Rory McIlroy fired a seven-under 65 in the third round of the DP World Tour Championships on Saturday and was one stroke adrift of surprise leader Andy Sullivan, who sunk a nerveless late birdie to edge ahead.
The British pair were due to play together in yesterday’s concluding round after Sullivan’s 68 gave the 28-year-old an aggregate score of 200 to McIlroy’s 201 at the European Tour’s season finale.
Patrick Reed of the US (68) was on 203, while Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (71) and South Korea’s An Byeong-hun (66) were both a stroke further back.
“I’m very satisfied. I hit the ball fantastically well from tee to green,” McIlroy, 26, told reporters.
Sullivan had begun the day on 12-under, one stroke ahead of Grillo and four clear of the world No. 3 McIlroy.
That meant Sullivan was last to tee off. McIlroy started two groups ahead of him and the Northern Irishman exerted some immediate pressure, making a 10-foot birdie on the first and picking up further shots at two and four.
Sullivan, famed for playing with a smile, looked serious on the first tee as he waited to start.
Course conditions were tough and the only respite from the sweltering heat was a sporadic, swirling, blustery wind.
Sullivan sunk a three-foot birdie on the second hole, but fluffed the chance to pick up another stroke at the third, missing from 10 feet.
Worse was to follow on four when a simple putt lipped out for a bogey, as McIlroy’s charge seemed to inhibit the usually ebullient Englishman.
Yet an eight-foot birdie at five and another on seven put Sullivan ahead again.
McIlroy was often sublime, picking up further shots at seven and 10, while the four-time major winner followed a bogey on 12 with three successive birdies.
Sullivan was unbowed, though, also birdying 15. He picked up another shot on 17 with a 20-footer that had him cupping his ears to acknowledge the roar of his boisterous fans, the self-proclaimed Sully Army.
McIlroy erred on the 18th, rolling a simple birdie chance wide, while Sullivan puffed out his cheeks in relief after later making a tricky par putt on the same green.
“If I keep putting the way I am and hitting the ball well, I can still do it,” Sullivan said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite