The deal allows the two sides to avoid arbitration, carries an average annual value of $6.5 million and keeps the 24-year-old under contract through the 2029-30 season.

Drysdale secured a long-term deal after his best NHL season. He scored a career-high eight goals (three game-winners) and tied his personal best with 32 points over 78 games in 2025-26, ranking second among Philadelphia defensemen in scoring.

"Since we acquired him, Jamie has worked extremely hard and taken big steps in his development," general manager Daniel Briere said. "We believe his best hockey is still ahead of him, and he's going to play an important role in strengthening our blue line as we continue to build."

Drysdale's teammates selected him as the recipient of the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to Philadelphia's most improved player.

Philadelphia acquired Drysdale and a 2025 second-round draft pick from the Anaheim Ducks in January 2024 in exchange for forward Cutter Gauthier. The Toronto native was originally selected sixth overall by Anaheim in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Drysdale has registered 25 goals and 77 assists in 295 career games with the Ducks and Flyers. He reached 100 career points during the past season, becoming the third-fastest defenseman from his draft class to hit the milestone.

Clements played the back nine first at Puntacana Resort and Club, and after birdieing Nos. 10 and 12 he converted nine pars in a row. He sank consecutive 7-footers for birdie at Nos. 4 and 5, tapped in another at the par-5 seventh and finished with a flourish at the par-3 ninth, holing a 21-foot putt from the back of the green.

At 13-under 131, Clements has a slight edge over Ben James (66), Gordon Sargent (67) and Johannes Veerman (67). Spaniard Alejandro Del Rey (68) is alone in fifth at 10 under.

"This game's crazy," said Clements, who was a co-leader after 18 holes. "I feel like my short game's been up and down this year. I kind of have some good weeks -- good days and bad days and I felt yesterday wasn't such a good day around the green. Then just worked on a couple bits, spoke to my coach and yeah, kind of figured a little bit out and hit some much better shots today."

Clements said his usual caddie was injured, so he had to hire a local caddie just an hour before his second-round tee time. He did not specify what kind of injury his caddie sustained.

"That kind of changed the routine of things, but out there taking ownership of everything I do kind of paid off today," Clements said.

The 29-year-old normally plays on the DP World Tour in Europe and is in position for his first PGA Tour victory at the alternate event being played opposite the Open Championship.

He'll have to fend off a couple of 23-year-olds who are among the top players at their age. James turned pro this summer and Sargent did so last year following decorated college careers.

James is making his fifth start as a professional and has made the cut every time. In his pro debut, he led the RBC Canadian Open after 36 holes, shooting a second-round 63 before posting a 78 on Saturday and finishing tied for 54th.

James said he didn't foresee such good results so early.

"But as I played, you know, I had the lead the first week and after three (more starts), now I'm coming out here to win, but we'll see," James said. "I've been playing nice and that's just all I want to do is play two more nice rounds."

Both he and Sargent posted bogey-free second rounds.

"Trying to make it as simple as possible, honestly," Sargent said. I think it's easy to try and do too much out here. Yeah, just going to play golf. You have so many opportunities this year playing 20-something events, so it's like not putting too much pressure on yourself and just execute the shots you can."

The fourth-most recent driver to earn checkers on the 5/8th-mile speedway? Dale Earnhardt.

Not Dale Earnhardt Jr., who never raced the Nos. 8 or 88 in a points race at the legendary facility, but his legendary father.

In the final race before the track gates were locked in October 1996, Jeff Gordon won after Hendrick teammate Terry Labonte did five months earlier. Before that, it was Mark Martin and Earnhardt, with the latter comfortably beating Gordon by nearly 13 1/2 seconds.

That's a strong foursome of Hall of Famers.

Returning to the Cup schedule after three decades, NWS will host its first points-paying race in Sunday night's Window World 450 in North Wilkesboro, N.C.

Earnhardt Jr. was instrumental in bringing the downhill-uphill track back to life in December 2019 when he wanted to clean it and scan it for the iRacing platform before the bullring just crumbled.

Then he contacted Marcus Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., about bringing the track the Staley family owned for nearly half a century back to life.

"I'm looking around and thinking, ‘This track is too far gone,'" Earnhardt Jr. said in 2023 of the cleanup project that involved mowing and weed-eating.

