Axios Sports: Augusta is hard — Bauer scandal — College baseball

1 big thing: ⛳️ Rose stands alone after 18 holes | Friday, April 09, 2021

Open in app View in browser     Axios Sports By Kendall Baker ·Apr 09, 2021 🎉 Happy Friday! Let's sports. ⚽️ NWSL kickoff: The NWSL will ease into the 2021 season with the Challenge Cup, a month-long tournament starting today. Today's word count: 1,460 words (6 minutes).     1 big thing: ⛳️ Rose stands alone after 18 holes Table: Axios Visuals All week long, players said Augusta was playing faster and tougher than it had in years due to lack of rain. They were right. By the numbers: Only 12 players broke par and just three shot better than 70 on Thursday. One of them was Justin Rose, who shot nine under in his last 11 holes to post a 65 and take an early four-shot lead. 2020 first round: -54 combined score, 53 rounds under par 2021 first round: +222 combined score, 12 rounds under par Field notes: Hole-in-one: Tommy Fleetwood (+2) aced the 170-yard 16th hole. It was the 32nd hole-in-one in Masters history, and the 23rd on the 16th. Fore, dad! Rory McIlroy (+4) hit a spectator with an errant shot, and that spectator turned out to be his father, Gerry. Brutal greens: Bernd Wiesberger (+2) found out just how fast the greens were after his eagle putt ended up in the water. DJ's streak ends: Defending champ Dustin Johnson (+2) snapped his Masters record streak of 11 consecutive rounds under par. Golf, man ... Bryson DeChambeau averaged 326 yards off the tee, Ian Woosnam averaged 269 yards off the tee, and they shot the same score (+4). What they're saying: Like many of his peers, 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia (+4) left the course on Thursday feeling bruised and battered: "I fought hard, but I feel like I just came out of the ring with Evander Holyfield, like a 12-round match. I need to go home and rest." Wild stat: In the past 16 years, only one player has come from outside the top 10 after Round 1 to win the Masters: Tiger Woods. So, if tradition holds, the 2021 champion will come from the list above. Go deeper: Tee times for Round 2 (USA Today)     2. ⛳️ Lee Elder has his day in the sun Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Lee Elder, who became the first Black golfer to play the Masters in 1975, was an honorary starter on Thursday, joining his good friends and old rivals Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player on the first tee. Elder during the 1975 Masters. Photo: Augusta National/Getty Images "He was the first. He was the one that I looked up to. And because of what he did, I was able to play here, which was my dream." — Tiger Woods after winning the Masters in 1997 Elder and Arnold Palmer share a laugh in 1974. Photo: Bettmann Archives/Getty Images Elder will also be honored in Washington, D.C. this weekend at Langston Golf Club, his home course for many years. Mayor Muriel Bowser has also declared April 10, 2021, "Lee Elder Day." Go deeper: Lee Elder's extraordinary life (Golf Digest)     3. ⛳️ What to watch this weekend: Putter grips Source: @dougmillsnyt (Twitter) While watching the Masters this weekend, pay attention to the different ways each golfer grips his putter. It's fascinating The grips, via NYT: The Claw: Lee Westwood The Arm Lock: Bryson DeChambeau The Left-Hand Low: Jordan Spieth Two Thumbs: Matt Wallace Lefty Claw: Phil Mickelson The Reverse Overlap: Tiger Woods Alternative Reverse Overlap: Brooks Koepka Long Putter Claw: Adam Scott Modified Claw: Justin Rose Go deeper.     A message from Axios Charlotte local news by Axios     We're helping you stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting your hometown — including sports — with Axios Local. See what cities are available now.     4. ⚾️ Report: Bauer's balls under inspection Photo: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images   Multiple baseballs that Dodgers ace Trevor Bauer threw during his Wednesday start against the A's have been sent to MLB for inspection, The Athletic reports (subscription). Details: The balls reportedly had visible markings and were sticky. Bauer pitched 6.2 innings in the loss, giving up two runs with 10 strikeouts. Why it matters: MLB last month informed clubs that it would step up the monitoring and enforcement of rules prohibiting pitchers from applying foreign substances to baseballs. The backdrop: Bauer, the highest-paid pitcher in history, has been outspoken about this topic, claiming that at least 70% of MLB pitchers use some type of illegal substance to increase their grip and spin rate. Longtime Angels visiting clubhouse manager Brian "Bubba" Harkins was fired last March for providing an illegal pine tar mixture to both Angels and opposing pitchers. Harkins has since named various star pitchers who've requested his mixture over the years, including Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. The bottom line: We're a week into the MLB season and we already have our first cheating scandal. Sounds about right. More MLB ... Brutal way to lose: The Mets' home opener against the Marlins ended on a controversial walk-off hit batsman. Michael Conforto clearly leaned into what would've been a strike. Emotions all around: Orioles slugger Trey Mancini, who missed 2020 due to colon cancer, received a standing ovation at Camden Yards. ... Former Cardinal Kolten Wong shed tears at the plate in his return to St. Louis. Blue Jays "home" opener: Toronto played its first home game of the season ... at its spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida.     5. ⚽️ The Premier League's race for the top four Data: Premier League; Table: Axios Visuals Manchester City has all but wrapped up the Premier League title, but the race for the top four — and thus a spot in next year's Champions League — is heating up, Jeff writes. Where it stands: The seven teams behind Man City are separated by just 13 points. And No. 8 Everton has played one fewer game, so the gap is even smaller than it seems. Of note: No. 4 West Ham, whose rabid fans inspired the 2005 film "Green Street Hooligans," is vying for its first ever top-four finish. 