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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Golf Thursday, August 4, 2016 MLB Nike to get out of golf equipment business By DOUG FERGUSON Associated Press Nike is getting out of the golf equipment business, a surprising announcement Wednesday that is sure to send Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and other players searching for new clubs and golf balls next season. Nike said it would stop making clubs, golf balls and golf bags, instead devoting its resources to shoes and apparel, longs its strength in the golf marketplace. “We’re committed to being the undisputed leader in golf footwear and apparel,” said Trevor Edwards, president of Nike Brand. “We will achieve this by investing in perfor- mance innovation for athletes and delivering sustainable prof- itable growth for Nike Golf.” Woods has been with Nike since he turned pro in 1996 with that “Hello, World” advertisement, and he remains the most famous igure among Nike golfers. The Beaverton, Oregon-based company also signed Rory McIlroy in a splashy announcement in Abu Dhabi to start the 2013 season. Woods has gone more than a year without playing because of back surgeries, though his agent at Excel Sports Manage- ment said he would remain “the iconic ambassador” for Nike Golf, just with a smaller group of products. “He’s been the most loyal ambassador and longest standing for Nike Golf. That doesn’t change,” agent Mark Steinberg said in a telephone interview. “It just means he’ll Brooks Koepka watches his ap- proach shot on the second hole during the third round of the PGA Champion- ship golf tourna- ment at Baltusrol Golf Club in Spring- ield, N.J., Sunday, July 31, 2016. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez likely have some different equipment in the bag, whether that’s tomorrow, next month or a year from now. Tiger and I have been talking about this the last couple of days. We have a very sophisticated, legitimate plan in place and we’re going to see it through.” Brooks Koepka is another Nike client. He tied for fourth in the PGA Championship on Sunday and is in position to make his irst Ryder Cup team. His agent, Blake Smith at Hambric Sports Management, said Koepka is happy with his equipment. “I don’t think he’ll be in any rush at all to jump ship,” Smith said. “He’s got a bunch of tournaments coming up that are very important.” Nike also has Suzann Pettersen and Michelle Wie on the LPGA Tour. Woods began promoting the shoes and apparel when he turned pro, and he made a switch to the Nike golf ball (which Bridgestone manufac- tured) in 2000 in Germany, winning the U.S. Open by 15 shots a month later. No other Nike golf ball moment was more vivid than when Woods won the 2005 Masters with a chip-in for birdie on the 16th hole, in which the ball rolled down a slope and hung on the edge of the cup for a full second — the Nike swoosh aimed at TV screens around the world — before falling. He changed to the Nike irons at the American Express Cham- pionship in Ireland in 2002, one week before the Ryder Cup, and then gradually added the fairway metal, the driver and, inally, the putter in 2010. During those changes, Phil Mickelson caused a stir when he said in a Golf Magazine interview that Woods had “inferior” clubs and then tried to pay Woods a compliment by saying he was the only player good enough to “overcome the equipment he’s stuck with.” David Duval was the irst player to win a major with Nike equipment at the 2001 British Open. Through it all, Nike never took command of any aspect of the golf market, succeeding mainly in shoes and clothing. Daric Ashford, president of Nike Golf, said in the brief announcement that Woods, McIlroy and Wie “drive tremen- dous energy for the game and