Cole Anderson’s run at the U.S. Amateur Championship came to an end in the Round of 32, with China’s Andi Xu defeating him 2-up at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado.
The Camden native and rising Florida State senior defeated Nick Dentino 5 and 3 in the Round of 64, and was tied through 13 holes Thursday before bogeys on the 15th and 18th holes ended his run.
Anderson rallied out of trouble early, with birdies on the fourth and seventh holes to erase 1-hole deficits. He fell behind when Xu birdied the eighth and 11th but bounced back again, parring the 12th and birdying the 13th to erase the two-hole deficit and pull even for a third time before Xu prevailed down the stretch.
Anderson shot 2 under in the two-round stroke play session to make the match play cut.
BASEBALL
EASTERN LEAGUE: The Rumble Ponies scored four runs in the sixth inning and held on for a 5-4 win over the Portland Sea Dogs in an Eastern League game on Thursday in Binghamton, New York.
Binghamton had just seven total hits but four came in the sixth-inning surge, including an RBI triple from Rowdey Jordan that gave the Rumble Ponies the lead.
For Portland, Nathan Hickey had two singles and two RBI while Tyler Esplin had a double and single. Nick Yorke added two singles.
BASKETBALL
NBA SCHEDULE: Ime Udoka’s return to Boston in January and Marcus Smart’s homecoming in February highlight the Celtics’ 2023-24 schedule that was announced on Thursday.
The Celtics will open their season on Oct. 25 at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks before returning to TD Garden for their home opener against the Heat in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference finals.
Smart, now with Memphis, will return to Boston on Feb. 4 with a 6 p.m. game. Udoka, now in Houston, will be in Boston on Jan. 13 for the first time since he was suspended and later dismissed as the Boston’s head coach after committing violations of team policies, reportedly for having an inappropriate relationship with a female member of the organization.
SOCCER
U.S. WOMEN: Twila Kilgore will serve as interim coach of the U.S. women’s national soccer team following the resignation of coach Vlatko Andonovski, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced on Thursday.
Kilgore, the first American-born woman to earn U.S. Soccer’s top-level Pro License, was an assistant under Andonovski for 1 1/2 years and will lead the team while a search for a permanent coach is conducted.
Andonovski’s resignation comes less than two weeks after the United States was knocked out of the Women’s World Cup earlier than ever before.
COLLEGES
FOOTBALL: Transfer Payton Thorne has won Auburn’s starting quarterback job.
Coach Hugh Freeze said Thursday that the Michigan State transfer is set to start for the Tigers in their opener Sept. 2 against Massachusetts. Thorne, who signed with Auburn in May, has been competing with returning starter Robby Ashford and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: Former Formula One driver Felipe Massa has accused auto racing’s governing body of conspiring to prevent him from winning the 2008 title, and the Brazilian claims he is the “rightful” champion.
Massa, who was the runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in the 2008 season, made his claim in a letter sent to the FIA in the first step of a legal battle to take place in Britain.
A member of Massa’s management team told The Associated Press on Thursday that the letter was also sent to Formula One Management, alleging the two bodies failed to act after learning that same year that Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr. had deliberately crashed at the Singapore Grand Prix to help then-teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.
The crash caused a safety car to come in with Massa in the lead and squandered his advantage. A calamitous pit stop at the Ferrari boxes soon after cost the Brazilian the race, where he finished 13th.
NASCAR: NASCAR indefinitely suspended part-time drivers Chris Hacker and Jason White on Thursday following their recent arrests for allegedly driving while impaired.
The sanctioning body also indefinitely suspended Joel Courage, who was arrested last week on charges he failed to register as a sex offender in North Carolina. The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office said Courage, 44, was operating E33 Motorsports & Development in Mooresville. The business promotes itself as helping find and develop young drivers for NASCAR and other series.
TRACK AND FIELD
SUSPENSION LIFTED: World-record hurdler Tobi Amusan had her temporary suspension lifted Thursday after an appeals panel found she had not violated antidoping rules that call for a suspension for missing tests.
The decision came two days before the start of world championships, and about a month after the Nigerian hurdler went on social media and announced she had been charged for missing three tests in the span of 12 months.
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