Jordan Spieth returns from his longest break during a calendar year hopeful that a fresh start will end his longest drought.

Spieth hasn't won since the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, a span of 54 tournaments worldwide. He last played in August at the BMW Championship, where he failed to advance to the Tour Championship for the second straight year.

Spieth is at the CJ Cup in South Korea and plans to stay in Asia another week for the PGA Tour's first event in Japan.

''I certainly want to get back in the winner's circle,'' Spieth said. ''It's been a little while, and I would like to be more consistent this year, being able to tee it up on Sundays with chances to win more consistently, and that comes from better ball-striking.''

Spieth said he has spent time at home in Dallas working on his tee-to-green game. He is coming off one of his best years with the putter — and there have been some good ones — and believes once he gets the rest of his game in order, he'll have more chances.

He had only four top-10 finishes last year, often hurting himself with poor final rounds. The closest he finished to the winner was four shots behind in The Northern Trust, the first FedEx Cup playoff event.

''Each part of my game at different points in my career has been toward the top of the PGA Tour at different times, and sometimes at the same time,'' Spieth said. ''So I know that I'm capable of doing it. It's just a matter of the normal ups and downs of the game and addressing them, and quickly turning the downs to ups and then maintaining when those parts of the game are on top.''

Finland picked up a crucial home win in their quest to qualify for Euro 2020 as Teemu Pukki netted a brace to down Armenia 3-0 in Turku on Tuesday night.

Fredrik Jansen opened the scoring just past the half-hour mark for Finland, who have never qualified for the European Championship finals.

- Euro 2020: Who will reach the finals?
- Euro 2020 qualifying: All you need to know

Norwich striker Pukki added a pair of cheeky second-half goals, chipping Armenia keeper Aram Airapetyan twice to secure the points for the host side.

The result leaves Finland on 15 points from eight matches in Group J, with leaders Italy already having qualified. Finland can secure a spot in the finals with a win over bottom-side Liechtenstein at home in November.

San Jose Earthquakes coach and former Argentina international Matias Almeyda warned that players from the United States need to play like every match matters and put more passion into their game.

The United States competes for the 16th time this year, against Canada, in CONCACAF Nations League play on Tuesday. Canada hasn't beaten the U.S. since a 2-0 friendly win back in 1985, a stretch of 17 games. Last week, the United States beat Cuba, 7-0, in their most recent tournament match.

Almeyda, who moved from Liga MX club Chivas to coach the Earthquakes this season, said that the U.S. players lack "passion and love" for football.

"Right now winning, losing, drawing, it is all the same for them," said Almeyda, whose Earthquakes just missed out on MLS playoffs this season. "So when that switch gets flipped, they are going to change because the league [MLS] is growing. The United States then is going to have a great national team, because they have the talent in each of their lines, many of them enough to play in Europe, yes."

- CONCACAF Nations League: All you need to know

The 45-year-old, who coached at River Plate and Banfield and led Chivas to a Copa MX title in 2017, said that overall he sees a bright future for the U.S. team.

"The United States has a great team with a lot of young players with fabulous talent," Almeyda said in an interview with ESPN FC. "But I think in this league and especially with the players who were born here, there is spark that we have to plant within them and that is the passion and the love for football."

Almeyda used Earthquakes striker Chris Wondolowski as an example. The former Lazio standout saw Wondolowski break the MLS' career goal-scoring record this season and has been impressed with the 36-year-old, but thinks the veteran U.S. players such as Shea Salinas and Wondolowski could have had better careers if they had been developed outside of the United States.

"I believe they are players that if they had been developed like in other parts of the world they would've become really great players," said Almeyda. "With different training between the age of 20 and 23, Wondolowski, who is still scoring at his age, would surely have been better than he is now. He's done very well, but I believe he could have done a lot better if he had trained somewhere else. I think (the U.S. players) are really open minded, very intelligent and work hard, which is important as well."

One player that has impressed under Almeyda this year and stepped up to the U.S. national team is 22-year-old central midfielder Jackson Yueill, who Almeyda believes can go on to play in Europe, if he puts his mind to it.

