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April 17, 2023

RBC Heritage: Matt Fitzpatrick prevails in over Jordan Spieth in playoff to clinch second PGA Tour title | Golf News

Matt Fitzpatrick triumphed over reigning champion Jordan Spieth in a playoff; Fitzpatrick and Spieth finished level on 17-under-par following Sunday’s final round at Harbour Town Golf Links; last year’s runner-up Patrick Cantlay finished third two shots back on the lead duo

Last Updated: 17/04/23 12:43am

Matt Fitzpatrick of England celebrates with the RBC Heritage trophy in the Heritage Plaid tartan jacket after winning in a playoff

Matt Fitzpatrick overcame reigning champion Jordan Spieth in a tense playoff to clinch only his second PGA Tour title at the RBC Heritage.

The lead swapped between overnight leader Fitzpatrick and Spieth throughout Sunday’s final round, while their playing partner and 2022 runner-up Patrick Cantlay gradually fell out of contention and eventually finished third.

But for the second year in a row, the tournament went to a playoff with the lead duo finishing tied on 17-under-par and there was nothing to separate them over the first two extra holes either.

But a superb shot from the fairway to inches from the pin on the 18th saw the Englishman seize the advantage and with Spieth missing a 40-foot putt, Fitzpatrick stepped up to sink his for birdie and add to the US Open title he won last year.

Story of the round

Fitzpatrick became only the second English player to claim victory in this tournament, with Nick Faldo the other when he beat Tom Kite by one stroke back in 1984.

But this success resonated more on a personal level for the 28-year-old, who first visited this course at Hilton Head Island with his family at the age of six and always wanted to play.

“Of every single one on the calendar, this is the one I wanted to win the most,” Fitzpatrick told Sky Sports Golf. “I feel so far I’ve been very lucky in my career – I’ve won a major and now this.

Matt Fitzpatrick triumphed over Jordan Spieth on the third hole of a playoff at the RBC Heritage

“Obviously Jordan got off to a fast start doing Jordan Spieth things on hole No 1, so I just felt I had to be real patient. Certainly when I’ve played well, that’s a real strength of mine.

“To be a winner here, every year I’ve driven down the drive and you see the winners here and I’ve always thought ‘I want to be one of those’ – and here I am.”

Spieth had birdie putts to win the playoff on the first two holes, the 18th and then at the par-three 17th, and both missed by the slimmest of margins.

After firing an eight-under 63 on Saturday to take the 54-hole lead, Fitzpatrick closed with a 68 while playing with Spieth and Cantlay in the final threesome. Spieth held the outright lead during the back nine and finished with a 66, joining Fitzpatrick at 17-under 267.

Jordan Spieth missed two birdies putts in the playoff before falling to defeat at the hands of Matt Fitzpatrick

Cantlay and Spieth were tied for the lead at 16-under when they stepped to the tee at the par-four 13th. That hole marked a two-shot swing in Spieth’s favour.

While Cantlay missed the green and wound up two-putting for bogey, Spieth dialed in his approach to three-and-a-half feet of the cup for an easy birdie.

Both Spieth and Cantlay missed the green at the par-three 14th and faced a difficult chip onto a downhill-sloping green. While Spieth’s rolled to the edge of the green, Cantlay’s dribbled further, coming to rest on a wooden post that barely kept the ball from dropping into water below.

Cantlay managed to chip it from there onto the green and saved bogey, while Spieth also took bogey. Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, kept chipping away and clawed back level to force a playoff, victory in which not only secured the title but lifted him up to No 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking too.

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Patrick Cantlay produced a remarkable shot at the RBC Heritage, after his ball was left trapped in the wooden decking.

Cantlay birdied Nos 15 and 18 to bounce back to 16-under, while a late charge from Xander Schauffele (66 Sunday) saw him come home fourth at 15-under.

Sahith Theegala (65) and Hayden Buckley (67) tied for fifth at 14-under, and Brian Harman (67), South Korea’s Sungjae Im (67), Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (68) and Australia’s Cam Davis (68) finished 13-under in a tie for seventh.

What’s next?

The PGA Tour move on to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana, starting on Thursday, April 20. Watch all four rounds of the team stroke play event exclusively live on Sky Sports Golf, with coverage starting from 8pm on Thursday.

