It’s a movie Prater is quite familiar with, which is why he and his caddie staked out a spot at the far right end of the practice range — just in case things went completely awry.

“It was funny we were joking before we got out here, like, we’re not going to the left side of the range just because we didn’t want that dreaded S-word to kick in,” Prater said with a laugh, referring to Costner’s character who developed a case of the shanks before his round. “We didn’t want that moment of, ‘turn your hat around, put your things in the other pocket.’”

You can’t blame Prater for being a little nervous.

After all, his full-time job is as a biology teacher and golf coach at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, Colo. He got a spot at Pinehurst by finishing second at a 36-hole qualifier in Bend, Ore. He’s one of 73 qualifiers to emerge from 9,522 entrants.

The 29-year-old teacher is considered one of the top amateur players in Colorado, but he never has been to a U.S. Open let alone played in one.

So the experience, he said, has been surreal.

He played a practice round Monday with Sahith Theegala and Will Zalatoris. On Tuesday he was paired with defending U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark. And on Wednesday, he played nine holes with 2015 champion Jordan Spieth and Sam Burns.

After he walked off the practice green Wednesday, he introduced himself to Rory McIlroy — and came away with the best advice he has received all week.

“Rory said, ‘Listen, this golf course is amazing, but you have to be patient and hit the middle of the green,’ ” Prater said. “It really resonated with me because at the end of the day, it’s all just golf. If I can execute the shots that I’ve hit more than a thousand times, I can do this.”

Prater has plenty of experience, although not at this level.

He was a former Division II first-team All-American at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and, in 2020, won both the Colorado Golf Association’s Amateur and Match Play. He played last month at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

He’s played Pinehurst once before at the 2019 U.S. Amateur, although he failed to advance to match play.

There was a time he considered pursuing a career as a professional player, but his love of teaching kids and the idea of being a husband and father took precedence. He and his wife, Madi, are set to welcome their second child next month.

He considers golf a hobby.

“I have an awesome life,” Prater said. “I love being a teacher; I love being a coach. I love to see that lightbulb moment in a kids’ eyes when biology starts to make sense, and they fall in love with it. And I love to see a beginner golfer pick up the game and fall in love with and want to work to get better. But most of all, I love being a father.”

So he has no immediate plans to try to join the PGA Tour even if things go extraordinarily well at Pinehurst.

In his mind, this week as already been a “win,” getting to play three practice rounds at one of the world’s most famous courses while walking around inside the ropes with the best players in the world.

Entering Thursday’s opening round he has one goal: He wants to make the cut.

“I would love to play golf for four days,” Prater said. “I think that’s attainable, I think that’s achievable. If I can take care of business and don’t let the moment get too big for me, if I don’t look at the grandstand and get freaked out by it all.”

Or get the shanks.

Busch had wrecked Stenhouse on the second lap of the $1 million race Sunday night in a move that looked like retaliation for how Stenhouse had raced him earlier. Stenhouse drove his damaged Chevrolet to Busch’s pit stall and parked it, and with no way to get out of the track while the race was going on, stewed in street clothes for hours until Busch arrived at his hauler.

That’s when Stenhouse, after a brief conversation, threw a right hook at the driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet, setting off a brief melee that involved members of each driver’s crew — and Stenhouse’s father. The brawl was eventually broken up, but not before more words were exchanged from both sides and Stenhouse vowed, “I’m going to wreck you at Charlotte.”

Fight! pic.twitter.com/2ZQhL4VcSy

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 20, 2024

“Bring it,” Busch replied. “I suck as bad as you,” implying that both drivers are not having great seasons.

The antics could result in a suspension for Stenhouse, the 2023 Daytona 500 champion, other crew members and possibly his father. Busch also could face a penalty if NASCAR determines that he deliberately caused the wreck.

Stenhouse’s fury was evident the moment he parked in Busch’s pit stall, then climbed the pit stand ladder and had words with members of his crew. As Stenhouse climbed down and walked away, his car had to be towed from pit road.

“I parked it there because I figured Kyle would do something similar,” Stenhouse said.

Later, during an interview with Fox Sports, Stenhouse indicated he would confront Busch after the race.