"He can have a great future depending, as always, on how he wants to carry out his footballing career," he said. "I see a future in Europe, and when I came here he was a player in whom few believed -- not the directors, the directors did believe in him -- but he'd been at Reno [in USL] and hadn't been able to play as he is now. I like him because he's a player with personality, who speaks on the field despite his youth and is very complete. He can grow a lot."

The newly-picked West Indies selection panel has dropped Darren Bravo for the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan in India next month. With Shannon Gabriel injured, his place was taken by fast bowler Alzarri Joseph who proved his fitness in the CPL recently.

Shai Hope, who had sustained a finger injury during the Tests against India, was picked too - including in the ODI squad - having proved his fitness in Barbados Tridents' run to the CPL title.

Bravo was dropped after managing a mere 47 runs in four innings at an average of 15.66 against India. His form hardly improved in the CPL thereafter, with 128 runs in seven innings, striking at 103.22, and only one half-century. Gabriel's recent form against India wasn't impressive either. He claimed just four wickets in the two Tests and averaged as much as 56.50 with a strike rate of 99. He then went to the UK last month to play county cricket for Gloucestershire, and took only two wickets in three innings there, with figures of 0 for 39, 2 for 20 and 0 for 121.

Wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton, who made his Test debut in the second game against India, was also left out of the Test squad. He got the chance against India after injuries to both Hope and Shane Dowrich, but with both fit to travel to India, there was no place for Hamilton this time.

Joseph, who returned to the CPL after an injury layoff, was picked for all three formats. He is yet to make his T20 international debut. He had injured his right arm while playing for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL in April and returned to the field after nearly five months to represent St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the CPL recently. He played nine matches to pick as many wickets and ended with an impressive economy rate of 7.75.

Apart from Joseph's return, the selectors picked left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and top-order batsman Sunil Ambris. Both Warrican and Ambris last played a Test in November 2018 against Bangladesh. While Ambris struck some form against India A recently in both four-day matches and one-dayers, Warricon impressed more while playing for Barbados in the domestic first-class competition at the beginning of the year.

The lone Test will be played after the T20Is and ODIs, starting November 27 in Dehradun.

Test squad: Jason Holder (capt), Shai Hope, John Campbell, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shimron Hetmyer, Shamrah Brooks, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Sunil Ambris, Jomel Warrican, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kemar Roach, Keemo Paul, Alzarri Joseph

Concussions in NFL preseason games increased in 2019 by 44% compared to last season, a significant data point as owners consider proposals to shorten or eliminate the preseason in the next collective bargaining agreement.

There were 49 concussions during the 2019 preseason, compared to 34 in 2018, according to figures the NFL released Tuesday. The majority were caused by helmet-to-helmet hits, according to Dr. Allen Sills, the league's chief medical officer. Research showed that rookies and players who ultimately did not make a final roster, and are the least familiar with NFL rules designed to minimize such hits, represented roughly two-thirds of the concussion victims.

Such players have also received a greater proportion of preseason playing time in recent years as coaches have trended toward sidelining their starters and veterans.

"The number went up even with the rule changes the league has made over the past few years," Sills said. "So we know there is more work to be done there."

The NFL's CBA with the NFL Players Association expires after the 2020 season, and some owners have sought an expansion of the regular season and/or postseason in exchange for the reduction or elimination of the preseason. Tuesday's data, presented to owners at their fall meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, adds a new health and safety element to the negotiations.

Meanwhile, concussions during training camp practices dropped by 33.3 percent, from 45 to 30, after a series of league initiatives that included the elimination of the Oklahoma drill. Reducing practice concussions was one of three keys to the league's "call to action" after the 2017 season.

"That's obviously something we're pleased about and that I'm optimistic about," Sills said. "There's no doubt that the league's prohibition of certain practice drills were a part of that, but another part was the focus that the teams themselves had on this issue. We did a lot of phone calls and in-person meetings and presentations to make coaches, players, position coaches, team presidents and owners all aware of that issue."

