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Free-agent center Matt Duchene is set to join the Nashville Predators when NHL free agency officially opens Monday at noon, according to multiple reports.
The deal is expected to be for around $56 million over seven years, according to The Athletic, which was first to report the agreement.
Duchene, 28, was just one of the Columbus Blue Jackets' many prominent free agents. Despite speculation that general manager Jarmo Kekalainen would trade the likes of Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky before they could walk, the GM actually doubled down, bringing in more players for a playoff run.
Duchene headlined that strategy, and it kind of paid off, with Columbus winning its first playoff series ever. But the Jackets fell short of the ultimate goal, losing in the second round to Boston.
Duchene had only four goals and 12 points in 23 games after the Jackets acquired him from the Senators, but he upped his production in the playoffs, with five goals and 10 points in 10 games.
Duchene is a two-time All-Star who had a career-high 31 goals last season. He equaled his career high in points with 70.
Duchene spent parts of two seasons with Ottawa after being acquired from Colorado in a blockbuster three-team trade in November 2017. The Avalanche ended up with the fourth pick in this year's NHL draft.
Sung Hyun Park is projected to move back to Rolex world No. 1 with her victory Sunday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Park’s two-putt birdie from 50 feet at the final hole broke a four-way tie to give the South Korean her seventh LPGA title, her second this season.
With a 5-under 66, Park finished at 18 under, a shot ahead of Inbee Park (65), Danielle Kang (65) and Hyo Joo Kim (65).
Park, 25, will ascend back to world No. 1 for the fourth time in her career. She will move up one spot, overtaking Jin Young Ko, whose run at the top spot will end after 12 weeks. Park held the top spot for one week late in 2017, for 10 consecutive weeks in the second half of last year and for five weeks this past spring.
DETROIT – A 5-foot par save to close out the Rocket Mortgage Classic may prove to have significant career ramifications for former U.S. Amateur champ Doc Redman.
Redman has largely struggled since turning pro last summer, and this year has been playing mainly in Canada on the Mackenzie Tour. But he shot a 62 to take medalist honors in the Monday qualifier in Detroit, and the former Clemson standout began the final round in a tie for fifth.
While no one was catching Nate Lashley at Detroit Golf Club, Redman shot a 5-under 67 including a nerve-testing par save at the last to take solo second place at 19 under, six shots behind Lashley. It means a hefty paycheck of $788,400 for Redman, and the top-10 finish guarantees a spot in next week’s 3M Open instead of his previous plan of driving across the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, Ontario, for a Mackenzie event.
Redman also snagged the second of two spots available via the Open Qualifying Series, which would have gone to Rory Sabbatini had Redman bogeyed the 72nd hole. Redman forfeited spots in both The Open and the U.S. Open that came with his U.S. Amateur win when he turned pro last year, but he’ll now make his first career major start at Royal Portrush.
“That was kind of the whole deal with it. I gave it up because I thought I’d have opportunities in the future to play as a pro, and if things went well I’d play tons of them,” Redman said. “I think saying that it would happen this year is probably a stretch. You wouldn’t think that, but I’m excited for it. I’ve never been over there, and I think it’s going to be a unique challenge.”
Redman’s solo runner-up finish also earned him special temporary PGA Tour status, allowing him to accept an unlimited amount of sponsor invites for the remainder of the season. Including his T-18 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship on a sponsor invite, Redman now has 344 FedExCup points, which puts him on the precipice of earning a full PGA Tour card for next season.
Should he equal or surpass the final point total of No. 125 on this season’s points list, a mark that was 377 points last season, Redman will be fully exempt for 2019-20. It’s a big leap for a player whose main goals entering the week were focused on earning Korn Ferry Tour status for next year.
“I’m just going to try to continue to play well when I go out and play,” Redman said. “I think it was good this week, but it definitely wasn’t my best. I know everyone else says that too, but I don’t see why there’s any reason why I can’t continue to play well.”
With Prez Cup on mind, Reed records best Tour finish in more than a year
DETROIT – While the final round didn’t go as planned, Patrick Reed still found positives from the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic after earning his best PGA Tour finish in more than a year.
Reed made only four bogeys through his first 54 holes at Detroit Golf Club, but he matched that total with a turbulent final round that ended up in a 2-under 70. Reed finished the week at 17 under, in a large tie for fifth and eight shots behind eventual winner Nate Lashley.
