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SPORTS Thursday 11 July 2019

Matthew Wolff holds the trophy after winning the 3M Open golf
tournament Sunday, July 7, 2019, in Blaine, Minn.
Associated Press
John Deere Slovakia’s Peter Sagan wearing the best sprinter’s green jersey celebrates as he crosses the
finish line to win the fifth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 175.5 kilometers (109
miles) with start in Saint-Die-Des-Vosges and finish in Colmar, Wednesday, July 10, 2019.
Continued from Page 17 I’ll say that over and over Associated Press
again. My life changed as
That, too, is a possibility this soon as that putt went in,” Tour de France Stage 6 climb
week: The top finisher not Wolff said. “But it only lasts
already exempt who finish- so long, and my goal is to to rob also-rans of hidey holes
es in the top 5 at TPC Deere become the No. 1 player in
Run will qualify to play next the world.” By JOHN LEICESTER 28 could start to fall apart if one of them
week at Royal Portrush He’s now 135th, but that AP Sports Writer seriously struggles and is left behind by
— and get a seat on the figures to change soon, COLMAR, France (AP) — With four-time the other.
charter flight that the John too. winner Chris Froome out, nursing bro- The particular sharpness of the final climb
Deere Classic provides to The John Deere Classic has ken bones, two of the big questions at would appear, on paper, to be more
players making the trip to long made up for its lack of this Tour de France have been whether suited to Bernal, as suggested when he
Northern Ireland. star power by using sponsor other contenders who’ve long ridden got a five-second jump on Thomas on a
If he doesn’t get there this exemptions to lure some of in his shadow will now be more willing much shorter but also quite steep incline
year, there appear to be the game’s brightest pros- to attack and who, on his team, will fill at the end of Stage 3. By no means a
plenty of major champi- pects to its event. the vacuum left by the British rider’s ab- disaster for Thomas, it was still a possible
onship starts in the future This year’s newcomers will sence. harbinger for Thursday’s far longer and
for Wolff, who has always include Cal’s Collin Mori- On Thursday, the Tour is expecting some taxing final ascent.
shown huge potential. kawa, who finished one answers. “That sort of climb favors the punchy,
Wolff, who grew up in shot behind Wolff in Min- A fiercely steep climb on Stage 6, with pure climbers, Egan for one,” Thomas
Southern California, nesota. Morikawa’s perfor- an eye-popping 24% gradient at the top, acknowledged.
earned freshman All-Amer- mance earned him special should separate genuine contenders for Although only riding his second Tour, Ber-
ica honors for the Cowboys temporary membership on the Tour title from also-rans. nal is wowing his teammates. Luke Rowe,
in 2017-18 before winning the PGA Tour, meaning he On the 7-kilometer (4-mile) uphill to the who rode with Froome for three of his
the NCAA individual title in can use unlimited spon- Planche des Belles Filles ski station, scaled Tour wins, says Bernal has the same “pit-
May. After missing the cut sor exemptions in a bid to with legs already stinging from a succes- bull mentality.”
at the Rocket Mortgage earn his tour card for next sion of climbs earlier in the day, there’ll “They want to go out there and they
Classic, Wolff shot 62-65 season. be no hiding places for riders who aren’t want to rip the legs of people. They’ve
over the weekend at the Morikawa, who’ll be mak- in tip-top shape. just got that tenacious mentality, and
3M Open, securing the ing his fifth career start, will For riders looking to profit while Froome Egan has that,” he said.
win with a 25-foot putt for be joined by fellow rookies recovers from a horrific crash in training, For French rider Julian Alaphilippe, Stage
eagle from the collar of the Viktor Hovland and Justin the hairpin bends among dense woods 6 will be another day to savor in the ca-
18th green. Suh. often thick with mushrooms in autumn nary-yellow jersey, after he held onto the
That made him the seventh “Obviously the goal com- will be their chance to make a mark, overall race lead on Stage 5. But Ala-
player in the past 80 years ing into this summer was to stamp their authority on the race as philippe is not a pure climber. More the
to win a PGA Tour event to earn a full card for next Froome did so often when roads went explosive, instinctive type, Alaphilippe
before turning 21, and the year,” Morikawa said. uphill at previous Tours. may struggle to keep up with mountain
other six — Spieth, Tiger “We’re almost there.” “We will find out a lot,” defending cham- specialists like Bernal should they go full-
Woods, Seve Ballesteros, One player who doesn’t pion Geraint Thomas said. “It will be a gas.
Phil Mickelson, Raymond come in with much mo- challenge.” Or he may not. Because it’s not as long,
Floyd and Rory McIlroy — mentum is defending One of those challenges could come high or arduous as even tougher climbs
went on to win multiple champion Michael Kim. from within Thomas’ own team, in the lurking in the Alps and Pyrenees, he might
majors. After winning at TPC Deere shape of lithe Colombian climber Egan cling on as the first French rider in yellow
Wolff and his assistant Cole Run by eight shots, match- Bernal. for five years.
Spradlin rented a van and ing the largest margin of With Froome out, Thomas and Bernal And the climb could fizzle rather than
drove straight from Min- victory on tour in 2018, Kim have been promoted to co-leaders at pop, playing to Alaphilippe’s hand, if top
nesota to the Quad Cities, began working on swing Ineos. But that precarious balancing act title contenders decide to hold back,
arriving around 2:30 a.m. changes with coach John between two contenders for a title that preferring to save their biggest battles for
Monday. Tillery and has missed 17 only one of them can win in Paris on July decisive climbs in Week 3.q
“It’s a dream come true. cuts in a row.q