And then he did.

Stenhouse, dressed in yellow shorts and a gray T-shirt, waited for Busch in the infield and confronted him face-to-face before unleashing a punch. Security jumped in and pulled Stenhouse away, falling backward over a tire, while Busch likewise wound up on the ground. Stenhouse’s father, Ricky Sr., got into the fracas and appeared to take at least one of Busch’s punches.

Stenhouse could be heard yelling “Dad!” numerous times, but he couldn’t get to his father.

“First lap of the race, we don’t even have water temp in the car yet and we’re wrecking each other,” Busch said. “I am tired of getting run over by everybody. But that’s what everybody does: everybody runs over everybody to pass everybody.”

Stenhouse clapped back at Busch: “Go back and watch the replay. I didn’t touch you. Not once.”

Stenhouse took another shot at Busch after the fight, saying he had bad-mouthed him ever since Stenhouse once wrecked him at Daytona, and then went on to say that Busch is just frustrated because “he doesn’t run as well as he used to.”

Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion, is 13th in points and has yet to win a race this season.

The All-Star Race itself lacked any drama once Kyle Larson arrived by helicopter from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the 2021 Cup Series champion had qualified fifth for his Indy 500 debut earlier in the day.

Pole sitter Joey Logano led all but one of the 200 laps to take home $1 million. It was yet another example of NASCAR’s struggles to find the right short track setup despite allowing the use of multiple variations of tires at North Wilkesboro.

“You couldn’t pass,” runner-up Denny Hamlin said. “I would lose a little bit of air there, and I would try to give my car a break and then run at (Logano) again. Hats off to the track, NASCAR and Goodyear for giving it a try. Hopefully, we learned something here for future short tracks.”

Then he smirked and added, “But at least we had an exciting fight in the end. That’s something to talk about.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michigan State coach Tom Izzo won his 20th first-round game in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

This one, he said, might have been the most impressive, even to former Spartans greats like Draymond Green.

Tyson Walker scored 19 points and the ninth-seeded Spartans improved to 20-6 in March Madness openers under Izzo with a 69-51 win over eighth-seeded Mississippi State on Thursday. It was Izzo’s 26th straight NCAA Tournament appearance — an NCAA Division I record for a coach at one school.

“I thought this was one of the better first game performances of a team that was, and deservedly so, seeded a little lower,” Izzo said. “We brought everything from the get-go. We moved the ball well. We shot the ball well. We rebounded the ball.”

Izzo’s win was his 56th overall in the tournament, trailing only three coaches for victories at one school. He noted that while the game was sloppy at times, former players Green, Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson would have enjoyed the “tough, rugged nature” of the Spartans’ win.

Jaden Akins added 15 points and seven rebounds and Malik Hall scored 10 points for Michigan State (20-14), which will face top-seeded North Carolina on Saturday.

Akins believes having Izzo on the bench is a huge advantage because of the adjustments he makes.

“Coach has been in this situation,” Akins said. “He always talks about experience is the best thing to have, and he has a lot of that in this tournament. So we’ve got all the faith in him to put us in a position, and we just got to go out and do what we do.”

Freshman Josh Hubbard scored 15 points for the Mississippi State (21-14), which hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2021. Hubbard was limited to two points in the second half as the Spartans wouldn’t let the Bulldogs’ young standout shake free.

“I think just trying to make every catch, be there on every catch, every shot contested,” Walker said of defending Hubbard. “First half he got it going. Then we kind of second half just locked in more and contested every shot he took, made sure they were further out, not let him get any easy ones.”

Both teams entered the tournament having lost five of seven games.

The Spartans, who led wire to wire, pushed the tempo early and jumped out to an 20-8 lead after hitting 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc, including two from Walker.

“You have to give credit to Michigan State, but we put ourselves in some tough spots with our turnovers and got off to a really poor start,” Bulldogs coach Chris Jans said.

The Bulldogs closed the gap to seven at halftime behind Hubbard.

But the Spartans began to pull away early in the second half, extending the lead to 14 with the help of Walker, who finished 7 of 12 from the field.

