Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Athletics: Duplantis, Lavillenie settle for tie in garden pole vault challenge

Former Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie of France and Sweden's world record holder Mondo Duplantis shared the spoils in the Ultimate Garden Clash, despite competing in locations 8,000km apart during the COVID-19 lockdown. Along with American Sam Kendricks, the trio attempted to vault 5m as many times as they could in 30 minutes in a format they devised together, connected via a live video link streamed to fans on the social media channels of World Athletics. NFL: League on track for full season starting on September 10

The National Football League (NFL), the only major American sporting league so far largely unaffected by the coronavirus outbreak, says it is on course to begin its season on time in September. "We plan announcing late next week the full regular season schedule that begins with Kickoff on September 10 and culminates with the Super Bowl in Tampa February 7, 2021," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email to Reuters. Fritz, Rae win glitchy Mario Tennis charity tournament

American tennis player Taylor Fritz and his doubles partner, Tik Tok personality Addison Rae, won the virtual Stay At Home Slam on Sunday as real-life tennis remains on hold because of the coronavirus crisis. The likes of the Williams sisters, Japanese stars Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori and the recently retired Maria Sharapova competed as their favourite characters from the world of Nintendo to raise money for charity. Singles only and don't shake on it: Austrians return to the tennis court

Austria's loosened lockdown means tennis players can return to the court as long as they stick to coronavirus-related rules - singles only, no touching each other's tennis balls, and definitely no shaking hands at the net. Tennis is one of several social-distancing-compatible sports the conservative-led government allowed to resume from May 1, part of a second wave of lockdown easing. Others include golf, horse riding, archery, shooting and mini golf. On this day: Born May 4, 1989: Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer

The North of Ireland Amateur Open in 2005 was not an event expected to produce much glamour, but a 16-year-old Rory McIlroy was dressed to impress. His snow-white turtleneck and pants were underlined by a pink belt as well as a pink stripe running across his back. NHL: Georges Laraque hospitalized with COVID-19: 'It's the worst thing ever'

Former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque, who is in a Quebec hospital after contracting COVID-19, said his condition was steadily improving but that people needed to take the respiratory disease seriously. In a series of videos posted over the weekend, the 43-year-old Montreal native said he was training for a marathon and delivering food to the elderly when he fell ill. Ex-MLB All-Star Keough dies at 64

Former All-Star pitcher Matt Keough died Saturday of undisclosed causes. He was 64. He had been serving as a special assistant with the Oakland Athletics, who announced his death. PGA Championship venue Harding Park reopening on Monday

The Harding Park golf course which is scheduled to host the PGA Championship in August will reopen on Monday. The course closed seven weeks ago due to a local "shelter in place" order in San Francisco over coronavirus concerns. Trudeau: NHL players likely subject to quarantine

Should the NHL restart its 2019-20 season, players on Canadian teams who have been out of the country likely would need to quarantine before they can rejoin their teammates, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday. "I think it's a question we'll have to look into," Trudeau said in a press briefing. "Certainly at a strict minimum, anyone who arrives from another country will have to follow all the rules of quarantine in an extremely strict manner, but we're not there yet in our discussions with the NHL." Froome unsure if Tour de France organisers can prevent mass gatherings

Britain's four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome is unsure if the organisers can fully prevent large crowds from gathering at the race that was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tour, scheduled to start on June 27, was pushed back to Aug. 29 due to the outbreak. Mass gatherings have been banned in France until September, with the country recording more than 168,000 coronavirus cases and over 24,000 deaths.