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sports Diabierna 20 augustus 2021

Saints alter season ticket refund policy amid scrutiny

(AP) — Amid public and lican who opposes mask funds for season tickets, as
political scrutiny, the New mandates, called on state has been our standard policy.”
Orleans Saints have ad- officials Wednesday to with-
opted a new refund policy hold funding for ongoing However, Bensel noted, the
allowing fans to relin- improvements of the state- Saints have received “thou-
quish their season tickets owned Superdome unless sands of calls” from fans
and get their money back. the Saints agreed to provide wanting to purchase season
refunds. tickets made available by cur-
The Saints plan to fill the rent account holders seeking
73,000-seat Superdome for The Saints, in turn, an- refunds.
home games this season but nounced the new refund
have said that, in accordance policy on Thursday, noting “Our preference is to have
with various local and state that just 120 account holders these loyal fans in the seats”
protocols, only fans who previously requested refunds rather than see other fans
wear masks and show proof — and that anyone else who who’d previously requested
of vaccination or a negative wants a refund must make a refunds sell their tickets to
COVID-19 test 72 hours be- request by Tuesday. visiting fans on the secondary Fans age 12 and under will last week per capita, and its
fore a game may attend. market, Bensel added. not have to provide proof of hospitals are breaking re-
“Last season, we made the vaccination or a negative test cords daily for the number
The Saints previously stated decision to offer refunds or Bensel also noted that the to enter. of people hospitalized with
that fans who had chosen rollover accounts to the fol- Saints will allow ticketed fans COVID-19. The state health
to maintain their ticket ac- lowing season because we who show up to the Super- The club also has said that department reported 3,022
counts for this season would knew government regula- dome without proof of vac- Superdome COVID-19 pro- COVID-19 patients in the
not be eligible for refunds as tions would not allow us to cination or a negative test to tocols could be eased during hospital Wednesday, 91% of
they had been in 2020, when fulfill a full season of atten- gain entry to games if they re- the season if the rates of in- them not fully vaccinated.
government restrictions pre- dance,” Saints spokesman ceive a free vaccination being fections drop. Recently, how- “We are hopeful that the city
vented large crowds in the Greg Bensel said. “This is not offered at the dome with help ever, they have spiked. mandate is temporary and we
dome. the case this season. Based on from Ochsner Health Sys- remain optimistic that as vac-
current city and state regula- tem, one of the club’s chief Louisiana had the nation’s cination rates increase, this
Louisiana Attorney Gen- tions allowing full capacity, sponsors. highest rate of new coro- policy will no longer be nec-
eral Jeff Landry, a Repub- we did not plan to offer re- navirus infections over the essary,” Bensel said.

Olympic champ Korda shares lead at Women's British Open

(AP) — Nelly Korda’s sen- Korda rolled in a 5-foot putt The 23-year-old Korda is in Tokyo, rebounded from was playing in a group con-
sational summer form is at No. 18 at Carnoustie for the new superstar of wom- her second bogey of the day, taining European Solheim
showing no sign of dip- her eighth birdie of a round en’s golf, having climbed to at No. 12, by making a down- Cup captain Catriona Mat-
ping. that also contained three bo- No. 1 by winning the PGA hill putt for birdie at the next thew, just behind Korda, and
geys in overcast, chilly but Championship in June and and picked up another shot at will have left a positive im-
Two weeks after winning largely wind-free conditions followed that up by winning the par-5 14th after reaching pression ahead of the naming
a gold medal at the Tokyo over the links in eastern Scot- the Olympic golf tourna- the green in two. of the six wild-card selections
Olympics, the top-ranked land. She was later joined on ment in Tokyo this month. on Monday.
Korda began her bid for a 5 under by Sweden’s Made- The American has four wins She finished birdie-birdie by
second major title in two lene Sagstrom, who has never in 14 events in 2021 and said hitting her approach close at She birdied four of her first
months by shooting 5-under recorded a top-10 finish at a she has a “target on my back” No. 18 with an 8-iron from six holes and twice held a
67 to share the first-round major, and South Korea’s Sei for the last of the five majors. the center of the fairway. two-shot lead on her back
lead at the Women’s British Young Kim, a major cham- nine. She kept her round go-
Open on Thursday. pion last year and the No. 4. “I try to take the mindset of “Very happy,” Korda said ing with some decisive par
every day’s a new day,” said of her start. “Honestly, we putts but couldn’t do so at
Korda, who is a combined didn’t have much wind to- No. 18 after finding a bunker
87 under par for her last 21 day. It was very chilly in the to the right of the fairway off
rounds. “It doesn’t matter morning — that was the only the tee. She hit out to leave
what my ranking is. Every- thing against us. Other than herself a tough up-and-down
one’s going into this event that, the wind kept calm and for par, but leaked her par
prepared and wanting to win. I took advantage of it.” putt right.

“That’s kind of like the mind- Korda has been on the road “Of course I want to show
set that I try to take into every for six weeks, because of off my game to her, I can’t
event.” her appearances at the Evian deny that,” Sagstrom said of
Championship in France — Matthew. “I mean, I’m play-
The Women’s Open is her the fourth major of the year, ing well at the moment. Who
first event since the Olym- where she placed 19th — and knows where her mind is at
pics and she carried the mo- then the Olympics, where right now?”
mentum to Carnoustie, hol- she had a one-shot victory.
ing a left-to-right 20-footer Kim is in the mix at another
for birdie at No. 3 — the first “A little tired but I am go- major having won one for the
of three birdies in a four-hole ing to give it my all these first time at the PGA Cham-
span to immediately throw next three day, go home next pionship last year. She also
down the challenge to her ri- week, and have one week at finished third at the ANA In-
vals. home. Sleep in my bed for spiration in April.
the first time in six weeks —
Korda, who wore bulky, ov- that will be nice,” she said. Her only dropped shot was
en-style mitts between shots “And then Solheim and we at the par-4 15th, which she
at times during chilly morn- start up again.” reached in the lead after mak-
ing conditions that contrast- ing birdie at No. 14 to move
ed with what she experienced The 77th-ranked Sagstrom to 6 under.