Less than four years after that restoration began, NASCAR awarded the track the 2023 All-Star Race, which Kyle Larson dominated by lapping half of the 24-car field and beating runner-up Bubba Wallace by almost five seconds.

Joey Logano claimed the exhibition race in 2024, one remembered more for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch throwing fists behind the haulers. Christopher Bell was victorious last season.

Once ruined, the speedway has been transformed by a roots revival decades after it hosted its first event -- a dirt race in 1947, before NASCAR was born.

The two-time Cup champ Larson is carrying the burden of an 0-for-44 slump, while Bell and Chris Buescher are also winless in 2026.

"Nobody knows what to expect going into North Wilkesboro with a full field and twice as long of a race," said Bell, who last won at Bristol in September. "The track's going to take a ton of rubber, and it's going to change tremendously from the start of the race to the end of the race.

"The racing on track is going to be wild. I can't imagine having a full field at North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time in 30 years; it's going to be something you don't want to miss."

Buescher said many factors will determine the first winner of a points race since Gordon's triumph 30 years ago.

"It's going to be a wild one. Pit road's tight, that's going to be a tricky part of it," said Buescher, seventh in the standings. "But it's such a cool racetrack with so much character, so much history to it."

The league revealed that Gold disclosed inside information regarding Arizona's 2026 draft picks prior to their announcement. Additionally, investigators discovered he took part in parlays involving NFL and college football games.

Gold's suspension took effect immediately, though he is permitted to appeal the discipline.

NFL rules prohibit league and club employees from betting on sports, assisting others with wagers or providing information that is not available to the public.

"Although there is no reason to believe the integrity of any NFL game was affected," the NFL said in a statement, "the league takes any violation of the gambling policy with the utmost seriousness."

The league said its investigation included interviews and a review of electronic records. It found no evidence that any Cardinals player, coach or other employee knew about or participated in Gold's actions. There was also no indication that a play or game had been compromised.

Arizona said it cooperated fully with the investigation and supported the NFL's decision. In a statement, the team characterized the matter as involving one employee and said its attention remains on training camp and preparations for the 2026 season.

Gold was entering his 13th year with the organization and his second as director of college scouting. He was promoted to the position in June 2025 after three seasons as Arizona's assistant director of college scouting. He previously spent four years as the team's college scouting coordinator.

The NFL did not disclose who received the draft information or provide a timetable for when Gold could seek reinstatement.

Following a 4-8 campaign last year that featured 70 newcomers, including 40 portal players, this year's squad has just 20 players from the portal.

Speaking to the media on Friday at ACC media days in Charlotte, Belichick said the difference between this year's squad and last year's is "night and day."

"Overall as a football team, our culture, our program, our ability to operate as a team is much higher than it was a year ago," he told ESPN, "and our talent level is higher."

Belichick was not hired until Dec. 11, 2024, making it extremely difficult to recruit high school players for the 2025 season. This year, of the 40 incoming freshmen, 31 enrolled early.

After the spring portal last year, players moved around and it was much more difficult for programs to develop chemistry. The spring portal has since been eliminated by an NCAA vote.

"We had so many new players coming in that had never even been in spring ball," Belichick said. "At least most of our players now have been in spring ball. ... So we're way ahead."

"We've had the same team the whole year," receiver Jordan Shipp said. "We didn't get 40 guys in December. All of them leaving and get another 50 in May. So I mean, just being able to have the same team for the whole offseason ... that's what's going to really separate us from last year, being able to build that chemistry."

For the second straight season, North Carolina will open against TCU, which handed Belichick and the Tar Heels a 48-14 loss to kick off his tenure on a sour note. This year the game will be in Ireland in Week 0 and will give UNC a strong idea where it stands in 2026.

"It'll definitely be a challenge for us," Belichick said. "They do a good job. It's the overall team competitiveness and toughness that TCU has. That's really what you got to be ready for."

--Pitt's Narduzzi accuses Miami of tampering with Heintschel

Along with revealing that he reached out to Duke head coach Manny Diaz before Miami's pursuit of All-ACC quarterback Darian Mensah, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said the Hurricanes tried to tamper with his star freshman QB Mason Heintschel.

"Miami tried to get Mason (Heintschel) Thursday before (the portal closed the following day), and we were able to hang on to him and shut them down," Narduzzi told The Athletic. "Shoot, I talked to Manny that Thursday afternoon and said, ‘Hey, watch out. I hear he's going for your guy next.' And sure enough, they stole him."

