Thursday's Report: Scores; Henley at Tour Championship; Braves, Falcons, UGA; MLB/Ohtani, college sports/realignment, golf/Tour, NFL, tennis, NFL, NASCAR

August 24, 2023 Central Georgia Sports Report

Coming every day: The only place in Central Georgia with daily high school scores in basketball, soccer, baseball, tennis, and the only place with college – Mercer, FVSU, Georgia College, CGTC, MGSU, GMC, Wesleyan – coverage (when info is offered).

In Coverage: The Sports Report’s high school football predictions

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High School

🥎 🥎 🥎Softball 🥎 🥎 🥎

Brenwood 5, GMC 1

Jasper County 9, FPD 3

Perry 16, Warner Robins 1

Ella Dowd, Mackenzie Crumley and Anna Dean each had two hits for 6-0 Perry.

Schley County 5, Bleckley County 4

Washington County 11, Swainsboro 3

West Laurens 3, East Laurens 0

Pro

⚾ ⚾ ⚾MLB⚾ ⚾ ⚾

Atlanta 7, NY Mets 0

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Henley set for Tour Championship

Russell Henley has come close to finishing the drill a number of times this season, which has him as a longshot or under the radar when the Tour Championship starts Thursday morning at East Lake in Atlanta.

He is 12th in the FedExCup rankings, and 28th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Henley projected to be top Dawg in tourney

While East Lake isn’t far from anywhere Henley has lived – Macon, Athens, Charleston, and Columbus – he’s only played it twice on the tour, finishing 12th in 2013-14 and third in 2016-17.

But it may fit his game, as per BettingPros.com: Russell Henley has quietly put together a great season on the PGA Tour. After a win early in November, he was unable to win another tournament. However, Henley went on to record five top-5 finishes and 12 top-25 finishes, with only six missed cuts. This is a result of Henley’s incredible accuracy, as he’s first in Driving Accuracy and third in Proximity to the Hole. He’ll need his best stuff in East Lake, as he starts seven shots behind the leader.

Patrick McDonald has Henley as sleeper this weekend: “Russell Henley (75-1): Any time you get Henley on a golf course, that requires accurate driving and pinpoint iron play, he is a good option. The former Georgia star is comfortable on these grass types and is probably the most underrated player on the PGA Tour. Henley ranks sixth in total strokes gained over the last six months and will start from seven back.”

Henley has entered the Ryder Cup conversation with his run the second half of the season.

From CBS Sports: “Biggest jump up leaderboard -- Russell Henley: He is playing some outrageously good golf and has something to play for outside a ton of money. If Henley wins the Tour Championship this weekend given how well he's been playing of late, there's a real chance he could swipe the last spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team when the captain's picks are made Monday by Zach Johnson.”

He starts the staggered-scores tournament at 3 under, with Tommy Fleetwood, Keegan Bradly, Rickie Fowler, and Xander Schauffele.

Henley tees off at 1:05 p.m. Thursday, a few minutes after TV coverage begins on The Golf Channel, with Tommy Fleetwood.

Around/About Georgia/Southeast

Morton masterful as Braves cruise

Falcons welcome on of NFL’s top organizations

Beck: ’I’ve been grinding the last four years’

Georgia loses RB Robinson to season-ending injury

Robinson’s injury, managing Beck, special teams

UGA notes

Hollins adds size and eccentric outlook to Falcons attack at wide receiver

MLB/Baseball

Ohtani done for season with UCL tear