Sills and Jeffrey Miller, the NFL's executive vice president of health and safety, updated owners on two other issues Tuesday. They included:

• News that 99 percent of NFL players are wearing helmets that earned a "green" rating in the league's joint helmet performance evaluations with the NFLPA, the highest rating in the scale. A total of 13 players chose helmets in the "yellow" rating. No player is allowed to wear a helmet classified into the "red" category. The league threatened teams with discipline for any player who wore an unapproved helmet, but Miller said no discipline has been handed out.

"I don't want to soft-pedal the notion that players who have been wearing a particular helmet style for a number of years would have an easy transition," Miller said. "But credit the players and the Players Association for working to get this to a good result."

When the helmet-rating program began in 2017, 41 percent of players were wearing "green" helmets. That number jumped to 74 percent in 2018.

• There was a reduction in ACL and MCL injuries during the preseason as the league begins work on reducing lower extremity injuries. ACL injuries dropped from 28 to 16, while MCL injuries were down to 29 from 36. Most of the league's lower extremity initiative, which includes a study of footwear and its impact on various playing surfaces, remains in its early stages.

The man who was mistakenly identified by the Cleveland Browns as the fan that poured beer on a Tennessee Titans player has filed a lawsuit against the team.

Eric Smith filed the lawsuit Tuesday morning in Cuyahoga County, court records confirmed.

According to his attorney Bruce Taubman, Smith is seeking a public retraction from the Browns, in addition to financial damages.

During Tennessee's win over the Browns in Week 1, Titans defensive back Logan Ryan was doused with beer after jumping the wall in the Dawg Pound. The Browns swiftly identified Smith as the culprit and, according to Smith, banned him from FirstEnergy Stadium.

The problem was, Smith wasn't even at the game, and says he was DJing a wedding that day. The Browns didn't disclose his name publicly, but Smith took to Twitter to say he had been misidentified.

The Browns, who later apologized to Smith privately, according to the complaint, issued a statement later in the week saying they had "not explicitly identified the individual involved or taken any formal action of punishment."

A Browns spokesman declined to comment on behalf of the team, due to the pending legal matter.

Key Houston Rockets reserve wing Gerald Green likely suffered a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot that would require season-ending surgery, league sources told ESPN.

A source said that Green is seeing another specialist Tuesday to receive confirmation.

Green suffered the injury during Thursday's preseason win over the Toronto Raptors in Japan. It was initially believed to be a sprain, but further examinations after the Rockets returned to Houston revealed the fracture.

Green, 33, has averaged 10.2 points in 20.9 minutes per game off the Rockets' bench over the past two seasons. His injury is a significant blow to Houston's second unit.

Coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters this week that Austin Rivers, Ben McLemore, Thabo Sefolosha and perhaps rookie Chris Clemons would have their roles expanded due to Green's injury.

Protestors in Hong Kong cheered when a ball dropped into the basket after smashing into a photo of LeBron James' face that was placed above the hoop.

They also trampled on jerseys bearing his name and gathered in a semicircle to watch one burn.

James' standing among basketball fans in Hong Kong took a hit after his comments about the ongoing protests and free speech. Fans gathered on courts amid Hong Kong's high-rise buildings Tuesday to vent their anger.

The Los Angeles Lakers star touched a nerve among protesters for suggesting that free speech can have negative consequences. Anti-government protesters have gathered for months in Hong Kong, partly in defense of free speech, which James said can carry "a lot of negative."

The protesters chanted support for Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who tweeted on Oct. 4 in support of the anti-government protesters in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

What the crowd of some 200 people chanted about James wasn't fit for print.

"People are angry,'' said James Lo, a web designer who runs a Hong Kong basketball fan page on Facebook. He said he received a video from a protester that showed him burning a No. 23 jersey bearing James' name.

James made his comments in response to a question about whether Morey should be punished for the tweet, which caused an international controversy and had consequences for the NBA.

"Yes, we do have freedom of speech,'' James said. "But at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you're not thinking about others, when you only think about yourself.''

He added: "So many people could have been harmed, not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and what we say and what we do. Even though yes, we do have freedom of speech, it can be a lot of negative that comes with it.''

