Angel Yin started experimenting with a new putter about a month ago and decided to use it in a tournament for the first time at the most prestigious event in women’s golf.

The move worked well in the first round at Erin Hills.

Yin made a 13 1/2-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th for a 4-under 68 and a share of the U.S. Women’s Open lead with 2020 champion A Lim Kim, Jinhee Im, Yealimi Noh, Rio Takeda and Julia Lopez Ramirez.

“I know U.S. Open is going to be extremely fast, so I wanted to find a putter that will hold the ground and just do what I want it to do,” Yin said. “It just so happened to be this putter. I started tinkering with it like about a month ago, and I got lucky to use it.”

The biggest surprise among the early leaders was Lopez Ramirez, who had a bogey-free round in her U.S. Women’s Open debut.

Griffin still on a heater at punishing Memorial

Ben Griffin resumed the great play that brought him his first individual PGA Tour victory last week, hitting two shots in the water and still posting a 7-under 65 on Thursday in the Memorial on a course with rough as dense as a U.S. Open.

Griffin isn’t taking victory laps after winning at Colonial. He just kept making birdies, along with an eagle on the par- 5 seventh hole with a 3-wood into 12 feet. He led by two shots over Collin Morikawa, with Max Homa another stroke behind.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler wasn’t at his best and still managed a 70, his 19th consecutive tournament in which he opened with a round par.

Muirfield Village was soft enough from rain the past two days that good scores were available provided shots came from the fairway, and not from rough that Justin Thomas had said was comparable to what they will face at Oakmont in the U.S. Open.

College football

Two Gophers’ games moved to Friday nights

The Gophers’ fall football schedule has had two games moved from Saturday to Friday night, the Big Ten Conference announced this week.

Minnesota will host play host Nebraska at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, at Huntington Bank Stadium, and the U will travel to Oregon for an 8 p.m. CT kickoff on Friday, Nov. 14 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. Both of those games will be on FOX.

The Gophers’ season and home opener remains on a Thursday and the Big Ten said that kickoff against Buffalo will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 28. The U will kick off its Week 2 matchup against Northwestern State at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6.

Minnesota’s biggest nonconference game of the season at California will kick off at 9:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Sept. 13, the conference said Thursday.

The Big Ten also shared that Minnesota’s homecoming game against Purdue will start at 6 or 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11.

Six additional kickoff times will be announced later: Rutgers (Sept. 27); at Ohio State (Oct. 4); at Iowa (Oct. 25); Michigan State (Nov. 1); Northwestern at Wrigley Field in Chicago (Nov. 22); and Wisconsin (Nov. 29).

— Andy Greder

Hockey

Frost’s Pannek teams with Fulton Brewing

Following the team’s second straight PWHL championship, Minnesota Frost forward Kelly Pannek has collaborated with Fulton Brewing on “Been There Won That...Again.”

The beer was originally released last fall after Pannek earned her fourth gold medal at the World Championships and to support hockey inclusivity.

This year’s brew, returning in limited fashion, is a “lemon-charged blonde ale.” A portion of the proceeds goes to Mosaic Hockey Collective, a Minnesota-based nonprofit to create opportunities and community for players of color.

There will be a “victory party” on June 7 at the Fulton taproom in Minneapolis.

Kraken hire Lambert to replace Bylsma as coach

The Seattle Kraken hired Lane Lambert on Thursday night as the third head coach in team history.

Lambert replaces Dan Bylsma, fired after one season.

The 60-year-old Lambert was most recently a head coach for the New York Islanders from 2022 until he was fired on Jan. 20, 2024. He was 61-46-20 with the Islanders, and they qualified for the playoffs once during his tenure.

Last season, the former NHL forward was associate head coach with Toronto.

Minor League baseball

Wallner homers again as Saints beat Omaha 3-1

Matt Wallner homered for the third straight game and David Festa threw five scoreless innings as the St. Paul Saints beat Omaha 3-1 on Thursday.

Festa allowed just three hits and struck out five. Ryan Jensen (2-1) earned the win with a scoreless inning in relief and Anthony Misiewicz tallied his sixth save.

Wallner provided all the scoring with a three-run homer in the eighth inning.

Soccer

Marta returns to Brazil’s national team

Marta, the six-time world player of the year, has returned to Brazil’s national team for friendlies against Japan on Friday and Monday in São Paulo. While it remains to be seen whether she’ll play, her inclusion on the roster suggests she may not be ready to retire just yet.

The 39-year-old announced last year that she would step down from the national team following the Paris Olympics. The Brazilians went on to win the silver medal after a loss in the final to the United States.

She has continued to play for her club team, the Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League. Last season, Marta scored 11 goals with the Pride, which won the NWSL title. She re-signed with the team through 2026 earlier this year.

BRIEFLY

MLB >> Los Angeles Angels star outfielder Mike Trout is expected to be activated off the injured list on Friday, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press. The Angels have an open roster spot after Matthew Lugo was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake.

MLB >> The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired former All-Star reliever Alexis Díaz from the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday in a trade for minor league pitcher Mike Villani.

— From news services