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Karlsson, defending champ Stricker share 54-hole lead at Regions Tradition

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Robert Karlsson and defending champion Steve Stricker surged into the lead Saturday at the Regions Tradition, with Karlsson shooting a 9-under 63 to match the low score since this PGA Tour Champions major moved to its current venue.Stricker closed with four straight birdies for a 64 to match Karlsson at 16-under 200 on the Founders Course at Greystone, two shots ahead of Padraig Harrington (65).“I needed to get that finish just to stay somewhere near him,” Stricker said. “I played well all the way around today. Made a few putts, missed a few.“But I made a lot of nice ones coming in so that was a good feeling.”The 56-year-old Stricker, a two-time winner at the Tradition and a four-time major champion on the over-50 tour, got up and down on the par-5 18th hole to cap off his birdie string and close a bogey-free round. The Charles Schwab Cup points leader has two wins and two runner-up finishes in his last four appearances at Greystone.The hot finish caugh...

Defending champion Minjee Lee of Australia takes 3-shot lead into Founders Cup finale

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) — Defending champion Minjee Lee of Australia overcame an opening bogey for a 5-under 67 and a three-stroke lead Saturday, heading in the final round of the Founders Cup.No. 6 in the world, Lee had four birdies and an eagle after dropping a stroke on the par-4 first at Upper Montclair Country Club. The 26-year-old had a 12-under 204 total in her bid to join Jin Young Ko as the only players to successfully defend a title in the event that honors the 13 founding members of the LPGA Tour.Ko won in 2019 and 2021. The event was not held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.American Angel Yin and South Korean rookie Hae Ran Ryu shared second place, a shot ahead of Ko, Ashleigh Buhai and Aditi Ashok. Grace Kim and Cheyenne Knight were tied for seventh, five shots behind the leader.Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis, who won this event in 2013, was in 6 under along with Atthaya Thitikul, Nasa Hataoka and first-round leader Sei Young Kim, who shot a 68 after a second-round...

Eckroat, Dou, Palmer share third-round lead at Byron Nelson; Scheffler 2 back

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is looking up on the leaderboard at the AT&T Byron Nelson at a couple of contemporaries without nearly the resume the Dallas resident has built over the past 15 months.In fact, Austin Eckroat and China’s Marty Dou are seeking a first PGA Tour victory.The Oklahoma-raised Eckroat shot an 8-under 63, one better than Dou, and the pair shared a two-shot lead with Texan Ryan Palmer at 16 under after the third round of the Nelson on Saturday. Scheffler was in the group at 14 under after the hometown favorite faltered with a bogey at the par-5 18th when his second shot hit the lip of a fairway bunker and stayed in it. Palmer had an eagle putt for the outright lead on 18, but the 35-footer stopped just short, leaving him at 68. Scheffler shot even-par 71 after the best two-round start to his career with a pair of 64s.Dou, who lives in the Dallas area and is on his home course at the TPC Craig Ranch, is the same age as the 26-year-old Scheffl...

Sean Payton expects Javonte Williams will be back for Broncos training camp

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton suggested Saturday that running back Javonte Williams will be ready for the start of training camp after missing most of last season with a serious right knee injury.Payton said that while the position isn't very deep, it is top-heavy given the signing of veteran free agent Samaje Perine and the recovery of Williams, who blew out his right knee in a Week 4 game at Las Vegas.“When we signed Samaje, this is a guy that gave us flexibility. We know that he can play and be an every-down back," Payton said. “Our current starter (Williams) is doing extremely well. I would tell you that we expect him to be ready for the start of training camp and that’s good news. His rehab is going well.”“I don’t want to speak for him or Beau (Lowery, the vice president of player health and performance) or anyone else, but we get the daily reports,” Payton said. “We’re pretty tight-lipped relative to information going out, but I’ve read a lot an...

22 Colorado nurses having babies within a year celebrating Mother's Day together

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Nurses at the Colorado Springs Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Children's Hospital Colorado are celebrating Mother's Day with 22 of them having or carrying babies of their own within the last year.Eight of the nurses are pregnant and 14 babies have been born to mothers on the NICU staff. The clinical nurse manager, Erin Havrilla, said there may have been up to 10 nurses with babies in a rolling year before, but never 22. Gifts for moms celebrating their first Mother’s Day "This is extraordinary," she said. "That's why we got everybody together to have a picture and have a shared experience."The unit is making Mother's Day signs with each baby's hands and footprints for the moms with children there, as part of a daily effort to make having a baby in the NICU feel as normal as possible."We will have many mothers that are working Mother's Day," Havrilla said. "I think it will be extra special for them to help our parents bond with their babies."The mother nurses have...

