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. Murray wants assurance on quarantine issues before U.S. Open

Players need assurance that they would not face mandatory quarantine upon returning to Europe from the U.S. Open before travelling to New York amid the COVID-19 pandemic, former world number one Andy Murray has said. Organisers United States Tennis Association (USTA) will set up a strict bio-security ‘bubble’ to minimise the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus during the Grand Slam, which will be played from Aug. 31-Sept. 13. 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. 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. Patriots’ McCourty slams league for attempt to change opt-out deadline

New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty said it is an “absolute joke” that the National Football League (NFL) was looking to bring forward a deadline for players to opt out of the upcoming season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under an agreement approved by the league and the players’ union last month, players have the choice to opt out. 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. Report: NBA tweaks COVID-19 protocol amid glitches

The NBA has tweaked its COVID-19 protocol to allow players to return sooner from inconclusive test results, ESPN reported Monday. Citing a league memo, ESPN reports that the NBA has reduced the waiting period from 48 to 24 hours for players who return an inconclusive result, which is happening at a rate of five of every 1,000. 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.