Knapp shoots 59 at PGA Tour event

Jake Knapp knew he was on the verge of something special early on Thursday, with a run of five straight birdies to open his round at the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In the end, he joined one of golf’s most elite clubs. Knapp — the No. 99 player in golf’s current world rankings — joined the PGA Tour’s sub-60 club on Thursday, shooting a bogey-free 59 in the opening round at PGA National. It was the 15th time that someone has broken 60 in a PGA Tour event. “It’s just one of those days where everything was kind of clicking,” said Knapp, who finished one shot off the tour scoring record of 58, done by Jim Furyk in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship. Knapp became the 14th player to shoot a sub-60 round; it has been done 15 times, with Furyk the one who has carded such a round twice. Knapp’s 12-birdie round on the par-71 course also broke the previous Cognizant scoring record of 61. Knapp, who turns 31 in May has one PGA Tour win, that coming at last year’s Mexico Open.

Popovich hoping to coach again

Gregg Popovich will not coach this season. He’s not ruling out a comeback in the future. Popovich met with the Spurs on Thursday, releasing a statement afterward to make his decision on this season — and hope for next season — public. The 76-year-old Popovich, the NBA’s all-time coaching wins leader, had a stroke at the Spurs’ arena on Nov. 2 and has been away from the team since. “I’ve decided not to return to the sidelines this season,” Popovich said in a statement. “(Acting coach) Mitch Johnson and his staff have done a wonderful job and the resolve and professionalism the players have shown has been outstanding.” Popovich has been in regular contact with Johnson, some team officials and has talked with some players at times during his absence — but he has not been seen at games or been known to be at any practices. “I will continue to focus on my health with the hope that I can return to coaching in the future,” said Popovich, who’s led the Spurs to five NBA championships and guided USA Basketball to an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

USWNT falls in tournament final

Toko Koga scored early in the second half and Japan handed the United States its first loss under coach Emma Hayes with a 2-1 victory Wednesday night in the SheBelieves Cup title game. The Americans hadn’t lost since last February when they fell 2-0 to Mexico in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup. The loss also snapped the U.S. team’s string of five titles in the SheBelieves Cup, now in its 10th year. The U.S. and Japan were both undefeated in the tournament heading into the final match at Snapdragon Stadium. “Of course we want to win. No one wants to lose these things,” Hayes, above, said. “But we didn’t put out our most experienced team. We put out a team we’re hoping to develop, and our goals go beyond just the SheBelieves.” The U.S. had been unbeaten in the last 14 games against Japan. The Americans’ last loss to Japan came in 2012. The U.S. team was playing in the tournament without the trio of Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Sophia (Smith) Wilson. Rodman is rehabbing a back injury, Smith was not yet in game form and Swanson was out for personal commitments. —AP