inspire consumers worldwide,” and then he went on to mention various apparel and footwear that have “connected strongly with golfers.” “We’ll continue to ignite excitement with our athletes and deliver the best of Nike for the game,” he said. Nike did not say how the move would affect its golf equipment staff, either the representatives on tour or at the “Oven” in Fort Worth, Texas, where the clubs were made. Steinberg said the news was too fresh to get an idea how this would affect Woods or other golfers when it comes to their contracts. “We have a long-term contract with Nike, and that likely will not change,” Steinberg said. “I’m sure we’ll have a conversation into what exactly the future looks like with less product.” BYLENGA: ‘It was kind of like my legs had this nervous feeling’ Continued from 1B Bradley said. Bylenga followed that inish up by winning the regional meet in just his third time racing the hurdles to earn a berth in the national championships on July 25-31 in Sacramento, California. “I think it was good for me in a way,” he said. “There were no expectations. I just go out there and run. It was kind of good to get away from the pressure of the 800.” Bylenga didn’t stop competing in the 800, though. Since he was already going to the meets anyway, he igured entering the event couldn’t hurt. “I was mainly going to do the hurdles originally,” he said. “Then I looked at past results in the 800 and thought I might as well try to get there and see how I feel.” He must have felt pretty good, because Bylenga placed second at the state meet and third at regionals to give him two events at the national championships. Racing in triple-digit temperatures, Bylenga blazed through his preliminary heats on the irst day of individual events in Sacramento. His time in the 800 was still three seconds off his PR, Photo courtesy of Herman Bylenga Nolan Bylenga, left, and coach Ben Bradley, both of Pendleton, pose after Bylenga placed ifth in the 800 meters and earned All-American honors at the Junior Olympic National Championships on July 31 in Sacar- amento, California. but an anxious conidence started to set in that evening. “I felt tight running, but I still ran a decent time,” he said. “I kind of just got a feeling and every time I’ve got this feeling is when I’ve run my best races. “I think I even texted (Pendleton track and cross country coach) Nicole (Stewart) the day before that I’m ready to run a PR.” The next day Bylenga arrived at the track for his 800 semiinal as a ball of energy. “I was super nervous,” he said. “It was kind of like my legs had this nervous feeling. I don’t know quite how to describe it.” He pushed himself to an aggressive opening pace knowing he would be unable to maintain it, and hoped to leave just enough energy in reserve to kick with Washington state-champion Devan Kirk and his 1:51 PR down the back stretch. The plan worked law- lessly, and Bylenga inished with the second-fastest semi- inal time and a new personal record of 1:52.68. He fell short of the 400 hurdle inals with a time of 55.65, but also inished 18th in the nation after competing in the event just ive times. Bylenga would go on to inish ifth in the 800 inals with time of 1:55.23. The newly-minted All-American begins the next stage in his life on Aug. 16 when he reports to Talla- hassee for athlete orientation. “It’s the end of one chapter and the next chapter I’m going across the country for,” said Bylenga, who likes to punctuate his social media posts with #greateriscoming. “I feel like at Florida they’ve got a great program and I’m going to have some really good guys to train with.” Bradley knows the Gators are gaining a dedicated training partner as well. “Nolan knows what it will take to accomplish his goals and I feel that he is very ready to do what it takes,” he said. “This whole summer season was a great experience for him, especially that national meet, and I feel that those experiences will help him thrive at the collegiate level.” ——— Contact Matt Entrup at mentrup@eastoregonian. com or (541) 966-0838. SCOREBOARD Olympics TV Broadcast Schedule TODAY NBC — Olympic Preview Special, 8-9 p.m. NBCSN — Men’s Soccer - Iraq vs. Denmark (LIVE), Brazil vs. Russia (LIVE), Portugal vs. Argentina (LIVE), Fiji vs. South Korea (LIVE), Nigeria vs. Japan (LIVE), 12:30 p.m.