PGA
Day pulls away at Barclays
EDISON, N.J. – The toughest challenge Jason Day faced Sunday at The Barclays was convincing his peers that golf really isn’t this easy.
He’s just making it look that way.
Fresh off his first major at the PGA Championship, the 27-year-old Australian powered and putted his way to another blowout against a world-class field, capping off an explosive weekend at Plainfield with an 8-under 62 for a six-shot victory over Henrik Stenson.
It was his third victory in his last four starts dating to the British Open, where he left a 30-foot birdie putt short on the final hole at St. Andrews and missed out on a playoff by one shot.
Day shot 63-62 on the weekend and finished at 19-under 261. He won two weeks ago at Whistling Straits by three shots over Jordan Spieth with a record score to par at 20-under 268. And the week after St. Andrews, he won the Canadian Open by one shot over Bubba Watson at 17-under 271.
Stenson closed with a 66. Watson was third at 11 under after a 69.
ATP
Sharapova withdraws from U.S. Open
Maria Sharapova’s Grand Slam season has come to an end after she announced Sunday she had withdrawn from the U.S. Open, citing the leg injury that has kept her out of competition since Wimbledon.
The 2006 U.S. Open champion lost to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals, then took the rest of the summer off to recuperate. At a news conference Saturday, she did not indicate that the leg injury was still a problem, but was also less than enthusiastic as she answered questions. Injuries have significantly impacted her career, particularly surgery to her right shoulder.
Little League World Series
Japan beats Pennsylvania in championship game
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Tokyo won the Little League World Series on Sunday, pounding out 22 hits and overcoming an eight-run first-inning deficit to beat Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, 18-11.
The Kitasuna Little League team, also the winner in 2001 and 2012, gave Japan its 10th title.
Lewisberry scored 10 times and sent 14 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first after falling behind 2-0. But Tokyo, which had given up a total of 10 runs in its other tournament games, responded with seven runs in the second, four in the third inning and five in the sixth.
Masafuji Nishijima had four hits and six RBIs, and Shingo Tomita hit two of Tokyo’s five home runs.
Tokyo’s third pitcher, Nobuyuki Kawashima, held Lewisberry in check most of the game, giving up just one run and two hits over five innings.
NFL
Bucs cut Hawaii’s Iosefa
TAMPA, Fla. – Seventh-round draft pick Joey Iosefa was among 10 players released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first wave of cuts.
The rookie fullback out of Hawaii was waived Sunday, when the roster was trimmed to 80 players. NFL teams face a deadline Tuesday to get down to the league-mandated limit of 75 players for the final preseason game.
MLB
Cub’s Arrieta no-hits Dodgers
LOS ANGELES – Jake Arrieta pitched the sixth no-hitter in the majors this season and second against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 10 days, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 2-0 victory Sunday night.
Arrieta (17-6) struck out a season-high 12 and became the first 17-game winner in the big leagues by throwing baseball’s third no-hitter in less than three weeks.
Astros right-hander Mike Fiers blanked the NL West-leading Dodgers 3-0 on Aug. 21. Los Angeles had never before been no-hit twice in one season.