Friday’s Sports In Brief – The Washington Post

In a joint statement Friday night, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the Heat said the news regarding FTX was “extremely disappointing.”

FTX entered into a number of sports-related deals, including with Mercedes for Formula One racing and a sponsorship deal with Major League Baseball — whose umpires wear the company’s logo. Earlier Friday, Mercedes said it would immediately remove FTX logos from its Formula One cars.

Some of the top athletes in the world also had FTX deals, including Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

The Indiana Fever earned the first pick in the WNBA draft for the first time in franchise history on Friday.

The Fever had a 44% chance to get the No. 1 pick after having the worst combined record the past two seasons. The Minnesota Lynx will pick second with the Atlanta Dream having the third pick and the Washington Mystics the fourth. The Lynx had the lowest chance to get the No. 1 pick, but moved up two spots in the draft lottery.

South Carolina’s star Aliyah Boston is expected to be the top pick in the draft. With seniors still having the option of coming back for a fifth season because of the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no guarantee they will make themselves eligible for April’s draft.

It’s been a busy offseason for the Fever, who had the the No. 2 pick last season and chose NaLyssa Smith. Indiana, which hasn’t made the postseason since Tamika Catchings retired in 2016, hired Christie Sides as its new coach last week. The Fever have five players from last year’s draft on their roster, including Smith.

PHOENIX — PGA Tour Champions points leader Steven Alker shot his second straight bogey-free round at the Charles Schwab Championship on Friday, a 7-under 64 that gave him a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington.

Alker made seven birdies at Phoenix Country Club to reach 13 under through two rounds, keeping him comfortably in front of the only player who can overtake him for the Schwab Cup. Harrington also shot 64 and was 12 under, but needs to win and have Alker finish outside the top five to win the PGA Tour Champions season championship.

Retief Goosen shot 64 and was tied for third at 10 under with Brian Gay, who shot 65.

Bernhard Langer closed with a bogey on the reachable par-5 18th to shoot 69. He’s at six back at 7 under in his bid to match Hale Irwin’s record of 45 senior tour wins.

Alker had to make a 15-foot par putt on No. 17 to preserve a bogey-free 65 to tie for the lead in the opening round, but spent most of a…