📆 Coming up: Saturday: Liverpool vs. Aston Villa (10am ET) Sunday: West Ham vs. Leicester City (9:05am); Tottenham vs. Manchester United (11:30am)     6. ⚾️ Halfway to the College World Series Data: NCAA; Table: Axios Visuals College baseball's regular season has reached the halfway point, and everyone's still looking up at the Vandy Boys, Jeff writes. Best conference: The SEC has four teams in the top five and seven in the top 12. That dominance carries over to MLB, as seven of the eight schools with seven or more alumni on Opening Day rosters were SEC members. Best duo: Vanderbilt's rotation is fronted by the likely top-two picks in the draft, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. Stat leaders (through April 7): Batting average (min. 50 AB): Jaden Fein, San Diego State (.473); Jacob Melton, Oregon State (.469); Tyler Hardman, Oklahoma (.468); Will Prater, Western Carolina (.456); Kenton Crews, Evansville (.452) Home runs: Wes Clarke, South Carolina (15); Tyler Locklear, VCU (13); Logan Cerny, Troy (11); Jace Jung, Texas Tech (11); Niko Kavadas, Notre Dame (11); Matheu Nelson, FSU (11) ERA (min. 25 IP): Leiter, Vanderbilt (0.43); Justin Campbell, Oklahoma St. (0.55); Rocker, Vanderbilt (0.84); Spencer Arrighetti, Louisiana (0.90); Ryan Miller, NC Central (0.90) Strikeouts: Leiter, Vanderbilt (72); Gunnar Hoglund, Ole Miss (71); Dominic Hamel, Dallas Baptist (64); Colton Gordon, UCF (63); Parker Messick, FSU (63) 📆 Coming up: The entire top 25 takes the field today, including seven games between ranked teams. Full schedule. No. 18 Miami vs. No. 24 Pittsburgh No. 15 Georgia Tech vs. No. 13 Notre Dame No. 17 Florida State vs. No. 7 Louisville No. 12 Florida vs. No. 6 Tennessee No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 3 Ole Miss No. 10 TCU vs. No. 8 Texas Tech No. 20 Oregon State vs. No. 19 Oregon     7. ⚡️ Lightning round Photo: Justin K. Aller/NCAA Photos via Getty Images   🏒 Frozen Four: UMass beat two-time defending champion Minnesota Duluth in overtime, 3-2, to advance to tomorrow's championship game against St. Cloud State. Both teams are seeking their first title. 💵 $130,000: That's how much Georgia football coach Kirby Smart got paid to appear in a Ford TV commercial. Go deeper ... Side hustles: How NCAA coaches pad their pay (Sportico) 🏀 WNBA jerseys: The WNBA released new threads on Thursday, and they are incredible. Take a look.     8. 📆 April 9, 1965: The "Eighth Wonder" Photo: Bettmann Archives/Getty Images 56 years ago today, the Astrodome — the first indoor baseball stadium, nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the Modern World" — hosted its first game, an Astros-Yankees exhibition that Houston won, 2-1. 🎥 Highlight: Mickey Mantle homered, making him the first player ever to hit an indoor HR. The big picture: Multipurpose stadiums like the Astrodome — not-so-endearingly called "concrete donuts" — started taking over in the 60's and 70's for a number of reasons. First, it was simply cheaper for a city to pour its money into one venue that could accommodate multiple teams. Second, this timeframe coincided with Americans' move to the suburbs, so these giant stadiums were often built with freeway access and ample parking in mind. Mickey Mantle at the plate. Photo: Bettmann Archives/Getty Images Fun fact: Players complained that the translucent roof panels made it impossible to see fly balls in the daytime, so they were painted to block the sun. But the field's grass died due to the ensuing lack of sunlight, so in 1966 they switched to a new synthetic called ChemGrass, which soon changed its name to ... AstroTurf. Photo: Bettmann Archives/Getty Images The aftermath: The Oilers played there until 1996, when they moved to Tennessee and later became the Titans, while the Astros moved into the newly-built Minute Maid Park in 2000. The Astrodome is still standing, but after various failed attempts at refurbishment and reimagined use, its future is up in the air. 🎥 Watch: Archival footage (YouTube)     9. 🏈 NFL draft trivia Roger Goodell during the 2007 NFL draft. Photo: Richard Schultz/NFL Photos via Getty Images   In the last 50 NFL drafts, 44 QBs have been selected first, second or third. Only two went on to win Super Bowls as starters for the teams that drafted them. Question: Who are those two QBs? Hint: They both won multiple Super Bowls. Answer at the bottom.     10. 📆 Virtual event: Future of Women's Sports Graphic: The Aspen Institute   Axios Sports has partnered with The Aspen Institute on a series called "Future of Sports," and our next virtual event is a week from today (Friday, April 16). Topic: Women Reimagining Pro Sports Speakers: Former USWNT star and current ESPN broadcaster Julie Foudy, Sports Innovation Lab CEO Angelo Ruggiero and Athletes Unlimited pro softball player Aleshia Ocasio. ✍️ Wanna come? Register here.     A message from Axios Charlotte local news by Axios     We're helping you stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting your hometown — including sports — with Axios Local. See what cities are available now.   Enjoy the weekend, Kendall "Ready for my annual Masters weekend nap" Baker Trivia answer: Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning Invite friends to follow Axios Sports Use your personal link to track how many readers you bring into the community You currently have 00 referrals. Share with a friend or use your personal referral link https://www.axios.com/referral/sports?code=BbTjEdwGLRoN For questions email referralsupport@axios.com. Participation in the Axios Sports Referral Program constitutes your acceptance of the Axios Terms and Conditions of Use, which can be viewed here.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? 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