1 killed as tornado hits south Texas near the Gulf coast, damaging dozens of homes

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

LAGUNA HEIGHTS, Texas (AP) — One person was killed when his mobile home was crushed as a powerful tornado tore through a community near the southern tip of Texas before dawn Saturday, damaging dozens of residences and knocking down power lines, authorities said.At least 10 others were hospitalized, including two people who were listed in critical condition, said Tom Hushen, the emergency management coordinator for Cameron County. Many residents also suffered cuts and bruises.The tornado hit at about 4 a.m. as most people were in their homes asleep in the unincorporated community of Laguna Heights, located on the mainland across from South Padre Island, off the Gulf of Mexico. The county has among the highest poverty rates in Texas and is dotted with substandard housing.There was no advance warning. Instead, the first warning of a tornado “went out at the same time it was touching ground,” said Barry Goldsmith, a warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in ...

Turkish century: History looms large on election day

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

ISTANBUL — From the Aegean coast to the mountainous frontier with Iran, millions of Turks will vote at the country’s 191,884 ballot boxes on Sunday — with both President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his main rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu warning the country is at a historical turning point.In the last sprints of the nail-bitingly close election race, the dueling candidates have both placed heavy emphasis on the historical resonance of the vote falling exactly 100 years after the foundation of the secular Turkish republic by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923.In the Istanbul district of Ümraniye on the final day of campaigning, Erdoğan told voters the country was on “the threshold of a Turkish Century” that will be the “century of our children, our youth, our women.”Erdoğan’s talk of a Turkish century is partly a pledge to make the country stronger and more technologically independent, particularly in the defense sector. Over the past months, the president has been quick to associate himself with ...

Who are the bad guys? Police brutality shapes Greek election

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

ATHENS — The biggest crime in Greece? The state of the police force.That’s according to opposition politicians, who are putting security and law enforcement center-stage ahead of this month’s national election.Syriza, the leftist main opposition party, accuses the conservative New Democracy, which is hoping for another term in office after the May 21 vote, of allowing the police to become run by organized crime gangs. The conservative government maintains a lead in the polls, although a second round will likely be needed and is penciled in for July 2.“The Greek police are collaborating with the crime instead of fighting crime,” Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said, adding that the “Greek mafia is in the police.”For sure, Greek police have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late, thanks to the alleged involvement of police officials in mafia gangs profiting from illegal brothels and casinos; the murder of a 16-year-old Roma boy during a police chase; an alleg...

Wagner chief should avoid the tea

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe.Irritating or challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin is a dangerous game that often ends with a crash and a thud — or a neat suicide in a dacha when a mess isn’t warranted.And since the invasion of Ukraine, the tempo of mysterious deaths of prominent Russians has sped up, with at least seven Russian oligarchs dying in odd circumstances and a bevy of officials meeting untimely deaths.So, when will Yevgeny Prigozhin, the murderous and foul-mouthed leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, inexplicably tumble through a window or keel over after sipping a nice cup of Da Hong Pao? Did he finally cross a line with his obscenity-strewn rant last week about the “grandfather,” widely interpreted in Russia to be Putin? Russians have surely piled out of windows for much less.In a video posted online, Prigozhin suggested Putin remained convinced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would end with a glorious victory for Moscow. “If he turns ou...

How Zelenskyy got Luke Skywalker and Bear Grylls to fight Russia: The inside story

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:30 GMT

Everyone in Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office was crying.The Ukrainian president and football legend Andriy Shevchenko fell into each other’s arms, unable to find words for their perilous predicament. Both knew they were caught in a fight that would define their lives.Shevchenko, one of Ukraine’s greatest-ever athletes, was in the office last May to become the first ambassador of Zelenskyy’s fundraising platform United24. The Ukrainian president was desperate to tackle Russia’s lethal onslaught, not just on the battlefield — but in the fight for hearts and minds around the world.Shevchenko was first. Luke Skywalker, British adventurer Bear Grylls and tennis superstar Elina Svitolina were among many more who followed.This is the inside story of how Ukraine’s leadership used celebrities and pop culture to fight back against Russia’s brutal invasion.The first miracleUkraine’s millennial Digital Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, put in charge of the initiative by Zelenskyy, approac...