It’s his first top-10 since the WGC-HSBC Champions in October, his first start of the wraparound season, and his best result on Tour since a fourth-place showing at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
“Finishing top 10, especially going into next week and with The Open coming up, it was a positive week. I did a lot of things well,” Reed said. “A day like today, where I felt like nothing was really going well, to be able to get a round under par and salvage a round was nice.”
Reed is in the field for next week’s 3M Open, which will mark his fourth start in as many weeks. The result was welcome relief considering his recent dry spell, but it still only moved Reed up from 22nd to 20th in the U.S. standings for this year’s Presidents Cup.
Given his penchant for match play and pride in representing the red, white and blue any chance he gets, Reed remains optimistic that he’ll find a way onto Tiger Woods’ squad at Royal Melbourne come December.
“It’s always on my mind,” Reed said. “If I continue doing what I’m doing, especially these next couple weeks, then hopefully it all takes care of itself.”
Lashley laughs off first-tee 'alternate' intro: 'I liked it'
DETROIT – Nate Lashley didn’t let an ad lib from the first-tee starter get in the way of his first career PGA Tour victory.
Lashley was the last man in the field at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, snagging the 156th and final spot Wednesday afternoon when David Berganio, Jr., withdrew. Before he started the final round at Detroit Golf Club with a six-shot lead, the 36-year-old was introduced to the gallery by the starter as “an alternate who has led after each of the first three rounds.”
“It was kind of funny. I liked it,” Lashley said. “You know, last man in the field. I was just happy to get in this week, and to end up winning is just a dream come true.”
Lashley laughed off the creative introduction and maintained that six-shot cushion with a final-round 70, finishing the week at 25 under after making just three bogeys for the entire tournament. He became the first player to win a Tour event after starting the week on the alternate list since Vaughn Taylor at the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“I wasn’t even sure I was going to get into the tournament. Ending up being here right now, it’s a dream,” Lashley said. “I’m just really grateful that I got into the tournament. Happy to be here in Detroit, and love the place and look forward to coming back.”
Oklahoma State alum Ventura wins Utah Championship in playoff
A young Oklahoma State product broke through for his first professional victory on Sunday.
But it wasn’t the former Cowboy everyone expected.
While phenoms Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff have grabbed most of the headlines this summer, it was their old teammate Kristoffer Ventura who found himself in the winner’s circle after winning the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship on Sunday at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah.
Ventura, a member of Oklahoma State’s 2017 NCAA Championship squad who graduated last year, defeated Joshua Creel, a 29-year-old from Division-II Central Oklahoma, in a three-hole playoff for his first victory in a world-ranked event.
The 24-year-old Ventura, who like Hovland is from Norway, birdied four of his last seven holes to post a final-round, 6-under 65 and get into a two-man playoff with Creel at 14 under, a shot ahead of another former Cowboy, Kevin Dougherty, and two others, Oklahoma product Charlie Saxon and Michigan State alum Ryan Brehm.
Creel also birdied four of his final seven in regulation, and then traded pars twice with Ventura in two extra trips down the par-4 18th hole. However, Creel pulled his drive behind a tree on the third playoff hole, the par-4 10th, and had to punch out to the fairway. Ventura was able to get up and down for par to seal his victory.
“Going back to nationals [in college], really those feelings were the same as they were today,” Ventura said. “I was prepared for this moment.”
Ventura’s win moved the young Norwegian to 17th on the Korn Ferry Tour’s money list. The world No. 732 entering the week, Ventura began the year with no status on the developmental tour. He received a sponsor invite into the BMW Charity Pro-Am earlier this month and tied for third to improve his status. The Utah Championship was just his fourth KFT start this season.
Now, Ventura has his sights set on a PGA Tour card.
Celta Vigo have completed the signing of midfielder Denis Suarez from Barcelona, the two clubs confirmed on Sunday.
Denis, 25, will join Celta for an initial fee of €12.9 million, with another €3.1m potentially due in add ons. He will sign a four-year deal with his hometown club, who he left eight years ago to sign for Manchester City.
The sale of Denis completes a busy week for Barcelona. They have also sold Marc Cardona, Andre Gomes and Jasper Cillessen to Osasuna, Everton and Valencia, respectively. Goalkeeper Neto also arrived from Valencia for €26m.
