Saturday's Report: Russell Henley/Memorial, French Open/Mercer Tennis Classic, FPD/Mercer, Upson County/Perdue/HOF, Bacon fall; Braves, Dream; NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA🥎&⚾, golf, NASCAR, French Open
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Around/About Central Georgia
Henley makes cut after a whiplash round
The second round was pretty much a Six Flags roller coaster ride for Russell Henley.
Par, birdie, bogey, bogey, three birdies, two bogeys. And that was the first nine. One par.
Henley caught his breath, and actually settled into a nice, and steady, mostly, second nine before late hiccups to finish the day tied for 44th with a 1-under round to go 1-over.
The 34-year-old went from tied for 59th and fairly near the eventual cutline to in contention, and then backward.
He dropped nearly a 30-footer for a birdie on No. 2/11th hole to get started on the second nine, reeling off three birdies and three pars before coming up seven inches short for par, his first bogey since the ninth hole.
Which he followed with, well, another bogey.
Instead of possibly ending the day in the top 20, Henley finished closer to the plus-3 cut line than contention, though at one over, he’s only nine shots back of leader Justin Suh.
French Open has Mercer Tennis Classic flavor
The field at the Mercer Tennis Classic gets stronger every year, and this year’s French Open is an example.
The tournament opened with 37 players in the field who have competed in Macon.
Through Friday, seven remain in action: Anna Schmieldova, Kayla Day, Beatriz Hadad Maia,
Bernarda Pera, Clara Tauson, Peyton Stearns, and Kamilla Rakhimova.
And two next face each other in the third round, Schmiedlova and Day. Haddad Maia is still alive, as is Pera
Tauson lost 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 to Elina Avanesyan in the third round, as did Stearns to No. 9 Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 6-1 and Rakhimova 6-2, 6-2 to two seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Five are ranked in the top 100: No. 14 Maia, No. 36 Pera, No. 69 Stearns, No. 82 Rakhimova, and No. 100 Schmieldova. Tauson is No. 127 and Day No. 138.
The Mercer Tennis Classic is played yearly in October and is the oldest and second-biggest women’s pro tournament in Georgia.
Former R.E. Lee/Upson-Lee head coach joining HOF
One can’t mention football in Upson County without mentioning Tommy Perdue.
He graduated from R.E. Lee, returned a decade later as head coach for 15 seasons, and then started the Upson-Lee program.
Perdue went 169-57-1, with a state title at R.E. Lee in 1988. He’ll take that resume into the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in Dalton this weekend.
The ceremony is Saturday morning at the Dalton Convention Center.
Joining Perdue in this year’s class: David Boyd (Boys basketball at Campbell, Tucker, Berkmar, and Milton), Karl Bostick (cross country and soccer at Parkerview), and Jim Glasser (wrestling, track, and tennis at Lovett), Greg James (baseball at Vidalia).
Bacon popped in home opener
Lexington County brought plenty of offense with in on the road, thumping Macon 13-4 Friday in the Bacon’s home opener.
There were no live stats updated online by Macon, so no details are available.
Macon was scheduled to play at Florence, S.C. on Thursday, but the Bacon posted no results. The Bacon won 3-1.
John Milledge alum Brandon Bellflower of Georgia College is on the Lexington County roster.
The team has yet to post this season’s roster on its website, nor any scores.
Macon visits Lexington County on Saturday night, returning home to host Florence on Tuesday.
WTEN-Mercer adds five, including local alum
Former FPD standout Kennedi Jones is among five new players on the Mercer women’s tennis team.
Jones is a junior who is transferring from Jacksonville State, where she went 4-6 in singles and 2-7 in doubles as a freshman. She competed in one match in 2022-23, in the spring, against Wallace State Community College.
Around/About Georgia
Arizona gets solid mound performance to nip Atlanta
Acuna on historic and MVP pace
Dream fall short to champion Aces
NBA/WNBA/Basketball
Down early, Heat are on a familiar path
Defensive whiz Gordon jump-started Denver’s offense
From risky pick to mainstay for Nuggets
Bird back with Indiana, to mixed reviews
Detroit makes it official with Williams
MLB/Baseball
Boston’s Sale on IL for sixth straight season
SEC meetings
Saban on the eight-game schedule decision
Column-They kicked the scheduling can down the road
Behind the decision, and what it means
League happy with Greenville as a women’s tournament host
Column-Does it really mean more?
College Sports
Column-One man’s plan for a Vols hotel: King suite, Manning bar, The Summitt …
California passes bill allowing athletes to be paid
NCAA, Pac-12, Southern Cal cite First Amendment in labor complaint
College Baseball/Softball
S-Oklahoma State eliminates Utah
S-Alabama sent home after 1-hitter
B-Troy tops Boston College in runsfest
Golf
Suh, Matsuyama ride hot putts at Memorial
Snedeker back after ‘experimental’ procedure
Turnberry won’t host Open while Trump owns it
Former Stanford star Zhang solid in LPGA debut
Auto Racing/NASCAR
NASCAR Pride Month tweet earns support, boycott threats
Hockey/NHL
Top team in the West vs. upstart from the East
Tennis
Pegula ousted in third round, more
Djokovic boos fans who ‘boo every single thing’
No French left after two rounds
Sabalenki skips press conference after testy media exchange, cites mental health