Reuters Sports News Summary

Daly cites health concerns for skipping PGA Championship Two-time major winner John Daly said on Monday that concerns about his health amid the COVID-19 pandemic had prompted his decision to withdraw from this week's PGA Championship.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Justin Thomas confident he can hold onto No. 1 this time

Justin Thomas got a taste of being the No. 1 ranked golf in the word when he was only 25 years old. That was in 2018, when he spent four weeks atop the official world golf rankings. It has taken two years to get back to that perch as Thomas leapfrogged Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy for No. 1 with his victory at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational on Sunday. NBA roundup: Lakers clinch top seed with win over Jazz

Anthony Davis scored 42 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Monday, and the Los Angeles Lakers clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a 116-108 victory over the Utah Jazz at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando. LeBron James contributed 22 points and nine assists, and Dwight Howard added 11 points as the Lakers improved to 2-1 in restart games, rebounding from a loss to the defending champion Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Daly cites health concerns for skipping PGA Championship

Two-time major winner John Daly said on Monday that concerns about his health amid the COVID-19 pandemic had prompted his decision to withdraw from this week's PGA Championship. Daly, known as "Wild Thing" during his heyday on the PGA Tour, withdrew on Sunday from the Aug. 6-9 event, one of golf's four majors, which will be played at San Francisco's TPC Harding Park without spectators. Budenholzer, Donovan share NBCA Coach of the Year award

The National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) named the Milwaukee Bucks' Mike Budenholzer and Oklahoma City Thunder's Billy Donovan as co-coaches of the year on Monday. The award is based on votes from each of the NBA's 30 head coaches. Voting for this year was based on games played up until the suspension of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11. Cardinals-Tigers series postponed due to COVID-19 positives; Jeter calls for 'empathy'

Seven players and six staff members from the St. Louis Cardinals have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last week, Major League Baseball (MLB) said on Monday, forcing the postponement of the team's series against the Detroit Tigers this week. The series in Detroit, which was set to run through Thursday, is the latest set of games disrupted by the coronavirus, as the league scrambles to keep its already-shortened season on track less than two weeks after it began. USOPC financial picture looking grim as brace for COVID-19 hit

The United States Olympic Paralympic Committee (USOPC) opened its books on Monday offering a bleak 2019 financial picture that is only likely to get worse when the full COVID-19 impact is felt in next year's report. The USOPC 2019 tax return showed it spent $54 million more than it generated in revenue last year, which in a non-Olympic year is not alarming. MLB roundup: Braves fall to Mets, lose Soroka for season

New York ace Jacob deGrom picked up his first victory on Monday as the visiting Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-2 to end their five-game losing streak. DeGrom, the two-time defending Cy Young winner, worked six innings and allowed two runs on five hits and one walk. He struck out a season-high 10 batters, the 42nd time in his career he's had double-digit strikeouts. Only Nolan Ryan (46) had more through his first 173 career games than deGrom. Rose still hungry and raring to go after turning 40

Justin Rose says turning 40 last week gave him the opportunity to "press the reset button" after a disappointing year and the Briton is looking forward to challenging for seven majors over the next 11 months. Rose, who won the U.S. Open in 2013 and the Olympic gold three years later, has not won a tournament in the last 18 months and heads into the PGA Championship at Harding Park on Thursday hoping to turn things around. Criminal proceedings against Infantino grotesque and absurd, says FIFA

Global soccer body FIFA has described the decision by Swiss authorities to open criminal proceedings against its president Gianni Infantino last week as grotesque and absurd. Swiss authorities said on Thursday that proceedings had been launched against the current FIFA boss by a special prosecutor looking into meetings he had with Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber. Lauber and Infantino have already denied wrongdoing. Players must decide by Thursday whether to opt out of season

National Football League (NFL) players have until 4 p.m. ET on Thursday to decide whether they will opt out of the new season, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to Reuters on Monday. The NFL's 2020 campaign kicks off on Sept. 10, with enhanced measures in place to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, but numerous players have already chosen to opt out citing safety concerns.

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