GOLF

Sergio Garcia was left out of the PGA Championship, the first time in 24 years he was not eligible for a major. The day after Brooks Koepka won, Garcia made it to the next major through U.S. Open qualifying in Dallas on Monday.

Garcia finished tied for fourth.

That was the third of 13 final qualifiers for the U.S. Open, to be held June 15-18 at Los Angeles Country Club. Already in the books are England last week and Japan on Monday, where Ryo Ishikawa was among three to advance.

The other 10 are on June 5 — the Monday after the Memorial. Along with one more look at the top 60 from the world ranking, that will complete the 156-man field.

The 36-hole qualifiers are where about half of the 156-man field had to go.

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But it’s a little different this year. The USGA awarded five spots to PGA Tour players based on their FedEx Cup standing. That keeps players like Mackenzie Hughes from having to qualify.

The U.S. Open still is the most open of the majors. But there are 87 players who will be exempt from qualifying. Only 78 were exempt in 2019. That was the last U.S. Open before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic required some changes because of travel restrictions. But now that golf is back to normal, qualifying is not.

The PGA Championship was the cutoff for the top 60 in the world ranking — that was previously the case — but it also was the cutoff for the leading five players from the FedEx Cup standings. That provided spots for Nick Taylor, Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Montgomery, Hayden Buckley and Andrew Putnam.

HOCKEY

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Dylan Samberg scored in overtime and the United States beat Sweden 4-3 on Tuesday to finish the group stage with a perfect record at Tampere, Finland.

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Samberg’s winner from the slot 1:37 into overtime clinched first place for the United States in Group A, two points in front of Sweden, ahead of Thursday’s quarterfinal games.

The United States will play the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Alyssa Thomas had 22 points and 10 rebounds while DeWanna Bonner added 15 points to help the visiting Connecticut Sun beat the Washington Mystics, 88-81.

Connecticut created some separation midway through the fourth quarter by going on a 10-2 run, capped by a three-point play by Brionna Jones.

• Allisha Gray scored 26 points, Aari McDonald gave visiting Atlanta its first lead of the game in the final minute and the Dream scored the last 11 points of the game to rally past the Minnesota Lynx, 83-77.

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Atlanta, which trailed by 19 midway through the third quarter outscored the Lynx, who had one basket in the last 6-plus minutes, 24-10 in the fourth quarter, and 14-2 in the last 3:33.

COLLEGES

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Indiana Hoosiers Coach Mike Woodson hired Big Ten career scoring leader Calbert Cheaney as his new director of player development.

Cheaney had spent the previous three seasons on the staff of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers.

It’s Cheaney’s second coaching round at his alma mater. He was the director of operations in 2011-12 and helped oversee the internal and external development of Indiana’s players in 2012-13, both seasons on Tom Crean’s staff.

SOCCER

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EL SALVADOR: The El Salvador soccer club whose fans pushed down an entrance gate setting off a stampede that left 12 people dead last weekend will play without supporters in its stadium for a year, the country’s soccer federation said.

Club Alianza also will have to pay a $30,000 fine, the Salvadoran Soccer Federation’s Disciplinary Committee decided.

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Catarina Macario says she won’t be ready in time to play for the United States in this summer’s Women’s World Cup as she recovers from an ACL injury.

The loss of the 23-year-old forward for the World Cup was not unexpected but is still a blow to the United States, which had already lost Mallory Swanson to a torn patellar tendon suffered during an exhibition game against Ireland in April.

Macario, who plays professionally for Lyon in France, tore the ACL in her left knee last June during Lyon’s final match of the 2021-22 season. She rehabbed at an orthopedic and sports medicine facility in Qatar.

OLYMPICS

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PARIS: Organizers of the Paris Olympics said they have sold 6.8 million tickets out of 10 million available with 14 months left before the Opening Ceremony and  brushed off criticism that prices are too high.

Tony Estanguet, the organizing committee president, said the second ticketing phase that ended last week exceeded expectations despite some fans — and athletes — complaining about hefty prices.

The most expensive tickets are 2,700 euros ($2,900) for the Opening Ceremony, and the sports with the highest prices are the athletics, swimming and basketball finals. The cheapest tickets are 24 euros ($26) and were quickly snapped up, leaving just 200,000 low-cost seats available in a later round to the frustration of many buyers.

AUTO RACING

INDY 500: Two-time Academy Award nominee Adam Driver, who will soon be starring as Enzo Ferrari in a biopic of the Italian automobile magnate, will serve as the honorary starter for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

Driver perhaps most famously played Kylo Ren in the three most recent “Star Wars” films, and he was nominated for Academy Awards for his work in “BlacKkKlansman” and ” Marriage Story.” Driver also has received four Primetime Emmy nominations for the comedy-drama “Girls” and his guest appearance on “Saturday Night Live” in 2020.


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