China's state television, CCTV, canceled plans to broadcast exhibition games played in China last week, NBA players weren't made available before or after the games, and several companies and state-run offices severed ties with the NBA over Morey's tweet and the league's response to it.

Protesters said James' comments presented a double standard because he has used his clout to press for social causes in the United States.

Others said James' comments made it seem as if he's more concerned about money than people.

"James was trying, you know, to take a side, on the China side, which is, like, ridiculous,'' said Aaron Lee, a 36-year-old marketing director. "He was being honest, financially. Financial is money. Simple as that. LeBron James stands for money. Period.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

British heptathlete is among the 22 athletes shortlisted for the global governing body’s world athlete of the year honours

World heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson is among the 11 female nominees for the IAAF’s world athlete of the year honours.

Sub-two-hour marathoner Eliud Kipchoge is included on the men’s 11-strong shortlist, with nominees selected by an international panel of experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of the IAAF.

The two winners will be announced live on stage at the World Athletics Awards in Monaco on November 23.

Johnson-Thompson won her world heptathlon title in Doha with a world-leading score of 6981 points and also won the European indoor pentathlon title with a world-leading 4983, going undefeated in all of her combined events competitions, both indoors and out.

Joining her on the female shortlist are Kenya’s world 3000m steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech, Jamaica’s world 100m and 4x100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, world 1500m and 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan of Netherlands, Russia’s world high jump winner Mariya Lasitskene, Germany’s world long jump champion Malaika Mihambo, world 400m hurdles record-holder and champion Dalilah Muhammad, Bahrain’s world 400m champion Salwa Eid Naser, Kenya’s world cross country and 5000m winner Hellen Obiri, world triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela and Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, who won the London Marathon and broke the outright women’s world record with her time of 2:14:04 to win the Chicago Marathon.

Alongside Kipchoge, who ran a remarkable 1:59:40.2 marathon during the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, the men’s nominees include USA’s world 800m champion Donavan Brazier, world 100m and 4x100m winner Christian Coleman, world cross country and 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, Kenya’s world 1500m winner Timothy Cheruyiot, world 400m champion Steven Gardiner of Bahamas, USA’s two-time world pole vault gold medallist Sam Kendricks, USA’s world 200m and 4x100m winner Noah Lyles, Sweden’s world discus champion Daniel Stahl, USA’s world triple jump champion Christian Taylor and Norway’s two-time world 400m hurdles winner Karsten Warholm.

Among those missing out are Britain’s world 200m gold and 100m silver medallist Dina Asher-Smith, who was nominated last year, while no shot putters appear on the men’s list despite the superb contest at the IAAF World Championships in Doha which saw Joe Kovacs win by a single centimetre with 22.91m, moving him to equal third all time and securing him the title ahead of Ryan Crouser and Tom Walsh, who both threw 22.90m.

Fans can vote for their winners online via the IAAF’s social media platforms, while the IAAF Council and IAAF Family will cast their votes by email.

The IAAF Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.

European Athletics has also announced the nominees for their athlete of the year awards, with Asher-Smith, Johnson-Thompson, Hassan, Lasitskene and Mihambo among those featuring in the women’s list and Warholm, Stahl and Germany’s world decathlon champion Niklas Kaul among those in the men’s list.

The winners will be presented with their trophies at the annual Golden Tracks award ceremony in Tallinn, Estonia, on October 26.

In the wake of Scotland's early elimination from the World Cup, Gregor Townsend spoke at length in the bowels of the Yokohama Stadium. His brain was scrambled, his emotions raw, his passion there for all to see.

With Greig Laidlaw believed to be on the verge of international retirement and a number of others in their 30s and unlikely to get near another World Cup, Townsend called on players to step up and start driving the team as Laidlaw did.

"It's a long reflection for us," said Townsend. "You look to the future. It could be that certain guys have played in their last World Cup, so it's encouraging when you see players like Scott Cummings coming in. It's really encouraging to see Jamie Ritchie, who was outstanding.

"We have some players coming through who should make us stronger. We have a group of players at the age of 25 to 27. from Finn Russell to Jonny Gray, who have at least one more World Cup in them. Jonny has 55 caps, Finn's on 49. They have to drive the team forward.

