GOLF

So Mi Lee shot a 6-under 66 after getting into the field less than two hours before her tee time and took a two-shot lead Thursday after the opening round of the Mizuho Americas Open, which got off to a surprising start with the withdrawal of defending champion Rose Zhang because of illness after three holes.

Withdrawals were one of the stories of the first round. Besides Zhang, who was coming off a win in the Cognizant Founders Cup last weekend, Maja Stark of Sweden and Caroline Masson of Germany also withdrew because of illness.

Lee, 25, of South Korea replaced Stark and Mao Saigo, 22, of Japan got Masson’s spot. They are right at the top of the leaderboard.

A five-time winner on the Korean LPGA tour, Lee had eight birdies and two bogeys in her round on the Liberty National course in the shadow of New York City.

Saigo had five birdies and a bogey, in finishing tied for second with three other players with 68s.

Also at 4 under were rookie Gabriela Ruffels of Australia, American Andrea Lee and Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines.

OLYMPICS

MEN’S BASKETBALL: With Victor Wembanyama as the focal point, France Coach Vincent Collet announced an extended list of 19 players for his preliminary roster for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Fresh off winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award, the 7-foot-3 Wembanyama will bolster France’s medal aspirations alongside key players like Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier.

At the Olympics, France will be in Group B alongside Germany, Japan, and the winner of an upcoming qualifying tournament.

SOCCER

MLS:  Lionel Messi’s annualized pay from his Major League Soccer contract with Inter Miami is just over $20.4 million in his first full season, exceeding the payrolls of all but three other teams in the league.

Messi joined Inter Miami last summer and has a base salary of $10.4 million and annualized compensation of $20,446,667, the MLS Players Association said  in its first salary release of 2024.

Those figures cover what Messi receives from his MLS deal, which runs through the 2025 season, including any marketing bonus and agent’s fees. They do not account for any additional agreements with the team or its affiliates, or for any performance bonuses.

Messi, who turns 37 next month, has 10 goals this season, one shy of the MLS lead.

Miami leads the league with a $41.7 million payroll, double all but Toronto ($31.4 million) and Chicago ($25.1 million). Nashville’s roster, at $21.4 million, also earns more than Messi.

• Nashville SC has fired Gary Smith, the only head coach in franchise history.

The club announced the decision, describing the move only as Smith’s “departure,” along with assistant coach Steve Guppy. He is the first MLS coach to be fired this season.

Former Nashville player and current player development coach Rumba Munthali will serve as interim head coach starting with Saturday’s game against Atlanta United.

Nashville improved to 3-4-5 this season with Wednesday night’s 2-0 win over Toronto FC, when Smith was booed during pregame introductions.

TENNIS

ITALIAN OPEN: Tommy Paul beat ninth-ranked Hubert Hurkacz 7-5, 3-6, 6-3  to reach the semifinals at Rome and follow up his straight-set victory over defending champion Daniil Medvedev two days earlier.

In the semifinals on Friday, the 16th-ranked Paul will face Nicolas Jarry, who rallied past Monte Carlo Masters champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

The other semifinal match will feature 2017 Rome champion Alexander Zverev against Alejandro Tabilo, who eliminated top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the third round.

In the women’s semifinals, top-ranked Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 11 matches with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff.

Swiatek, who is attempting to complete the “dirt double” by winning the Madrid Open and Italian Open back-to-back, will face second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Sabalenka beat Danielle Collins 7-5, 6-2 to hand the retiring American only her second loss since early March.

FOOTBALL

CFL: Suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly said he will withdraw from training camp and hopes to “learn, grow and better myself” through counseling after his suspension by the league.

Kelly released a statement through his agent, Chris Lambiris, announcing his decision.

The CFL suspended Kelly for at least nine regular-season games on May 7 following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength and conditioning coach against both the player and club.

Kelly is also suspended for Toronto’s two preseason games for violating its gender-based violence policy.

He will be required to undergo confidential assessments by an independent expert and attend mandatory counseling sessions conducted by a gender-based violence expert.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: To accommodate much larger crowds, the Atlanta Dream are moving their two regular-season home games against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever to the home of the NBA Hawks.

The Dream’s regular venue, 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena near the city’s airport, is the smallest in the WNBA. The Hawks play downtown at State Farm Arena, which can hold more than 17,000.

Atlanta is scheduled to host the Fever on June 21 and Aug. 26. Those games will feature the last three No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA draft: Clark and her teammate Aliyah Boston. as well as Dream star Rhyne Howard.

• Every WNBA team will start using charter flights to travel to games by May 21.

The league made the announcement, following through on plans to commit $50 million over the next two years to provide full-time charter flight service for its teams during the season.

HOCKEY

PWHL: Claire Butorac scored early in the second overtime to give Minnesota a 1-0 win over Toronto on Wednesday night to force a decisive fifth game in the semifinal series.

It was the fourth-straight shutout in the series but the first to go into overtime. The home team has won each game with Game 5 back in Toronto on Friday.

The winner between top-seeded Toronto and fourth-seed Minnesota will face third-seeded Boston for the inaugural PWHL championship. Boston swept Montreal with three overtime wins.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Canada eased past Norway 4-1 for its fourth straight win at Prague after not allowing a single shot on goal in the first two periods.

The United States scored four goals in the opening period to cruise to a 5-0 victory over France, and Sweden maintained a perfect record by beating Kazakstan and Austria stunned Finland.

Canada took a two-goal lead after Brandon Tanev scored in the first period from close range and Andrew Mangiapane doubled the advantage in the second..

Matt Boldy scored two goals and added an assist for the Americans against France. Brock Nelson had a goal and two assists, Johnny Gaudreau added a goal and an assist and Shane Pinto also scored.