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April 9, 2023

Wave, not just the Padres, have chance to deliver major sports title to San Diego

The Padres have corporation as a San Diego sporting activities staff with a realistic chance to win a breakthrough title.

See: the San Diego Wave FC, who aren’t bashful about their intention to raise the trophy Nov. 11.

Some of you just rolled your eyes. Which is Ok. Two a long time in the past, who envisioned a women’s soccer crew would attract crowds of 16,000 to 32,000 to Mission Valley?

If Alex Morgan and her teammates had been to do well in winning the NWSL championship, area soccer aficionados would have their major San Diego victory to celebrate. The CBS telecast’s viewership right here undoubtedly would exceed the now strong in-person Wave crowds. Standing first in the world’s leading women’s soccer league would give the Wave a leg up on champions of U.S. men’s leagues that are enhancing but keep on being inferior to Europe’s leading circuits.

Recently, a couple significant women’s athletics events have rocketed into a new orbit. Will the flawed, 11-year-aged Countrywide Women’s Soccer League join the occasion? Which is to be decided, but the level that Padres General Supervisor A.J. Preller normally will make about young ballplayers’ careers — growth is usually not linear — appears at function.

Just take the NCAA championship women’s basketball activity previous week. LSU’s earn more than Iowa drew 9.9 million viewers. The previous mark: 5.7 million. That was just a person 12 months back.

Final summer time, 87,192 fans crammed Wembley Stadium to see England’s 2-1 soccer victory in excess of Germany in the UEFA Women’s Euro. The turnout blew earlier the file for a women’s global recreation in Europe. The telecast averaged 11 million viewers in the United Kingdom and peaked at 17 million. Both equally set British isles records for women’s soccer.

San Diego's crowd does the wave in an April 1 game against the NC Courage.

When a sport blasts past its specialized niche viewers, underlying influences are at operate. Patriotism can be rocket fuel. Other things may perhaps be a lot more delicate. Acquire 1 athlete’s partial explainer for the U.S. team’s ascent, pursuing Olympic and Women’s Planet Cup victories in 1996 and 1999.

“It was actually amazing just viewing soccer explode in this country,” former U.S. goalkeeper Briana Scurry explained to interviewer Olivia Christian in a retrospective. “But, it wasn’t just soccer that exploded in my impression. I believe it was potent females in standard. I know that my lifestyle and what I have accomplished in it has positively afflicted thousands and thousands.”

This summer’s Women’s Earth Cup will inject enthusiasm into the Wave’s time. Morgan figures to perform in every single match. Wave teammates Naomi Girma and Taylor Kornieck will attempt to sign up for her.

Decades ago, who would’ve forecast 1.12 billion individuals would watch a Women’s Entire world Cup, the FIFA-approximated viewing audience for the 2019 function in France?

Even if you don’t entirely belief any studies from FIFA (which is seldom a negative shift), the women’s ultimate drew 22 p.c a lot more viewers in the United States than the men’s 2018 Environment Cup ultimate performed amongst France and Croatia, for each Nielsen ratings.

The Wave (2-) will be challenged, of study course.

Can they continue to attract huge crowds to Mission Valley, wherever they are unbeaten in 5 matches?

Will they delight in frontline overall health like that which aided their 3rd-place finish very last calendar year?

Twenty formal matches stay, commencing with an April 15th showdown towards the OL Reign in Seattle. The title beloved is possibly the Portland Thorns. They edged the Wave in the 2022 semifinals and went on to get the title.

Somewhere else

Like most pitchers, hitter Xander Bogaerts was cautious of the Eco-friendly Monster.

“It truly does search like it’s extremely shut,” he claimed.

Bogaerts typically felt like he could touch the 37-foot, 2-inch wall situated 310 toes down the left-area line. It spooked him, the Eco-friendly Monster as hypnotizing as the ring in Lord of the Rings.

“It definitely can get you in a good deal of issues,” Bogaerts said. “Throughout the decades, I have experienced to find out to modify to that. Try not to often want to hit into the wall.”

The uncommon Padres hitter to say he basically welcomed relocating to Petco Park — it is his story and he’s sticking to it — Bogaerts surfed to a .409 batting regular in his initial San Diego house stand. The righty pulled a few property operates and had 3 doubles in the 6 game titles.

Idea: it is for the reason that Bogaerts can hit… .