Down by double digits midway through the second half, the Bulldogs went to a half-court trap and found some success at first, turning over the Spartans twice. But Michigan State quickly settled down. Xavier Booker and Tre Holloman hit 3s before Walker connected on another 3 from the right wing to push the lead to 17 with less than five minutes to go.

“We always go over our press breakers,” Walker said. “We call it special teams. Just being prepared. Just knowing where you’re supposed to be.”

As the Bulldogs were attempting to make a late comeback, the Spartans corralled two offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive and burn time off the clock.

Michigan State held a 35-29 edge on the glass.

“The game was won with rebounding,” Izzo said.

BIG PICTURE

Michigan State: This was the high point of a topsy-turvy season for the Spartans, who were ranked No. 4 in the preseason but lost to James Madison in their opener and went on to drop five of their first nine games. Michigan State improved as it entered Big Ten play, winning eight of 10 at one point before its late-season swoon. The Spartans’ perimeter defense was suspect coming into the game, but they held the Bulldogs to 6-of-27 shooting from beyond the arc.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs wanted to play at a slower tempo, but were forced to speed up after falling behind early. Poor shooting hurt, but so did a lack of rebounding.

UP NEXT

The Tar Heels will have a significant home-court advantage over Michigan State. UNC’s home arena is less than a two-hour drive away.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

The LAPD posted on Twitter that Bridges was arrested for “intimate partner violence with injury,” a felony, on Wednesday after an incident two days earlier in West Los Angeles.

He was released on $130,000 bond and has a July 20 court date. The LAPD said it does not release police reports on domestic violence arrests.

Mychelle Johnson, the mother of Bridges’ two young children, addressed the incident on Instagram on Friday, posting several pictures of injuries and a medical report that read “adult victim of physical abuse by male partner; Assault by strangulation, Brain concussion; Closed fracture of nasal bone; Contusion of rib; Multiple bruises; Strain of neck muscle.”

“I hate that it has come to this but I can’t be silent anymore. I’ve allowed someone to destroy my home, abuse me in every way possible and traumatize our kids for life,” Johnson wrote on Instagram. “I have nothing to prove to the world, but I won’t allow anyone who could do something so horrible to have no remorse and paint a picture of something I’m not. I won’t allow the people around him to continue to silence me and continue to lie to protect this person.”

Bridges’ agent, Rich Paul, did not return phone calls to the Associated Press, and it was unclear whether Bridges has an attorney. Attempts to reach Johnson also were unsuccessful, and AP could not locate an attorney of record for her.

Bridges, 24, is a restricted free agent who is expected to command big money this summer following a breakout season.

The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Bridges was the Hornets’ leading scorer, averaging 20.2 points and seven rebounds in his fourth NBA season.

The Hornets extended Bridges a qualifying offer earlier this week, allowing them a chance to match any offer sheet made by another team. The team indicated earlier this week — before knowledge of Bridges’ arrest — that it wanted to re-sign him.

The Hornets released a statement Thursday, indicating they are looking into the incident. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said “we are in the process of gathering more information.”

The University of Maryland-Baltimore County stunned the sports world by pulling off the most shocking upset in college basketball history, hammering Virginia 74-54 on Friday night to become the first No. 16 seed ever to beat a No. 1 seed in the men’s NCAA tournament.

UMBC secured its underdog legacy in sports lore, alongside Buster Douglas, the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team, Appalachian State football and Joe Namath’s Jets.

Virginia entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed after going 31-2 in the regular season, including 20-1 in ACC competition.

The question wasn’t whether they would win this game, but if they would get to the Final Four and win it all.

But UMBC — a team most glanced over when filling out their brackets — didn’t just beat Virginia, it dominated throughout the second half, dismantling the 20 1/2-point favorites by 20 points in the other direction. To put things in perspective, UMBC scored 53 points in the second half — one shy of how many Virginia scored in the entire game.

In a chaotic UMBC locker room after the game, players shouted: “All brackets gone! No perfect brackets! Put that in the news!”

Lyles scored 23 of his 28 points in the second half and the Retrievers cruised to an easy victory before racing off the floor together in their yellow-and-black uniforms, fingers pointed toward the ceiling.

