Keith Mitchell held the first-round lead at three tournaments earlier this season before falling out of the top spot. He’s showing staying power at the Truist Championship.

Mitchell followed a career-best round with a 3-under 67 on Friday and maintained a one-shot lead after two rounds at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course.

Mitchell, who led the way with a 61 on Thursday, offset two bogeys with five birdies, including a three-hole run on Nos. 3-5, for a 12 under total.

Shane Lowry was second at 11 under after a 5-under 65, and Sepp Straka (67) was another stroke back. Defending champion Rory McIlroy shot a 3-under 67 and was tied in a large group for fourth.

Mackenzie Hughes of Canada shot a 2-under 69 in windy conditions for a share of the second-round lead with Cristobal Del Solar of Chile in the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Classic.

A stroke ahead after an opening 63, Hughes had four birdies and two bogeys in his afternoon round at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club.

“I’m in a good spot going into the weekend.” Hughes said. “There’s a bunch of guys there with a chance. Nothing changes tomorrow. Just keep doing my thing and see where it puts me.”

Del Solar rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 eighth with a closing birdie on the par-3 ninth. He shot a 67 in the afternoon to join Hughes at 10-under 132.

Defending champion Nelly Korda hit her stride late on a long and soft Liberty National course, making three birdies over her last five holes for a 4-under 68 and a share of the lead in the Mizuho Americas Open in Jersey City, N.J.

Somi Lee of South Korea had seven birdies in a round of 67 that was slowed by two bogeys toward the end. She joined fellow morning starter Andrea Lee (68) and Korda atop the leaderboard at 8-under 136.

Charlie Woods failed to get out of local qualifying for the U.S. Open, the second straight year the son of Tiger Woods missed out.

Woods, 16, was among a record 10,202 entries for the U.S. Open. He improved from last year’s score in 18-hole local qualifying, posting a 3-over 75 at Wellington (Fla.) Golf Club. That left him seven shots short of being among those who advanced to the 36-hole final stage. A year ago, he shot 81 in the local U.S. Open qualifier.

SOCCER

The Women’s World Cup will increase to 48 teams in 2031 when the United States is expected to host the tournament, FIFA confirmed.

FIFA has wanted to expand the women’s tournament from 32 teams to match the men’s World Cup which has 48 teams for the first time next year, when the U.S. will co-host with Canada and Mexico.

The decision is set to add about four stadiums and cities to the 2031 hosting plan, which FIFA has said could expand to Mexico and perhaps beyond in the CONCACAF soccer region.

NFL

The San Francisco 49ers waived defensive lineman Drake Jackson, cutting ties with their second-round pick from the 2022 NFL draft.

Jackson, a former USC star, was waived with a failed physical designation after missing the last season and a half with a torn patellar tendon in his left knee. Jackson played 23 games for the Niners in 2022-23 with six sacks — half of them coming in the 2023 season opener at Pittsburgh.

Jackson was the first player taken by the 49ers in a draft class that has produced only one consistent starter in quarterback Brock Purdy, who was taken with the final pick of that draft.

TENNIS

Carlos Alcaraz returned from a brief injury layoff with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic at the Italian Open.

The third-ranked Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open last month due to an upper right leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final. He also had a left leg injury.

The Rome tournament, a prep for the French Open, also marks the return of top-ranked Jannik Sinner from a three-month doping ban.

Sinner and Alcaraz are in opposite sides of the draw.

Sinner opens against 99th-ranked Mariano Navone today.

In the women’s tournament, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka opened with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Anastasia Potapova.

HOCKEY

The United States blanked host Denmark 5-0 on the opening day of the ice hockey world championship.

Matty Beniers led the Americans with two goals, Cutter Gauthier and Mason Lohrei had a goal and an assist each, and Logan Cooley also scored in a Group B game played in Herning, Denmark.

Michael Kesselring had two assists and goaltender Joey Daccord recorded a 26-shot shutout.

“Any time a goalie gets a shutout is a team result,” Daccord said after his debut at the worlds.

Gauthier opened the scoring from the slot with 2:08 left in the opening period. Cooley doubled the advantage on a power play, Beniers added on a rebound in the middle period and Lohrei made it 4-0 from the point midway through the final period. Beniers one-timed a slap shot for his second with 3:44 remaining.

Sweden shut out Slovakia 5-0 to delight the home crowd in Stockholm in Group A.

Mikael Backlund, Leo Carlsson and Jonas Brodin scored 8:37 apart in the second part of the opening period to give Sweden a commanding 3-0 lead.

Elias Lindholm stretched it to 4-0 in the second and Mika Zibanejad finished it off in the final period.

Backlund and Lindholm added an assist each.

Sweden won the championship when it took place in Stockholm last time in 2013.

Defending champion Czech Republic prevailed in overtime to beat Switzerland 5-4 in a rematch of last year’s final.

Roman Cervenka scored the winner 2:30 into overtime from the left circle after David Pastrnak fed him with his second assist in Herning.

Czech Lukas Sedlak tied the game at 4-4 on a rebound on a power play with 3:47 left to force overtime.

Matej Stransky, Filip Zadina and Filip Pyrochta also scored for the Czechs who beat the Swiss 2-0 in the final last year in Prague.

Christian Marti, Damien Riat, Sandro Schmid and Sven Andrighetto scored for Switzerland.

In Stockholm, Finland topped Austria 2-1.

CYCLING

Former world champion Mads Pedersen narrowly beat Wout van Aert in a sprint finish to win the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia and claim the first pink jersey of this year’s race, which started in Albania for the first time.

Pedersen, who won the world title in 2019, edged Van Aert by half a wheel in the hilly, 99-mile stage from Durrës to Tirana.