-11 p.m. USA — Men’s Soccer - Honduras vs. Algeria (LIVE), Mexico vs. Germany (LIVE), Sweden vs. Colombia (LIVE), 2-8 p.m. NBC SOCCER CHANNEL — Men’s Soccer - Iraq vs. Denmark (LIVE), Iraq vs. Denmark Encore, Brazil vs. Russia (LIVE), Portugal vs. Argentina (LIVE), Fiji vs. South Korea (LIVE), Nigeria vs. Japan (LIVE), Honduras vs. Algeria, Mexico vs. Germany, Sweden vs. Colombia, Noon-3:30 a.m. TELEMUNDO — Men’s Soccer - Hondu- ras vs. Algeria (LIVE), Mexico vs. Germany (LIVE), 2-6 p.m. NBC UNIVERSO — Men’s Soccer - Brazil vs. Russia (LIVE), Portugal vs. Argentina (LIVE), 3-7 p.m. FRIDAY NBC — Opening Ceremony, 7:30 p.m.-Midnight TELEMUNDO — Olympic Preview Special, 5-6 p.m. NBC UNIVERSO — Olympic Preview Special, 5-6 p.m. Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W L Pct Baltimore 61 45 .575 Toronto 61 47 .565 Boston 58 48 .547 New York 54 53 .505 Tampa Bay 43 63 .406 Central Division W L Pct Cleveland 60 45 .571 Detroit 59 48 .551 Kansas City 51 56 .477 Chicago 51 56 .477 Minnesota 43 64 .402 West Division W L Pct Texas 62 46 .574 Houston 56 51 .523 Seattle 54 52 .509 Los Angeles 49 58 .458 Oakland 47 60 .439 ——— Wednesday’s Games Baltimore 3, Texas 2 N.Y. Yankees 9, N.Y. Mets 5 Minnesota 13, Cleveland 5 GB — 1 3 7½ 18 GB — 2 10 10 18 GB — 5½ 7 12½ 14½ Detroit 2, Chicago White Sox 1 Tampa Bay 12, Kansas City 0 Toronto 3, Houston 1 L.A. Angels 8, Oakland 6 Seattle 3, Boston 1 Thursday’s Games Kansas City (Kennedy 6-9) at Tampa Bay (Smyly 3-11), 9:10 a.m. Minnesota (Santiago 10-4) at Cleveland (Clevinger 0-1), 9:10 a.m. Chicago White Sox (Quintana 8-8) at Detroit (Zimmermann 9-4), 10:10 a.m. N.Y. Mets (Colon 9-6) at N.Y. Yankees (Eovaldi 9-7), 4:05 p.m. Oakland (Hahn 2-4) at L.A. Angels (Nolas- co 4-8), 4:05 p.m. Texas (Grifin 4-1) at Baltimore (Gallardo 3-3), 4:05 p.m. Toronto (Happ 14-3) at Houston (Fiers 7-4), 5:10 p.m. Boston (Pomeranz 8-9) at Seattle (Miranda 0-0), 7:10 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Washington 64 44 .593 — Miami 57 51 .528 7 New York 55 52 .514 8½ Philadelphia 50 59 .459 14½ Atlanta 38 69 .355 25½ Central Division W L Pct GB Chicago 66 41 .617 — St. Louis 57 50 .533 9 Pittsburgh 53 52 .505 12 Milwaukee 48 58 .453 17½ Cincinnati 43 63 .406 22½ West Division W L Pct GB San Francisco 61 46 .570 — Los Angeles 59 48 .551 2 Colorado 54 53 .505 7 San Diego 47 61 .435 14½ Arizona 43 65 .398 18½ ——— Wednesday’s Games Chicago Cubs 5, Miami 4 San Diego 12, Milwaukee 3 Washington 8, Arizona 3 N.Y. Yankees 9, N.Y. Mets 5 Philadelphia 5, San Francisco 4, 12 innings Atlanta 8, Pittsburgh 4 St. Louis 5, Cincinnati 4 Colorado 12, L.A. Dodgers 2 Thursday’s Games St. Louis (Leake 8-8) at Cincinnati (Finneg- an 6-8), 9:35 a.m. San Francisco (Moore 7-7) at Philadelphia (Velasquez 8-3), 10:05 a.m. N.Y. Mets (Colon 9-6) at N.Y. Yankees (Eovaldi 9-7), 4:05 p.m. Pittsburgh (Vogelsong 1-1) at Atlanta (Jenkins 1-2), 4:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Maeda 9-7) at Colorado (Chatwood 10-6), 5:40 p.m. MiLB NORTHWEST LEAGUE North Division W L Pct. GB Everett (Mariners) 5 1 .833 — Vancouver (Blue Jays) 3 3 .500 2 Spokane (Rangers) 3 3 .500 2 Tri-City (Padres) 1 5 .167 4 South Division W L Pct. GB Hillsboro (Dbacks) 4 2 .667 — Salem-Keizer (Giants) 3 3 .500 1 Boise (Rockies) 3 3 .500 1 Eugene (Cubs) 2 4 .333 2 ——— Wednesday’s Game No games scheduled Today’s Games Spokane at Salem-Keizer, 6:35 p.m. Hillsboro at Everett, 7:05 p.m. Vancouver at Eugene, 7:05 p.m. Boise at Tri-City, 7:15 p.m. Soccer MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts NYC FC 10 7 6 36 Toronto FC 9 7 6 33 New York 9 9 5 32 Philadelphia 8 8 6 30 Montreal 7 5 9 30 New England 6 8 8 26 Orlando City 5 5 11 26 D.C. United 5 8 8 23 Columbus 3 8 10 19 Chicago 4 10 6 18 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts FC Dallas 13 6 5 44 Colorado 10 3 8 38 Los Angeles 9 3 9 36 Sporting K.C. 10 10 4 34 Real Salt Lake 9 7 7 34 Vancouver 8 9 6 30 Portland 7 8 8 29 San Jose 6 6 9 27 Seattle 6 12 3 21 Houston 4 9 8 20 GF 40 29 38 36 36 28 35 20 26 19 GA 40 23 30 35 31 36 36 26 35 27 GF 37 24 35 28 32 33 33 23 21 24 GA 31 19 20 25 33 37 34 24 28 27 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Today’s Game Toronto FC 1, Real Salt Lake 0 Friday’s Game New York City FC at San Jose, 8 p.m. Saturday’s Game DC United at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Montreal at Houston, 4:30 p.m. Toronto FC at New England, 4:30 p.m. Colorado at Vancouver, 6 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Chicago, 7 p.m. Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Standings Through Aug. 1 1. Kevin Harvick 709 2. Brad Keselowski 687 3. Kurt Busch 658 4. Kyle Busch 634 5. Carl Edwards 626 6. Joey Logano 612 7. Jimmie Johnson 577 8. Martin Truex Jr 577 9. Denny Hamlin 576 10. Matt Kenseth 569 11. Austin Dillon 549 12. Ryan Newman 537 13. Chase Elliott 533 14. Jamie McMurray 517 15. Kyle Larson 508 16. Kasey Kahne 488 17. Trevor Bayne 480 18. Ryan Blaney 480 19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 472 20. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 461 21. AJ Allmendinger 449 22. Greg Bifle 414 23. Paul Menard 403 24. Danica Patrick 392 25. Clint Bowyer 374 26. Aric Almirola 365 27. Tony Stewart 353 28. Casey Mears 330 29. Landon Cassill 316 30. David Ragan 287 Upcoming Schedule Sunday, Aug. 7 — Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Watkins Glen, N.Y. (TV: USA, 11:30 a.m.) Basketball WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB New York 18 8 .692 — Atlanta 13 12 .520 4½ Indiana 12 12 .500 5 Chicago 11 13 .458 6 Washington 9 15 .375 8 Connecticut 8 16 .333 9 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB x-Los Angeles 21 3 .875 — x-Minnesota 21 4 .840 ½ Phoenix 10 14 .417 11 Seattle 9 15 .375 12 Dallas 9 16 .360 12½ San Antonio 5 18 .217 15½ x-clinched a playoff spot ——— NOTE: OLYMPIC Break season resumes August 26 AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Seattle Mariners’ Mike Zunino rounds the bases past Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts (2) on his home run during the sixth inning of Wednes- day’s game in Seattle. Trio of homers enough as Seattle beats Boston seven and walked none, leaving with one out in the eight after Benintendi’s SEATTLE — Nelson second hit. Mookie Betts Cruz, Mike Zunino and greeted reliever Drew Storen with a single Adam Lind hit solo to advance Benin- home runs and the tendi to second but Seattle Mariners he was stranded beat the Boston Boston there again after Red Sox 3-1 on Bogaerts lew out Wednesday night, to the warning handing Rick track in left to end Porcello his irst the inning. loss since May. Rookie Edwin Cruz hit his Seattle Diaz gave up a 27th homer of the run in the ninth on season leading off Travis Shaw’s RBI the seventh inning, ground out, but got Zunino hit his ifth leading off the sixth Sandy Leon for the inal and Lind capped Seattle’s out and his second save. The three home runs by scoring with his 16th of the season with two outs Seattle accounted for the in the seventh. They