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. Warren fuels third-quarter surge to lift Pacers past Wizards

T.J. Warren recorded a game-high 34 points as the Indiana Pacers scored 22 of the final 24 points in the third quarter to pull away from the Washington Wizards in a 111-100 victory on Monday afternoon near Orlando. Malcolm Brogdon chipped in with 20 points, seven rebounds and a team-high six assists for the Pacers (41-26), who have won both their games since the restart of the NBA season. WTA Tour returns with Palermo Open to mark new normal amid pandemic

Nearly five months after the sport was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Donna Vekic became the first player to win a main draw match in the COVID-19 era, beating Arantxa Rus 6-1 6-2 in the first round of the Palermo Ladies Open on Monday. The claycourt event in Sicily marked the return of the WTA Tour which last held a tournament in March as the sport looks to limp back to a semblance of normality, albeit with strict guidelines in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. 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. Raptors edge Heat behind VanVleet’s career-high 36

Fred VanVleet scored a career-high 36 points, leading the Toronto Raptors to a 107-103 win over the Miami Heat on Monday afternoon in an NBA restart game near Orlando. VanVleet, an undrafted fourth-year pro from Wichita State, made 8-of-16 from the floor, including 7-of-12 on 3-pointers, and 13-of-13 free throws. He also had five rebounds and four assists, and his seven 3-pointers set a career record. 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. 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.