Diaz, on the other hand, was not as accusatory regarding Miami's pursuit of Mensah.

"It's an unanswerable question because ultimately what it came down to, and this is why it was never an issue for us, is you can only say what you can prove," Diaz said. "So to me it doesn't matter. And that's why our issue was never with any other school. The school was very consistent."

--Diaz: Duke deserved CFP bid in 2025

Duke head coach Manny Diaz had some choice words for those who did not believe the Blue Devils should have been in the ACC title game last year.

"I heard we made the news. I heard we got a rule named after us," Diaz said regarding the new conference tiebreaker system the ACC unveiled this week. "It's pretty cool, right? The Duke tiebreaker rule.

"I just want to start my remarks by addressing our thoughts on that. Inherent in the narrative of changing a tiebreaker for the conference championship game is the assertion that last year's team was undeserved of being in the championship game. You hear that word, that now there will be more deserved teams in the championship game.

"I want to push back against that narrative. I think it's not just false, I think it's insulting."

Miami, which made it all the way to the national championship game before losing to undefeated Indiana, was left out of the ACC title game, which saw Duke beat Virginia for its first conference championship.

Regarding the ACC's new tiebreaker formula for its title game, a team's "body of work" and head-to-head results will determine which teams will play for the crown. That "body of work" will be determined by the Team Success Ranking from SportSource Analytics, which the CFP also uses.

--SMU's Lashlee feels Duke belonged in CFP

Along with congratulating Duke on its ACC conference championship, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said Friday that the Blue Devils deserved to make last year's College Football Playoff over James Madison.

James Madison, which won the Sun Belt championship and was ranked No. 24, joined No. 20 Tulane (which won the American Conference championship) in the CFP. In the previous CFP formula, the five highest-rated conference champs received automatic berths, so Duke -- which had five losses and was not ranked in the CFP standings -- was left on the outside looking in.

"When you win the ACC the way they did, and who they beat, they should have been in instead of a team from the Sun Belt," Lashlee said of Duke. "Hopefully, things get learned, and that doesn't happen again. We should have been a two-bid league."

This season, the champions of four power conferences (ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12) will receive automatic berths, along with the highest-rated team from a Group of 6 conference (American, MAC, Pac-12, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Conference USA).

The game has been rescheduled for Saturday as part of a split doubleheader. The rescheduled contest is slated to begin at 1:10 p.m. ET and the regularly scheduled game will be pushed back to 7:10 p.m., three hours after initially scheduled.

The air quality in Cleveland was poor on Friday due to smoke coming from Canadian wildfires.

Cleveland right-hander Gavin Williams (10-4, 3.81 ERA) and Pittsburgh righty Jared Jones (1-1, 4.37) were the scheduled Friday starters and figure to be slotted into Saturday's pitching plans.

All-Star right-hander Braxton Ashcraft (9-3, 3.49) of the Pirates and left-hander Joey Cantillo (8-4, 3.56) are listed as the starters for Saturday's second game.

Manager Aaron Boone could have left-handed ace Max Fried back in the rotation by the trade deadline and Aaron Judge might not be far behind.

Fried was the starter Friday night for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, his first in-game action since he was placed on the injured list with a bone bruise after an outing May 13.

Fried was on a pitch count "in the low 50s" on Friday, Boone said. He's already scheduled for at least one more start at Triple-A next week before the Yankees reassess his status.

There is less clarity around the return of Judge (rib) and another big bat, Giancarlo Stanton, who has resumed running but has no timetable for advancing to baseball workouts.

Judge was told to pause riding a stationary bike but has the green light to walk on a treadmill with a slight incline. He's not ready to take batting practice or resume even stationary baseball activities.

He said Friday the latest imaging of his fractured rib on his right side showed "some improvement," but he isn't cleared for workouts due to the risk of re-injury.

"We're not there yet. We'll just continue to wait, let it heal," Boone said. "I feel good about the fact that he'll be back. It's just a matter of when.

"Obviously we all want Aaron Judge back in the lineup. As I've said we have a lot of capable players. We finished the (first) half on a high note. We have to continue to play well and hopefully win ballgames knowing that at some point he'll join us."