"Greig [Laidlaw] is not going to be at the next World Cup. Players like him have left a massive legacy. He drives high standards off the field and really cares about what it means to play for Scotland. I'm sure the other ones do, and I've seen it, but it will have to become more their responsibility. The Six Nations is such a big tournament and it's around the corner."

'Townsend will get time and deserves it'

Townsend has made it clear that he has the stomach for the fight ahead despite the criticism that's coming his way. He's cognisant of it but doesn't obsess about it. He knows that what happened in Japan, and at the last Six Nations, is going to draw heat. He's no greenhorn. He knows what's what.

"I feel very lucky and privileged to be in this role," he said. "If someone else was to do it then the least I could say is that I've enjoyed the time here. I don't like losing. You always feel like you've represented your country and not done a good enough job. That'll start to hit over the next few days.

"This is the best job in the world. There's highs and lows, but I know I'll be a better coach for the experience and the team will be better, but the proof will be in the next games."

Townsend is in no danger, that has to be said. He will get time, and he deserves time, but he knows better than anybody that things have to improve. Having won three games in his first Six Nations championship, he won only one in his second and now he has this failure at the World Cup on his record, too.

He's made his squad deeper, and at times in games they can have moments of world-class rugby, but the results aren't coming; the mistakes against the big dogs are not reducing; the consistency, if anything, is further away now than before. He's a man who needs to remind everyone that he's up to this. The next chance he'll get will be in early February when Scotland have a daunting beginning to the Six Nations away to Ireland and then home to England.

'No-one wanted to be in this situation'

Reflecting on Sunday's loss to Japan in a classic of our times, Townsend spoke about his regrets. "To see the team come back and get within seven points with 22 minutes to go, I thought, 'What a brilliant bunch of players we have'. Their mindset when the crowd was loud and Japan had their tails up - to repel them a couple of times and get those two tries was great.

"But ultimately I'm most disappointed with the last 15-20 minutes. We gave ourselves a tough position to come back from but I'm more disappointed with how we didn't win. I felt the momentum had swung and we should have kicked on, but that was when we were least accurate in attack. That's me [attack coach]. That's my area. The other part is defence. Defensively, we weren't good in that second quarter. Our defence is not up there with the best teams in the world. We've shown improvements, but you can't switch off.

"I have a few weeks off to reflect on everything - my own performance, from what I say to the team to how I prepare it, select it, tactics. They put the effort in over four months. Some of them will be thinking that this will be their last World Cup, some might think this will be their last time playing for Scotland. You can only feel for them. No-one wanted to be here in this situation. We have weeks now to analyse why we didn't play to our best level and why we didn't get to the knockout stages."

On Sunday, they came up against a team that is capable of delivering on the mantra you so often hear coming from the Scotland camp - Japan really did produce the fastest brand of rugby in the world. That publicly stated aspiration has come back to embarrass Scotland somewhat. "That was something that was [supposed to be] internal, but one of our players [John Barclay] had a BBC column and it came out. I don't regret [saying] it. It was a theme for that tour [the summer trek to Singapore, Sydney and Suva] and into November."

Barclay may have been the first but he wasn't the last Scottish player to talk about playing the fastest rugby. It's a bit of a millstone for Townsend now.

'Short turnaround was a handicap'

His regrets are as clear as his focus on what lies ahead. As he leaves Japan, he has some final thoughts on the big picture. "I don't want this to be the narrative - and it's not why we lost," he said of the four-day turnaround between playing Russia and facing Japan.

"It was always going to be very tough when that draw was made. Yes, most of the players who started against Russia didn't start against Japan, but it changes your training plan quite severely when you've only got one training session going into the biggest game in your pool. Now, we've always known this would be the case but, of course it's a handicap.

"Almost every team got a four/five day turnaround but one [Japan, who had gaps of eight days, seven days and eight days between their fixtures] in this tournament. They can make it last longer and have no [short] turnarounds or everyone should have one."

Those are questions for another day. Scotland won't have one of those in Japan. They're out of time at this World Cup. The top eight sides in the world have qualified. Scotland no longer belong in that company.