. This time we can't get it to go away."

Although Tommy John surgery is more commonly associated with pitchers, a number of position players have also undergone the procedure in recent years, including Salvador Perez, Didi Gregorius, Corey Seager, Travis d'Arnaud and Gleyber Torres.

A member of the Giants' three World Series championship teams from 2010 to 2014, Sandoval has been a revelation since returning to San Francisco in 2017 after being released by the Boston Red Sox.

He's in the last year of a five-year, $95 million contract he signed with Boston in 2014, the bulk of which is being paid by the Red Sox.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

World No.1 at 100m, Christian Coleman, puts out statement proclaiming innocence after allegedly missing three drugs tests

Christian Coleman is confident he will be cleared of any wrongdoing at a hearing on September 4, following reports that the US Anti-Doping Agency has charged him with failing to “properly file his whereabouts information”.

The world No.1 at 100m allegedly missed three out-of-competition doping tests but in a statement given on Saturday to Ato Boldon, the commentator and 1999 world 200m champion, he protested his innocence and believes he will be given the green light to compete at the IAAF World Championships in Doha at the end of next month.

“I’m not a guy who takes any supplements at all, so I’m never concerned about taking drug tests, at any time,” said Coleman. “What has been widely reported concerning filing violations is simply not true.

“I am confident the upcoming hearing on September 4 will clear the matter and I will compete at World Championships in Doha this fall.

“Sometime after the hearing, I will be free to answer questions about the matter, but for now I must reserve and respect the process.”

Coleman, 23, holds the world title and world record at 60m, whereas at 100m he has run 9.82, 9.79 and 9.81 in the last three seasons.

He was due to compete in the Diamond League in Birmingham earlier this month but withdrew during race week citing problems with his preparations.

Triple jumper records 18.06m meeting record, while Lyles wins 200m in 19.65

Arguably, despite some notable efforts on the track, it was the men’s triple jump which produced the top performance of a very good Paris Diamond League meeting.

World leader Will Claye dominated the first two rounds with leaps of 17.36m and 17.39m, though world and Olympic champion Christian Taylor came close with a 17.38m third round and he improved to 17.49m in the fourth but Claye responded with a 17.71m leap.

Taylor went even further in round five with 17.82m to equal his season’s best but Claye’s response was a mighty 18.06m meeting record.

Claye said: “It was a great day. My confidence is very high and I’m in a very good space right now, physically and my mindset. This is the furthest I have ever jumped overseas and it’s hard to talk about a number for Doha but I want to win.”

The track highlight was provided by Noah Lyles who ran a stunning 200m to break Usain Bolt’s meeting record of 19.73.

He won by over three metres in 19.65 (0.2m/sec), a time that only he has bettered this year.

A distant second was world and European champion Ramil Guliyev in 20.01.

“I’m coming off a loaded week in training so that gives me confidence,” Lyles said. “It felt fast and it was the fastest I’ve ever felt coming off the turn.”

? 200 m ♂ (+0.2 m/s)
1⃣ @LylesNoah 19"65 MR ??
2⃣ @ramil_guliyev 20"01 ??
3⃣ @KingsleySC 20"13 ??

?Noah Lyles bat le record du meeting et efface Usain Bolt des tablettes !

?Noah Lyles broke @usainbolt's meeting record!#MeetingParis #ParisDL pic.twitter.com/MqgPbUx7rg

— MEETING de PARIS (@MEETINGPARIS) August 24, 2019

Elaine Thompson was impressive in winning the women’s 100m by almost two metres. Interestingly, though, her time was slightly slower than Dina Asher-Smith managed on the same day in Birmingham, despite a lighter headwind in Paris.

The Olympic champion won in 10.98 with Marie-Josee Ta Lou second in 11.13 and Dafne Schippers third in 11.15.

She said: “It was hard but with five weeks to go to Doha, I’m not at 100%      yet because it’s all about the World Championships.”

Daniel Roberts won the men’s 110m hurdles in an impressive 13.08 after his great rival Grant Holloway had led past halfway after a lightning start.

World and European champion Karsten Warholm started the night’s track action with a full one second victory in the 400m hurdles.

The Norwegian won in 47.26 with France’s Ludvy Vaillant second in a PB 48.30 and Kyron McMaster third in a season’s best 48.33.

The men’s 800m, which was not a Diamond League event, saw the pacemaker Abda Haran blast through 400m in 48.90. Canada’s Brandon McBride took it on and went through 600m in a still very fast 75.60 and on for a 1:41 clocking.

The final 200m took him a painful 28 seconds but he held on to win in a season’s best 1:43.78 but only just as Wesley Vasquez was a foot down in a Puerto Rican record 1:43.83.

World champion Pierre-Ambrose Bosse ran a season’s best 1:45.07 in sixth.

There was even greater depth in the 1500m. The pace was perfect with 54.97 at 400m and 1:52.19 at 800m and a big group of over a dozen was in contention at the bell which was reached in just over 2:35.

Ayanleh Souleiman led through 1200m in 2:50.02 and looked like he would hold off everyone but a fast finish from Ronald Musagala gave him victory by a foot.

His time was an Ugandan record-equalling 3:30.58 as he followed up his Birmingham victory one week earlier thanks to a well-timed 55 last lap.

Souleiman ran a season’s best 3:30.66 in second. Third place saw a battle between the Ingebrigtsens with Filip’s 3:31.06 getting the better of younger brother’s Jakob’s 3:31.33.