were three mistakes Porcello the only three hits allowed made in an otherwise by Porcello until Zunino’s strong start. Cruz’s homer single in the eighth, but was estimated at 441 feet enough to hand the right- and reached the second hander his irst loss since deck in left ield. Zunino’s May 17 against Kansas homered 427 feet to center City. Porcello (14-3) had ield on a night swirling won his past eight deci- wind appeared to be knocking down ly balls sions. Seattle made runs to that part of the outield. stand up because of a And Lind kept his ly ball stellar performance from fair down the right ield starter Hisashi Iwakuma line to give Seattle a 3-0 (12-7). The right-hander lead. Porcello struck out eight rebounded from a season- worst performance against and walked one TRAINER’S ROOM the Chicago Cubs, allowing ive hits in 7 1/3 innings. Seattle Mariners: Before the stumble RHP Nick Vincent (back against the Cubs, Iwakuma strain) will begin a rehab had won his previous ive assignment with Single-A decisions. He was domi- Everett. Vincent’s been on nant from the start against the disabled list since June the Red Sox, striking out 29. four of the irst ive batters. UP NEXT Only one baserunner Red Sox: Drew managed to reach second Pomeranz (0-2) makes base in the irst seven his third start since being innings against Iwakuma, that coming in the third acquired from San Diego. when Andrew Benintendi Pomeranz gave up ive got his irst major league earned runs in his last start hit and advanced to second against the Angels. Mariners: Ariel on Brock Holt’s two-out Miranda (0-0) makes his single. Benintendi was stranded when Xander Seattle debut after being Bogaerts fouled out to end acquired last weekend in a trade that sent Wade Miley the inning. Iwakuma struck out to Baltimore. By TIM BOOTH Associated Press 1 3 US WOMEN: Pugh becomes youngest American to start in Olympic match at age 18 Continued from 1B pics, barely threatened the U.S. at the Mineirao, which holds more than 60,000 spectators. Lloyd opened the scoring after Tobin Heath beat a couple of defenders just outside the area before making a cross to the far post, where the U.S. captain outjumped a defender to head the ball into the other corner and score her seventh Olympic goal. Lloyd has scored in three straight Olympics, including in the inals both in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London. It was the 89th goal in 225 appearances for the midielder, who is the most-capped player at the Olympic tournament. She has 13 Olympic appear- ances, tied with Solo for the most on the team. Morgan scored the second goal with a low shot by the near post after receiving a pass by Morgan Brian inside the area. It was Morgan’s 12th goal of the year, and ifth at Olympic tournaments. The U.S. is trying to win its ifth gold medal since women’s soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996 in Atlanta. The only time it didn’t win the Olympics was in 2000 in Sydney, when it lost the inal to Norway. The Americans have a fresh team with 11 Olympic newcomers, although many who made it to Rio were in the World Cup-winning squad in Canada last year. In addition to playing with a younger team, the U.S. arrived in Rio with some players recovering from injuries, including regular starter Megan Rapinoe, who was on the bench the entire match on Wednesday. Mallory Pugh, 18, started the game to become the youngest American women’s player to start in an Olympic match. The U.S. announced earlier Wednesday that its irst two friendlies after the Olympics will be against Thailand on Sept. 15 in Columbus, Ohio, and against the Netherlands on Sept. 18 in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome. ——— Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/ content/tales-azzoni