Judge, a three-time American League MVP, has 17 homers and 38 RBIs in 59 games.

Sidelined since April 24 when Stanton hurt his calf against the Houston Astros, he's not expected to be in the lineup this week. He has played only 24 games this season with three homers and 14 RBI. His current injured list stint is his seventh since joining the Yankees ahead of the 2018 season.

Boone said the Yankees are being patient with two other injured arms. Left-hander Carlos Rodon threw a 10-pitch bullpen session on Friday to provide the Yankees a live check of his progress recovering from inflammation in his left elbow.

Right-hander Clarke Schmidt is a potential discussion for August, Boone said. He's recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. The Yankees scheduled Schmidt to throw against live hitting for the first time since the 2025 elbow surgery.

A popular but divisive figure in the world of golf, the member of LIV Golf originally posted a 4-under 66 to take second place at 7 under, one shot behind Australia's Lucas Herbert. Now, DeChambeau will enter the weekend three behind Herbert instead of one, his bogey 5 at the fifth hole changed to a triple-bogey 7.

DeChambeau hit his drive at the par-4 fifth hole far right and eventually found the ball in a native area. Replays showed the two-time major winner stamping down on different patches of tall grass near his ball. It may have affected not the lie of the ball, but the path for his eventual swing.

After news broke that officials were considering a two-stroke penalty, DeChambeau went back to the scene on the fifth hole with his caddie and two rules officials to discuss the sequence of events. U.S. TV cameras captured a discussion several minutes long, and at points DeChambeau could be seen gesticulating and getting animated.

More than an hour after his round ended, the R&A, who organize The Open, finalized their official decision, his new score being reflected on the leaderboard online.

Neither the R&A nor DeChambeau or his representatives had commented as of 4:35 p.m. ET.

Masataka Yoshida and Carlos Narvaez each homered as part of three-hit days for the Red Sox, who banged out 15 hits en route to their 10th consecutive victory dating back to July 3.

Yoshida (3-for-5) added a double and finished a triple shy of a cycle, while Narvaez and Caleb Durbin were both 3-for-4.

Bennett (5-3) allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out three. He has won four straight outings.

Alec Gamboa went the rest of the way, allowing just two hits over the final three innings for a save.

The Red Sox quickly bounced back from going down 1-2-3 to start the game against Tampa Bay starter Griffin Jax (5-7), as back-to-back hits by Durbin and Yoshida led to second-inning runs. Jarren Duran drove in the opening run on a sacrifice fly before Narvaez dropped an RBI single into center for a 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Bennett threw 3 1/3 no-hit innings before Junior Caminero's one-out single in the fourth. Jonathan Aranda was Tampa Bay's lone baserunner before that knock, drawing a one-out walk as the second batter of the game.

In the fourth, Yoshida tucked a leadoff solo homer around Pesky's Pole in right field to extend the Boston advantage to 3-0.

The first six Red Sox batters reached base and five scored in the sixth. Durbin was hit by a pitch, Yoshida singled to center and Romy Gonzalez walked to load the bases, and then Duran continued the merry-go-round by chopping a two-run single through the right side.

After Chris Roycroft relieved Jax, Narvaez and Tsung-Che Cheng laid down back-to-back bunt singles that produced runs. Catcher Nick Fortes' throwing error on Narvaez's chopper plated another.

Roycroft did induce a double play ball, but two more runs came home with two outs, as Ceddanne Rafaela battled through a nine-pitch at-bat for an RBI double off the Green Monster and Durbin knocked another RBI single to right after Wilyer Abreu was intentionally walked.

In the eighth, Gamboa -- who was recalled as Boston's 26th man for the twin bill -- worked around a Taylor Walls one-out double as only the second Tampa Bay hit before Narvaez socked a solo homer over everything in left field to move the Boston lead to double digits.

The Red Sox took their last at-bats with position player Ben Williamson pitching for the Rays.

Rahm hit his tee shot with an iron and immediately could see the ball was going off to the left. The Spaniard then threw the club into the ground and it took a big bounce before landing.

Rahm was reportedly informed of the warning by tournament officials as he approached the 17th hole at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England.

A second offense this weekend could result in a two-stroke penalty.

Rahm shot 3-under 67 on Friday and is 4 under for the tournament. He was part of a large tie for eighth place when he completed a round that consisted of six birdies and three bogeys.