The first eight broke 3:32 including Australian Stewart McSweyn who equalled his PB of 3:31.81 in eighth while European Team Championships and Dream Mile winner Marcin Lewandowski could only finish 10th but his 3:31.95 was a Polish record.

Seven athletes broke two minutes in the women’s 800m. The opening lap was a far too fast 55.62 by Chanelle Price. Fellow USA athlete Raevyn Rogers led through 600m in an exciting 86.56 and looked good until hitting the straight and she faded to sixth as another American Hanna Green won in 1:58.39 with Natoya Goule second in 1:58.59.

The 1500m specialist Gudaf Tsegay was a distant last for much of the race but came through strongly to run a PB 1:59.52, just two hundredths behind Rogers, who had been three seconds ahead of her on the final bend!

The men’s 3000m steeplechase started promisingly with a 2:40.90 opening kilometre but the 2000m time of 5:28.29 ensured there would be no fast times.

On the last lap world leader Soufiane El Bakkali controlled it superbly and won in 8:06.64 to repel the challenge of Benjamin Kigen who was second in 8:07.09.

In the field the next most notable event to the men’s triple jump was a highly competitive women’s pole vault where Canadian Alysha Newman had the biggest win of her life.

After clearing 4.75m at the first attempt, a third time clearance at 4.82m gave her the win and a national record. Three others cleared 4.75m with Katerina Stefanidi beating Sanid Morris and Anzhelika Sidorova on countback.

A lower quality victory also went the way of Canada in the men’s high jump. There, Michael Mason won with 2.28m to defeat Andriy Protsenko and Ilya Ivanyuk on countback.

Another Commonwealth athlete, the 2015 world champion Tomas Walsh dominated the shot. He won with a meeting record and season’s best 22.44m. Joe Kovacs was runner-up with 22.11m where the top eight threw 21.20m or further.

World leader and world triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas further strengthened her position as favourite for Doha with a clear win in 15.05m.

Denia Caballero won the discus with a 66.91m throw as Sandra Perkovic was second with 65.01m.

World decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer delighted the French crowd with a 13.55 win in the multi event 110m hurdles.

He also won the long jump with a 7.50m leap and was even more dominant in the shot which he won with another PB of 17.08m.

The women’s 400m was a close race but a strange one in that no one came remotely close to even a season’s best. Stephenie Ann McPherson finished strongly to win in 51.11.

The 110m hurdles B race was won by France’s Dimitri Bascou in 13.38 and France also won the women’s 4x100m in 43.48. However, the final event of the day, the men’s 4x100m, saw Canada win in a meeting record 38.26 to defeat France’s 38.67.

In the men’s 100m, Hassan Taftian equalled his Iranian record with 10.03 (-0.3m/sec).

Results can be found here.

British number one Johanna Konta says she received more recognition for her exchange with a journalist at Wimbledon last month than she got for reaching the semi-finals at SW19 two years ago.

Konta, 28, was frustrated by questions about her mentality after her quarter-final defeat by Barbora Strycova.

The incident in July sparked fierce debate but Konta says she tried to ignore the reaction.

"It's hard to not notice the traction it got," she said before the US Open.

"I was walking down the street and one woman shouted down from a balcony, 'Good on you'," she said.

Keen to put the exchange with the journalist behind her, a laughing Konta added: "That was a new experience.

"I got a lot of recognition after that. I got more recognition after this Wimbledon than 2017 when I had a massive viewership for my quarter-final so I don't know why."

Konta, speaking before her first-round match against Daria Kasatkina at Flushing Meadows on Monday, has had opening-round defeats in Toronto and Cincinnati since Wimbledon.

The US Open is the only Grand Slam where she has not reached the semi-finals, having gone as far as the last 16 in 2015 and 2016.

"If you take a zoomed in look at it I haven't played many matches since Wimbledon. However, if you take the season as a whole I've played over 50 matches," said Konta, who reached clay-court finals in Rabat and Rome earlier this year.

"So I've played a lot of matches and won quite a lot of them as well, which is a good position to be in."

Ireland were "underdone and heavy-legged" in their humbling 57-15 defeat by England says head coach Joe Schmidt.

The eight-try loss comes less than a month before Ireland begin their World Cup campaign against Scotland in Yokohama.

"What really matters is in four weeks time," said Schmidt.

"You do get some disproportionate scores (in warm-ups), but we weren't good enough today."

Only New Zealand have inflicted a heavier defeat on Ireland, who are seeking to bring some momentum into their World Cup campaign following a lacklustre Six Nations.

At Twickenham, Ireland took the lead through a Jordan Larmour try but were outplayed in every facet of play from the moment Joe Cokanasiga crossed for England.

"There's a litany of things that were most disappointing," said Schmidt.

"We fell off 34 tackles.

"There was a little bit of positive (in the first quarter), but that score before half-time was key."

Healy ankle sprained but not broken

Ireland's misery was compounded by an ankle injury which forced loose-head prop Cian Healy from the field shortly before half-time.

After the game Schmidt confirmed that Healy ankle was sprained but not broken.

There was also concern for Conor Murray who required a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) following a collision with England wing Jonny May.

Having passed the HIA the Munster scrum-half returned to the fray but was replaced by Luke McGrath at half-time.

Ireland are still hopeful that Joey Carbery, who suffered an ankle injury in their opening warm-up game against Italy, will be fully fit for their Pool A opener on 22 September.

Watch highlights as England produce a dominant performance and run in eight tries as they hammer Ireland 57-15 in the World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham.

MATCH REPORT: England thrash Ireland by record margin

Watch extended highlights on iPlayer here