Matt Every leads Greenbrier Classic; Phil Mickelson misses cut

Matt Every shot an eight-under 62 on Friday for a one-stroke lead over five other players midway through the Greenbrier Classic at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Every is at nine under for the tournament, one stroke in front of Russell Henley (65), Bill Lunde (66), Daniel Summerhays (67), Steven Bowditch (67) and first-round co-leader Johnson Wagner (70).

Four others are two shots behind at seven under. Ben Curtis and Greg Owen each shot 66, Jonas Blixt had a 67 and first-round co-leader Tommy Gainey a 71.

Phil Mickelson shot a 68 and finished the first two rounds at two over to miss the cut, which was at one under.

It marked the first time in his career that Mickelson missed three consecutive cuts at one tournament. Mickelson blamed his lackluster showings at the Greenbrier Classic on estimating distances with his iron shots. “They end up not just a yard or two off from where I figure, but they’re 10 or 12 yards off from where I figure,” he said.

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Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay shot a three-under 68 to lead by one stroke after the second round of the French Open at Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines.

Zanotti made four birdies and a bogey for a six-under total of 136. Ranked 391st in the world, the Paraguayan has three runner-up finishes in his career and finished 40th at last year’s French Open.

Richard Sterne (69) of South Africa and Danish golfers Thomas Bjorn (69) and Soren Kjeldsen (68) were a shot back in a tie for second.

Graeme McDowell (69) of Northern Ireland, Stephen Gallacher (70) of Scotland and English golfers Simon Dyson (68) and Graeme Storm (68) are two shots off the pace.

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Matt Kenseth pulled away from traffic on the final restart of Friday night’s Nationwide Series race, cruising to a comfortable win at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway.

The race was on pace to be one of the fastest in Daytona history until a late accident brought out a red-flag stoppage that lasted nearly 10 minutes.

There were only two laps remaining when the race resumed and Kenseth paired up with defending Truck Series champion James Buescher on the restart. The two easily broke away from the pack, leaving everyone else racing for third place.

Kenseth and Buescher weren’t challenged to the finish, with Kenseth taking the win and Buescher finishing second.

Third went to Elliott Sadler, who picked up a $100,000 bonus from series sponsor Nationwide as the highest finishing driver in the “Dash 4 Cash” program. Kurt Busch finished fourth.

Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kenseth swept the front row for Saturday night’s NASCAR race at Daytona.

Busch turned a lap at 193.723 mph in Friday qualifying to win the pole. Kenseth was second at 193.299.

Clint Bowyer qualified second and Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. was fifth as Toyota drivers took four of the first five spots. Kasey Kahne wedged his Chevrolet in at fourth.

Paul Menard was sixth in a Chevrolet, and MWR co-owner Michael Waltrip was seventh in another Toyota. Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson was eighth, followed by Greg Biffle in the highest-qualifying Ford.

Danica Patrick rounded out the top 10.

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A person familiar with negotiations confirmed that the Tampa Bay Lightning have agreed to sign free-agent forward Valtteri Filppula to a five-year, $25-million contract.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Lightning had not announced the deal Friday.

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The Phoenix Coyotes added much-needed skill at the start of the free agency period on Friday, signing forward Mike Ribeiro to a four-year, $22-million contract.

Phoenix also signed free agent goalie Thomas Greiss to serve as a backup to Mike Smith and re-signed unrestricted free agent forward Kyle Chipchura to a multiyear deal. Forward Lauri Korpikoski and defenseman Michael Stone, both restricted free agents, signed multiyear deals as well.

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The Nashville Predators added forwards Viktor Stalberg, Matt Cullen, Matt Hendricks and Eric Nystrom. The Predators also signed goaltender Carter Hutton to a one-year, two-way contract worth $550,000 at the NHL level and $100,000 at the AHL level.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets made a major move to shore up their lagging offense by signing free-agent right wing Nathan Horton away from the Boston Bruins.

The 28-year-old playoff-hardened forward, who visited Columbus earlier this week, signed a seven-year deal worth $37.1 million — with $30 million of that coming in the first five years.

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The San Jose Sharks re-signed restricted free-agent forward Tyler Kennedy to a two-year contract, re-signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Scott Hannan to a one-year deal and announcing a five-year contract with star center Logan Couture.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tyler Bozak agreed to a $21-million, five-year contract extension.

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