Mickelson secures victory in his Champions debut

Phil Mickelson chose to make his PGA Tour Champions debut at Ozarks National this week so he could avoid a two-week break right in the middle of his preparations for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

If he was going to show up, Mickelson thought, he might as well win.

He closed with a 5-under 66 on Wednesday in Ridgedale, Mo., to reach 22 under, leaving him three shots clear of Tim Petrovic. The wire-to-wire victory made Mickelson the 20th player to win on the 50-and-over-tour in his debut, not to mention gave him some much-needed confidence after a missed cut at the Northern Trust knocked him from the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

"I really enjoyed playing here, enjoyed seeing the guys again, and they were so accommodating and fun, and it was just fun for me to compete," said Mickelson, who plans to take 10 days off before heading to the Safeway Open for what he hopes is his final U.S. Open prep. "I got to shoot scores and compete. The competition here was really strong."

Mickelson made the turn at 23 under and put the 54-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour Champions in danger. David Frost shot 25 under at the 2010 3M Championship.

• Tiger Woods is unveiling his first public golf course design with an exhibition that will be the closest golf gets to a Ryder Cup match this year.

The Payne's Valley Cup will be played Sept. 22, the Tuesday after the U.S. Open, at Payne's Valley Golf Course at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale.

Nate McMillan won dozens of regular-season games despite the Indiana Pacers' continual injuries.

The playoff losses cost him his job: On Wednesday, two days after enduring a second straight first-round sweep, President of Basketball Pperations Kevin Pritchard fired McMillan.

"This was a very hard decision for us to make; but we feel it's in the best interest of the organization to move in a different direction," said Pritchard, whose relationship with McMillan dates to their earlier days in Portland.

The decision was a surprise, given Pritchard's Aug. 12 announcement that McMillan had been given a one-year contract extension through the 2021-22 season. At the time, Pritchard cited McMillan's ability to overcome major injuries — like the one that kept Victor Oladipo out for 12 months — and personnel changes, such as the trade of All-Star forward Paul George.

While McMillan's 183 victories with Indiana rank third in the franchise's NBA history and the Pacers made the playoffs in each of his four seasons as head coach, McMillan's teams went just 3-16 in the postseason and were swept three times.

The delay comes two days after N.C. State paused all athletic activities. The school didn't specify which programs were impacted when it announced a cluster of 27 positive cases tied to athletics. Spokesman Fred Demarest tweeted Monday there had been 22 positives among athletes, coaches and staff in the most recent round of 693 tests.

N.C. State has announced numerous coronavirus clusters in the past week after students returned to campus, including at sorority or fraternity houses as well as on-campus residence halls and off-campus apartments.

• The pandemic that has altered the upcoming season will also change the way the weekly coaches' poll published by USA Today is conducted. Teams not playing this fall will not be eligible for the coaches' poll once the season begins — a decision echoing that of the Associated Press for its Top 25.

Soccer: Chelsea signed England left back Ben Chilwell from Premier League rival Leicester on Wednesday in its latest big-money transfer ahead of the new season. Chilwell moved for a reported fee of $65 million. Chelsea has already signed Germany striker Timo Werner from Leipzig and winger Hakim Ziyech from Ajax. … Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has filed an appeal against his conviction for assault and attempted bribery of a police officer, the Premier League club said. Maguire was handed a 21-month suspended sentence Tuesday following his arrest after a brawl last week on the Greek island of Mykonos.

Tennis: Juan Martin del Potro had surgery on his right knee, the third operation for the 2009 U.S. Open champion since getting injured two years ago. It's the latest in a series of health issues that sidetracked del Potro's career. … Kei Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open runner-up, said he tested negative for COVID-19 after having two positive tests but still decided to withdraw from the Grand Slam tournament that begins next week.