R.G.'s Weekly Sports ReCap: Saturday 8/10 - Friday 8/16

Notable happenings in the sports world this past week:

Men's Pro Golf: American Jason Dufner won his first major title at the PGA Championship, and for the fifth year in a row, world No.1 Tiger Woods fails to win his 15th career major championship.

NASCAR: Kyle Busch took the checkered flag at the Watkins Glen NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

MLB: New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez connected on his first home run of the season off our Detroit Tigers All-Star ace Justin Verlander in a 5-4 victory at home in the Bronx....The vastly underachieving Philadelphia Phillies fired the franchise's all-time winningest manager - 69-year-old Charlie Manuel. Manuel will be replaced on an interim basis by third base coach/Baseball Hall-of-Famer Ryne Sandberg for the remainder of the season....The league announced that it will further expand instant replay for the team's managers on all plays besides balls and strikes for the 2014 season.

Pro Tennis: Reigning Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli of France, 28, retired from the sport due to injuries that have taken a toll on her body over the past few years. Bartoli leaves as the No.7-ranked women's player in the world....No. 1-ranked Serena Williams won her eighth title of 2K13 - and the 54th WTA championship of her career - defeating Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the Rogers Cup final. On the men's side, Spaniard Rafael Nadal also won singles title #8 of the year - the 58th championship of his incredible career - besting Canadian Milos Raonic for Rogers Cup supremacy.

NBA: The Minnesota Timberwolves re-sign center Nikola Pekovic to a five-year, $60M contract extension. Pek averaged 16 points and nine rebounds in 62 games played last season.

WNBA: Players of the Week (Monday 8/5 through Sunday 8/11).....Eastern Conference - F Elena Delle Donne, Chicago Sky; Western Conference - F Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx.

 

Track and Field: Usain Bolt of Jamaica (9.77) edged out USA's Justin Gatlin (9.85) to win the gold medal in the 100M sprint at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia. In other notable events, USA's Ashton Eaton took the gold in the Decathlon with a total of 8,809 points, and Brittany Reese of USA captured gold in the Women's Long Jump competition.

Wrestling: 29-year-old WWE superstar Darren Young comes out of the closet to reveal that he is homosexual - the first wrestler in history to do so.

NHL: Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris purchases the financially struggling New Jersey Devils franchise for $320M.