From the Dept. of BeLabor: Joe Musgrove’s fractured toe and Yu Darvish’s WBC relief get the job done will reward the Padres this summer. They have fewer innings on their arms subsequent a demanding 2022. …

The knee injuries Saturday that felled Mallory Swanson, 24, will discomfort anyone in women’s soccer. No one in the activity was a lot more fascinating driving with the ball. As she tried a contested move to U.S teammate Morgan, the 5-foot-4 speedster dropped to the Austin, Texas turf. The U.S. was playing Ireland in a Globe Cup tuneup… . Swanson netted a penalty kick in the Wave’s home opener, for Chicago. …

Of the various players on San Diego State’s nationwide championship runner-up basketball group — yes, just a reality-confirming reminder, the Aztecs in truth completed next out of 363 teams — who has the finest shot at sticking in the NBA as a bench participant?

Solution: Lamont Butler. The effective guard can protect, create his shot, dish and strike the 3. At 21, Butler was more youthful than 7 teammates in Brian Dutcher‘s 9-man rotation. Even prior to The Shot, his stock was mounting.

Recommendation to local athletics chat-show producers: Give Ted Leitner the mic for an hour for each 7 days and enable him go. No friends will be wanted. If Bill Walton is agreeable, give them two several hours jointly.

January 9, 2023

Looking to turn chips into a ‘chip, TCU may alter sport with victory in College Football Playoff title game

LOS ANGELES — Johnny Hodges loves his chips.

“We’re a team full of chips,” the TCU linebacker said.

In Hodges shorthand, that translates to chips on shoulders. A cliché, sure, but an entree into the heart of the No. 3 Horned Frogs. They weren’t meant to be here in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

In fact, the last team in a similar position was BYU in 1984. Those Cougars are the most recent national champions coming from outside the current Power Five.

TCU as a member of the Big 12 is clearly a Power Five team these days, but it’s been a league-hopper over the last quarter century. When its ancestral Southwestern Conference broke up, TCU was passed over for Big 12 membership. From there followed a purgatory of stops in the WAC, Conference USA and Mountain West.

The desperate, little purple engine that could finally achieved its power conference brass ring when the Big 12 opened its doors to TCU in 2012.

There’s a reason why No. 1 Georgia is favored by almost two touchdowns, the largest line in CFP National Championship history. TCU is a long shot. If the Frogs win, they would defeat perhaps the best program in the sport. If the Bulldogs don’t already hold that mantle, Monday night could go a long way to building that narrative.

TCU is just trying to hang on, if you believe recruiting rankings. The Frogs have 17 blue-chip recruits on their roster, four of whom are transfers. The Dawgs have four times as many.

“You can’t overstate what they’ve done,” said former Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum, a College Football Hall of Fame member, of TCU. “They just stay after you. They’re not an ebb and flow type of team. They just stay the same all the time whether it’s going well or not. It’s hard to beat a team that won’t be beat.”

That explains the Frogs’ late-game comebacks. That explains TCU hanging 55 on Oklahoma. That explains running for 263 yards against a shocked Michigan. That explains why the TCU impact can’t be ignored.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark was skipping around Saturday at the CFP National Championship media day like his conference had already won. Yormark has already stated his intent of expanding the Big 12 out to the Pacific Time Zone. With USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten, TCU and Big 12 entered the L.A. market this week.

Sort of.

There is a niche community about 27 miles North of SoFi Stadium, the site of Monday’s game, called Frogtown. It is not a city unto itself but — as its website proclaims — “a progressive, pocket community … where socially conscious hipsters and multi-generation families cohabitate and call home.”

Frogtown is also the site of a Big 12 takeover this weekend. Really, that’s what they’re calling it: a “takeover.” There’s purple beer in the Frogtown brewery. There will be 200 free Frogtown tacos available at the Santa Monica Pier on Sunday.

Celebrity sneaker artist Kickstradomis is designing a Horned Frog-themed pair of kicks.

What’s this got to do with beating Georgia? You’re missing the point. Yormark is trying to take over the world, and the Frogs are his invading army.

“Think about where this conference was six months ago, 12 months ago, 18 months ago,” Yormark told CBS Sports. “It’s been a transformative moment. Obviously, this is a big validation.

“It also validates the composition and makeup of our conference. I’m sure there are people who were worried. What’s going to happen with Texas and Oklahoma out? No one is talking about that anymore.”

