Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Tiger adjusting to a new normal at spectator-free PGA Championship

Tiger Woods said the absence of an adoring and raucous crowd at the PGA Championship on Thursday was part of the “new normal” for the sport, which is holding its first major without any fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Woods, who is playing for just the second time since the PGA Tour returned to action in mid-June, shot an opening round 2-under 68 at an eerily quiet TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. Formula One champions Mercedes confirm Bottas for 2021

Valtteri Bottas will continue to race for Mercedes until at least the end of next season, the Formula One champions said on Thursday ahead of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. The news was expected, with Mercedes having made clear they intended to retain the 30-year-old Finn for a fifth successive season. Day grabs clubhouse lead, Koepka one back at PGA Championship

Former champion Jason Day held the early clubhouse lead at the PGA Championship on Thursday while Brooks Koepka got his bid for a three-peat off to a solid start and Tiger Woods found success with a new putter in the first major of the COVID-19 era. Australian Day, who had top-10 finishes in each of his last three starts on the PGA Tour, carded a bogey-free, five-under-par 65 at TPC Harding Park, where the absence of spectators due to the virus gave the event a unique feel. MLB: League tightens coronavirus guidelines after positive tests

Major League Baseball (MLB) has tightened its health and safety protocols in an attempt to salvage the season after a series of positive coronavirus tests in recent days, according to a memo from the league obtained by Reuters. Teams will have to reduce the size of travelling parties “to only personnel who are absolutely essential to playing games”, players and staff must wear face coverings at all times unless alone in their rooms, and in all parts of the ballpark – including dugouts – except for on the field of play. James not bothered about losing Trump as a viewer amid kneeling criticism

LeBron James has said he has no qualms about losing U.S. President Donald Trump as a viewer as the Los Angeles Lakers forward defended NBA players for kneeling in protest before games. NBA teams have been protesting against racial injustice before games, with players wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts, bowing their heads and kneeling when the U.S. national anthem is played. Murray, Clijsters receive U.S. Open wildcard entries

Former U.S. Open champions Andy Murray and Kim Clijsters each received wildcard entries to 2020 edition of the tournament, organisers said on Thursday. The tournament will take place in a quarantined setting from Aug. 31-Sept. 13 in New York. The Western & Southern Open, which was relocated from Cincinnati this year, will be held from Aug. 20-28 as a warm-up event for the Grand Slam. Koepka makes solid start in bid for PGA Championship three-peat

Brooks Koepka may have fallen just short in his bid for a U.S. Open three-peat last year but on Thursday the man who appears built for majors took another step towards a similar bold bid at the PGA Championship. Following his four-under-par 66 in the opening round at TPC Harding Park, two-times defending champion Koepka was asked if a win this week would carry any added significance considering Gary Woodland denied him a chance to complete a hat-trick of wins at the U.S. Open last year. Martic, Kontaveit dig deep to advance to Palermo quarter-finals

Top seed Petra Martic was forced to recover from a set down to beat Russian qualifier Liudmila Samsonova 5-7 6-4 6-2 to book her spot in the quarter-finals of the Palermo Ladies Open on Thursday. Samsonova, ranked more than 100 places below Martic, impressed in the opening set to break the Croatian and take the lead in the match but the 21-year-old soon discovered that beating a top 20 player was no easy task as Martic dug in. Olympic committees discuss eradicating abuse in Japanese sport after damning report

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has held discussions with his counterpart at the Japanese Olympic Committee about eradicating abuse within Japanese sport following a damning report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) last month. The HRW report found child athletes in Japan often suffer physical and verbal abuse and sometimes sexual abuse during training after documenting the experiences of over 800 athletes in 50 sports. NFL: Dozens of players positive for COVID-19 since training camps open, opt-out deadline passes

Fifty-six National Football League players have so far tested positive for COVID-19 since training camps opened to rookies July 21, according to players’ union data compiled through Wednesday. Camps opened for all players July 28, and the season is scheduled to kickoff Sept. 10 with health and safety measures in place designed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.