Charl Schwartzel secured his first victory in the US since the 2011 US Masters by beating Bill Haas in a playoff at the Valspar Championship in Florida on Sunday.
South African Schwartzel came from five shots behind in the final round to card a four-under 67 before beating Haas with a tap-in par at the first extra hole.
While the win is likely to boost Schwartzel’s confidence going into next month’s Masters, world No. 1 Jordan Spieth has some work to do as he tunes up for his title defense at Augusta National in Georgia.
Spieth carded a 73 on Sunday to tie for 18th on even par. He was outplayed by 22-year-old amateur Lee McCoy, who shot 69 to finish fourth.
Schwartzel turned up the heat on the leaders after the turn.
Schwartzel and overnight leader Haas (72) finished regulation at seven-under, two strokes ahead of Ryan Moore on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor.
Haas then made a mess of the playoff hole, the par-four 18th, hitting a poor shot from a greenside bunker that afforded Schwartzel the luxury of two-putting for victory.
Schwartzel’s victory was his third in his past six starts after winning twice in European Tour events back home. It was his 15th professional victory worldwide, but just his second on the PGA Tour after his Augusta triumph five years ago.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was