PGA TOUR
Hughes maintains RSM lead
Canadian rookie Mackenzie Hughes on Saturday overcame a back nine triple-bogey with a trio of birdies for a 68 that gave him a one-stroke lead heading into the final round of the RSM Classic in St Simons, Georgia. Hughes recovered with birdies on the 13th, 15th and 16th holes to reach 16-under at the par-70 Seaside Course and push past fellow rookie Pan Cheng-tsung of Taiwan (67) and veterans Camilo Villegas (64) and Billy Horschel (65). The 25-year-old Canadian, who has led since his opening round 61, was three ahead of the field when he floundered in a fairway bunker on the par-four 11th. Hughes, facing a nasty lie, failed to get out of the sand and came out weakly with his next shot. His approach left him about 60 feet from the cup and he three-putted for seven. Pan temporarily assumed the lead with a pair of birdies as Hughes triple-bogeyed, but dropped a shot with a bogey at 13 after a poor tee shot.
LPGA TOUR
Hull secures one-stroke lead
England’s Charley Hull on Saturday made the most of moving day at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, firing a 66 to vault from five off the pace to a one-shot lead heading into yesterday’s final round in Naples, Florida. The 20-year-old from Kettering, still seeking her first LPGA Tour title, collected six birdies in a bogey-free round to stand at 13-under-par at Tiburon Golf Club. One shot back were South Korea’s Ryu So-yeon (69) and the US’ Brittany Lincicome (66), a single stroke ahead of a group of five that included Player of the Year rivals Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand. Jutanugarn, 20, fired a seven-under 65 to catch up with Ko (73), whose 10-under 62 had lifted her into the lead at the 36-hole stage. Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung of the US was tied for 53rd place on two-over after a 71.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Dubuisson takes Dubai lead
Victor Dubuisson on Saturday showed why he is considered one of the finest young talents in golf, conjuring up a magical eight-under-par 64 to go one shot clear in the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. Dubuisson’s third round featured an eagle and seven birdies on a day when play was delayed 50 minutes because of fog. Dubuisson, with a 13-under-par total of 203, headed into the final round chased by English duo Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton, and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts. Fitzpatrick and Colsaerts shot 66 each and Hatton 67 to reach 12-under-par. In the other battle that is going on concurrently with the season-ending championship — for the Race to Dubai honors — Sweden’s Henrik Stenson fought back with five birdies in his last seven holes after being three-over on the 12th tee. Stenson’s 70 took him to five-under-par for the tournament, just two shots behind the third-ranked Alex Noren (69).
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Jordan Spieth wins playoff
World No. 5 Jordan Spieth yesterday drained a 12-foot birdie putt to win the Australian Open for the second time after a three-way sudden death playoff at Royal Sydney. The American, winner of the Stonehaven Cup in 2014, finished on 12-under-par for the tournament after a three-under 69 to join Australian clubhouse leaders Ashley Hall and Cameron Smith, who both shot final round 66s. Replaying the par-four 18th hole, Hall landed his approach shot closest, but was unable to nail his birdie putt, while a 35-foot putt also proved too long for Smith.
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