“These are the moments that you dream of,” Lyles said. “It’s always exciting to make history.”

Chaminade’s 77-72 stunner over Ralph Sampson and then No. 1-ranked Cavaliers in 1982 in Hawaii was generally considered the most remarkable upset in college basketball. But that was the regular season.

This came when it mattered the most — in the NCAA tournament.

No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament were 135-0.

“Unbelievable — it’s really all you can say,” UMBC coach Ryan Odom said.

The Cavaliers couldn’t get anything generated on offense and the nation’s top-ranked defense couldn’t contain the American East Conference champions who won their conference tournament at the buzzer.

The 74 points were the most Virginia had allowed this year. And they played teams like Duke and North Carolina. Virginia had allowed just 54.3 points per game this season, the fewest in the nation.

UMBC shot 67.9 percent from the field in the second half and held Virginia to 42 percent after intermission.

“We got thoroughly outplayed and that’s the reality of it,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

Lyles was the catalyst.

He diced up Virginia’s defense in the second half, getting to the hole easily and making easy layups. He also knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as UMBC built a 16-point lead.

“I always let him play,” Odom said. “I never hold him back. When he gets going like that if breeds confidence in other guys.”

The game was tied at halftime, but the Retrievers came out confident and motivated in the second half and built a double-digit lead that Virginia could never erase.

Joe Sherburne, who had 14 points, was huge early in the second half and made believers out of everyone. He scored on an and-1 drive and then knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key after a behind-the-back pass from KJ Maura. After Virginia made a foul shot, the shifty 5-foot-8, 140-pound Maura drove the lane for uncontested layup.

A Tony Bennett timeout couldn’t stop the bleeding, as Lyles hit two more 3’s and Sherburne hit one more to extend UMBC’s lead to 14 with about 15 minutes left.

Arkel Lamer made a 3-pointer from the corner with 3 1/2 minutes left to put UMBC up by 17, then backpedaled down the court with his tongue hanging out. You knew history was coming.

Chants of “UMBC” echoed through the arena.

“We all wanted to be in the ‘One Shining Moment’ video,” Sherburne said.

It was yet another early exit for the Cavaliers in a season that seemed to hold so much promise. This was the fourth time in the last five seasons the Cavaliers have been either the No. 1 or 2 seed, but failed to reach the Final Four under Bennett.

Bennett said the Cavaliers had a historic season and then “a historic loss. That’s life.”

Instead of trying to chip away at the lead and pound the ball inside against the smaller Retrievers, Virginia repeatedly shot 3-pointers. Virginia missed 13 of its first 14 before getting hot for a brief stretch late in the game.

“Once we got down 8 or 10 we tried to make home run plays,” Virginia’s Kyle Guy said.

YES IT HAPPENED:

Virginia’s Ty Jerome, who had 15 points along with Guy, was asked if he was aware a No. 16 seed had never won in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think everyone is aware of that,” Jerome said. “Thanks for bringing that up again, but I was aware of it.”

ONE OTHER TIME

In 1998, the No. 16 seed Harvard women beat top-seeded Stanford on the Cardinal’s home floor.

UP NEXT

UMBC: Will face No. 9 seed Kansas State on Sunday in the second round.

Ganar es algo improbable para el tongano “con torso desnudo”, quien se clasificó para la justa de campo traviesa pese a haber comenzado a practicar este deporte hace menos de un año y pasado menos de 12 semanas de su vida en la nieve.

Taufatofua, de 34 años, dijo que su verdadera meta a largo plazo es inspirar a otras personas del Sur Pacífico a animarse a participar en las Olimpiadas. Hasta ahora él está haciendo un buen trabajo, como uno de los pocos atletas que compiten en los Juegos de Inverno y Verano.

“No ganaré el viernes, pero en cuatro años alguien de Tonga podría hacerlo, en ocho años alguien del Pacífico podría triunfar”, dijo Taufatofua. “Los chicos que están viendo esto ahora, ellos tendrán acceso a algo que nunca antes supieron que existía”.

A esta alturas probablemente uno ya haya escuchado – o al menos visto – de Taufatofua.