No, they’re not. This game may define the hopes and dreams of similar hopefuls once the CFP expands in 2024.

Slocum coached against TCU in the SWC multiple times during his career. He was also close friends with former Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes, father of current TCU coach Sonny Dykes. They were so close Sonny recalled coming home from high school baseball practice in West Texas seeing his father and Slocum enjoying an adult beverage in the afternoon.

Slocum has watched Sonny, who entered 2022 with only five winning seasons in 12 as a head coach, unlock greatness. Dykes has taken a roster assembled by former coach Gary Patterson to the brink of a championship.

What would it mean for TCU, the Big 12 and college football if TCU actually wins it all?

Las Vegas answered part of that question earlier this month when TCU was installed with the longest odds (16-1) to win the championship when the bracket debuted, according to Caesars Sportsbook. Those who had the foresight to bet $100 on the Frogs would cash $1,600 if TCU wins Monday night.

“It makes the statement again that no one has a lock on winning,” Slocum said. “Just because you have good players doesn’t mean you’re going to win. The challenge is to get those guys all together, all playing for each other. That gives encourage to a lot of schools out there that may not be at the top. It gives them hope.”

It would mean a lot of chips would be cashed. Hodges is one of 14 TCU transfers. Frustrated with himself and Navy, he was looking for a new home after last season. His dad took on the task of emailing each of the other 131 FBS programs. There were no takers.

“I couldn’t even watch a football game on weekends without feeling sick to my stomach knowing I had underachieved so much,” Hodges said. “I didn’t believe in myself. In life, you have to believe in yourself more than anyone. … But coming out of high school, I didn’t think I was good enough to play college football. I didn’t think I was good enough to play at a Power Five [program]. My dad did. He got me here.”

TCU defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie took notice because he had played against Navy while at Tulsa prior to being hired by Dykes. Hodges’ addition turned the defense into an opportunistic unit. TCU was outgained by Michigan last week (528-488), but the difference in the game may have been two pick sixes.

“We have a lot of guys on this team who are three-stars, two-stars that didn’t have many offers coming out of high school, so I feel like everybody already had a chip on their shoulder coming in,” said cornerback Tre’Vious Hodges-Tomlinson.

“It’s time to start taking us very serious. We’re not a joke.”

Not when Hodges-Tomlinson, the nephew of TCU great LaDanian Tomlinson, is the reigning Jim Thorpe Award winner as the nation’s best defensive back. Not when quarterback Max Duggan is a former state high school 200-meter champion. (It surprised everyone from Oklahoma to Michigan when Duggan led all Big 12 quarterbacks in rushing.) Not when Hodges went from no takers to leading TCU in tackles.

“The media wants the bluebloods to win,” Hodges said following the Michigan game. “They want the bluebloods to play each other. The schools are bigger — bigger fan bases. That’s what they want. For us, [it’s] to put ourselves on the map, earn some money and put some respect on your family name.”

That’s what is motivating Emari Demercado. In his sixth season, he has wound his way back home. Out of high school, his only FBS offers were from Army and Navy. That led him to start at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California. Once at TCU, he played down on the depth chart for most of his career.

When leading rusher Zach Evans transferred to Ole Miss, Demercado backed up workhorse Kendre Miller. Suddenly, as a central figure in Monday’s game, Demercado can’t find enough tickets for his family and friends to watch him play for the national title.

Despite growing up in nearby Inglewood, 5 minutes from SoFi Stadium, he has never stepped foot in the venue.

Life was sparse, not glorious. In high school, Demercado lived with a friend’s family because practice at Downey High School began at 5 a.m. In L.A. where a huge city is connected by vast tracks of highways — and traffic — it made sense.

“My mom had bought me a little ’97 Lexus,” Demercado said. “It was just optimum for me to stay with them.”

Prior to the Fiesta Bowl semifinal, Michigan had given up one 100-yard rushing performance all season (Chase Brown, Illinois). Demercado rumbled for a career-high 150 yards in a backup role after Miller was injured.

Oh, and in that sixth year, Demercado was able to get his master’s in business analytics.

“I grew up here,” Demercado said. “I had my whole childhood here. I leave and go to Texas and be able to finish my college career here. It’s almost like it’s scripted.”

Chips for everyone.