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In total, for the four players sold, they have brought in almost €75m, surpassing the €60m ESPN FC revealed the club needed to bring in before June 30 to balance their accounts for the 2018-19 season.
Denis came through the youth academy at Celta before joining Man City in 2011. He left the English club for Barcelona in 2013.
After a season with Barca's B team and another year on loan at Sevilla, the former Spain U21 international joined Villarreal on a permanent deal. Less than a year later, though, his performances for the Yellow Submarine prompted Barca to exercise their right to re-sign him.
However, he has failed to secure regular first team football over the last three seasons at Camp Nou and a loan spell at Arsenal earlier this year was ended prematurely due to injury.
Denis revealed earlier this summer that he planned to leave Barca and that, despite foreign interest, his desire was to remain in Spain. He would have preferred a club competing in European competition -- and there was interest from Valencia -- but has finally opted for a return home to Galicia.
Tottenham have agreed a €62 million deal with Lyon that could rise to €72m for the transfer of Tanguy Ndombele, sources have told ESPN FC. The France international, 22, will become the Premier League club's record transfer, smashing the £42m they paid Ajax for Davidson Sanchez in 2017.
Personal terms are yet to be agreed, but that should not be an issue, and the deal is expected to be announced this week, according to sources. The player is set to travel to London for his medical and be ready to join his new teammates when they report back for preseason on July 8.
It was important to both Ndombele and manager Mauricio Pochettino that the midfielder be at the club by that date so he can take part in the whole of preseason.
After weeks of negotiations, a visit to the new Spurs stadium and the training ground and a few chats with Pochettino, the Ndombele saga is finally over. Daniel Levy made an initial offer of €45m plus add-ons several weeks ago, which was rejected. Talks with Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas continued until the pair came to Sunday's agreement.
Ndombele went through France's lower leagues before making it to the top. Four years ago, he was playing in the fifth division with the Amiens reserves before shining with their first team in Ligue 2. Lyon bought him two years ago for €8m with a 20 percent sell-on clause, which means Amiens will get €11m from Spurs' fee.
Ndombele will be Spurs' first signing since Lucas Moura joined the North London club from Paris Saint-Germain in January 2018.
The wife of the Colombia defender who missed a penalty kick that led to the team's elimination in the Copa America says he and his family have received death threats.
Daniela Mejia, wife of William Tesillo, says some of the threats alluded to former Colombian defender Andres Escobar, who was murdered days after he scored an own-goal in the 1994 World Cup in a loss to the United States.
Tesillo missed Colombia's fifth penalty in the team's 5-4 loss in a shootout against Chile in the quarterfinals of the South American competition on Friday that cost them a potential spot in the semifinals.
The 26-year-old defender from Mexican club Leon had earned the support from his teammates but was heavily criticised by most Colombian fans.
Mejia said on her Instagram post she "could spend all morning publishing the threats" against her husband and her family. She called the threats "a shame."
The threats were denounced by local authorities, who said they were working to try to identify those behind them.
The Colombian squad traveled back home from Brazil on Saturday.
The United States held on for an ugly 1-0 win against Curacao at the Gold Cup quarterfinals in Philadelphia on Sunday night to reach the last four of the tournament.
Christian Pulisic, wearing the captain's armband for just the second time, led Gregg Berhalter's first-choice lineup against Curacao and nearly scored twice inside the first five minutes but missed wide on one shot and had another miraculously saved by goalkeeper Eloy Room.
Despite the early pressure and dominating possession, the U.S. couldn't find a way through until the 25th minute when Pulisic picked out Weston McKennie at the back post and he headed past Room to give the Americans a 1-0 lead that they took into half-time.
Berhalter cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines in the second half as the U.S. failed to create any quality chances and essentially split possession with Curacao.
The McKennie goal stood up for the U.S. thanks to the play of Zack Steffen, who had his fourth-straight shutout in the tournament. He made a brilliant save on Leandro Bacuna in the 84th minute, stretching to get his right hand on the rising shot from outside the box that would have levelled the score.
The result sets up a semifinal match with Jamaica, which the U.S. beat in the 2017 Gold Cup final but lost to in a friendly earlier this year.
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