Se convirtió en una sensación televisiva y de internet en 2016, cuando salió sin camiseta a la ceremonia de apertura de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano en Río de Janeiro, sosteniendo la bandera de Tonga, con el pecho aceitado, mostrando su musculatura. Pero no le fue muy bien en la competencia de taekwondo en esos juegos. Perdió su primera pelea, 19-1.

Pero poco después de eso, el persistente Taufatofua decidió tratar de llegar a los Juegos de Invierno – pese a que nunca nieva donde él vive. Escogió esquí en campo traviesa porque dijo que era la competencia más difícil de las Olimpiadas y entrenó en patines en su casa y en Australia. Solo hace poco vio la nieve.

Se clasificó a los Juegos en una ubicación remota, sacrificando casi todos sus recursos económicos para hacer su sueño realidad.

Cuando llegó a Pyeongchang, dijo que no marcharía sin camiseta, pero cuando comenzó la ceremonia de apertura allí estaba, con el torso desnudo, sosteniendo la bandera de Tonga, pese a la gélida temperatura.

El público estalló en ovación.

“Si mis ancestros pudieron cruzar el océano Pacífico durante 1.000 años, sin saber dónde estaba la siguiente tierra firme, sin saber dónde iban a comer la próxima vez, yendo a la guerra, entonces yo puedo caminar durante 25 minutos durante una ceremonia de apertura sin una camiseta”, dijo. “Porque así es como ellos vivieron durante 1.000 años”.

The Hornets passed on a shooting guard to take Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky, graduated from Benet Academy in Lisle, with the ninth pick in the NBA draft Thursday night.

The 7-foot-1, 242-pound Kaminsky was The Associated Press Player of the Year this past season, leading the Badgers to a win over Kentucky in the Final Four before falling to Duke in the national championship game. He was the only Division I player to average at least 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists and 1.5 blocks for the season.

It marks the third straight year the Hornets have used their first pick on a power forward from the Big Ten.

They selected Indiana’s Cody Zeller and Noah Vonleh the last two seasons. The team traded Vonleh and veteran guard Gerald Henderson on Wednesday to Portland in a deal that brought Nicolas Batum to the Hornets.

Selecting Kaminsky was a surprise, particularly to a fan base which largely booed the pick.

The Hornets have been busy leading up to the draft, making three trades in the last 10 days in an effort to improve their outside shooting. The expectation was they would add another pure shooter after they finished last in the NBA in 3-point shooting in 2014-15.

However, they passed on Duke’s versatile guard Justise Winslow and Kentucky’s Devin Booker to take Kaminsky.

Kaminsky does shoot well for a big man, though. He averaged 18.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the Badgers while shooting 54.7 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from 3-point range.

Kaminsky is a fan of Hornets owner Michael Jordan, although he said he’s never met him.

“Michael Jordan is everything there,” Kaminsky said of Chicago. “He’s still is. I had all his posters on my wall. Space Jam’s my favorite movie. Crazy to think he thought highly enough of me to take me ninth in the draft. Grateful for the opportunity.”

Kaminsky played four seasons at Wisconsin and at 22 is one of the older players in this year’s draft.

“Having to go through some tough times in college really made me better,” Kaminsky said. “I had a great last year in college and it really propelled me in the NBA draft. Going top 10, that’s something I never thought I would be doing.”

In a twist, Kaminsky ended up with a franchise he took a veiled shot at during a post to his personal blog on May 1, 2014.

When Kaminsky announced his intent to return to Wisconsin for his senior season, he pointed to the attendance at Charlotte Bobcats games as an example of why the NBA appeared “boring” to him and why he wanted to stay in college for another season. The team hadn’t yet changed over to Hornets when he wrote the blog.

“I know the NBA has their crazy fans and all, but if you look at all of their games, there are games when teams like the Bobcats get hardly any fans, and it looks flat out boring,” Kaminsky wrote on his blog. “At the Kohl Center, we play in front of nearly 17,000 fans every single time we step onto the court. When we travel, we play in front of sell-out crowds who absolutely hate us. Not because of who is on the team, but because of where we go to school. Who could leave that?”

Kaminsky later deleted that blog.