GOLF
Golf’s most fickle tournament delivered its usual dose of oddities Wednesday in the Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin, Texas, including the fortunes of Maverick McNealy.
The last man to get in the 64-man field, he was the first to close out his match.
McNealy, who only got into his first World Golf Championship when Sam Burns decided to withdraw after his victory Sunday at Innisbrook, tied for the third-shortest match in tournament history with an 8-and-6 rout over Riviera winner Joaquin Niemann.
“I was home last week, really hoping I’d get the chance to play, preparing like I was going to get a chance to play,” McNealy said. “And had a nice round today, for sure.”
He was 4 under through seven holes and already 5 up against Niemann, and McNealy closed him out on the 12th hole when the Chilean conceded his 18-foot birdie putt.
It technically wasn’t the shortest match of the day. No one had an easier time than Corey Conners, who played only two holes when Paul Casey had back spasms and conceded the match. Casey remained in the Match Play, hopeful of playing his next two matches.
Six of the top eight seeds won their first match, and Patrick Cantlay earned a halve against Keith Mitchell when both missed birdie putts in the 10-foot range on the final hole. The exception was Justin Thomas, who made only one birdie after the opening hole and lost, 3 and 2, to Luke List, who had a 1-5 record in this tournament.
Wins and losses were secondary to the bizarre circumstances of a sprinkler head.
Thomas Pieters of Belgium hit a long pitch that ran down the slope of the 13th green and was headed for the water when it settled in a sprinkler head. That looked like a good break except that his ball was touching the red paint of the hazard line, so no relief was given.
All he could do was whack at with a sand wedge in frustration – Tom Hoge already had made a birdie – though it had a happy ending when Pieters won the match.
An hour later, Bryson DeChambeau was in the spot – and he was given a free drop.
A change in the ruling can only happen in this format because it’s not players against the entire field, rather players going head-to-head. Each match is its own tournament.
Chief referee Gary Young said the red paint is supposed to go around the sprinklers. In this case, it touched the side. Once officials realized the problem, they went to redo the paint. He said the crew was on its way when DeChambeau’s chip landed in the same sprinkler hole.
The official was instructed to provide relief.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right. To make the correction before Bryson’s match got there was important,” Young said.
DeChambeau, playing for the first time since Feb. 4 at the Saudi International because of injuries to his left hand and left hip, wound up halving his match with Richard Bland. It was hardly a thing of beauty. Five holes were halved with bogeys.
“I know I can play golf. That’s first and foremost,” DeChambeau said to Golf Channel. “I don’t have to one-hand it all day. Although I was very cautious. There was a lot of drives out there I felt really bad because it’s not going the places I want it to go just because I’m not confident with how my wrist will go through it. That will get ironed out over time.”
His match wasn’t the only pillow fight.
Jordan Spieth halved a hole after hitting his tee shot into the water on the 13th, only because Keegan Bradley’s chip from behind the green went into the water.
Spieth took his first lead on the par-5 16th when Bradley’s second shot caromed off a hill and went out-of-bounds.
But it was a win for Spieth, just as it was for Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland, neither of whom were thrilled with how they played except for the outcome.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 5 seed, had reason to be happy for getting past Ian Poulter, a match play wizard, for the second time in as many years. He took down Poulter in 14 holes in the fourth round a year ago on his way to reaching the championship match. This one went to the 17th, a match in which only three holes were halved.
“I was the technically the highest seed versus the lowest seed in my group today, but if you looked at like gambling odds I’m sure they probably weren’t a crazy disparity on who was supposed to win that match,” Scheffler said. “You never really know what’s going to happen in this tournament so I don’t think the seeding is too important.”
Kevin Kisner, who has won the Match Play and been runner-up, had no trouble against Marc Leishman, winning his 17th match at Austin Country Club, the most of anyone.
The round-robin format among the 16 four-man groups resumes Thursday and Friday, with the winner from each group advancing to the knockout stage on the weekend.
TENNIS
MIAMI OPEN: Naomi Osaka was greeted by some cheers when she walked onto the court, then got significantly louder ones when her work for the day was done.
Maybe the comforts of home helped.
Flashing the level of play that vaulted her to No. 1 in the world not too long ago, Osaka had little trouble in defeating Astra Sharma of Australia 6-3, 6-4 on the first full day of play at the Miami Open at Miami Gardens, Florida.
Osaka is Japanese-born, calls California home now, but spent much of her youth in South Florida, basically just a few miles north of where the Miami Open is now held.
“I kind of consider this like my home tournament,” Osaka said, before her words got drowned out by more cheers and applause from fans. “This is the tournament that I loved coming to once a year. I’m just really happy to be back out here.”
It was Osaka’s first match since a March 12 loss at Indian Wells, when she was rattled by a derogatory shout from a spectator. If any similar thoughts were expressed by the fans who were watching Wednesday in a largely empty stadium court built over the field where the NFL’s Miami Dolphins play football, they either were ignored or unnoticed.
“Honestly, for me, I just didn’t want to let anything bother me today no matter what happened,” Osaka said. “The last match that I played was not the greatest memory for me.”
Osaka will next face No. 13 seed Angelique Kerber in the second round. Kerber, like all 32 seeds in the 96-player singles field, had a bye out of the first round.
SOCCER
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: The British government will allow Chelsea to sell some tickets again after easing the terms of its sanctioning license, meaning Real Madrid supporters can attend the quarterfinal at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea had been banned from selling tickets after owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned last month for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the ongoing invasion on Ukraine.
The club is also now allowed to receive 30 million pounds ($40 million) from its parent company, Fordstam, to provide cash to meet costs.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: Russia is launching a bid to host the 2028 event in a challenge to the British Isles entry or against Italy for the 2032 edition, despite its teams being suspended from international competitions over the war in Ukraine.
BETTING
NEW JERSEY: BetMGM took less than $100 worth of bets last year on New Jersey college basketball games that weren’t supposed to be wagered on. Now, it will pay a $25,000 fine.
State law prohibits betting on New Jersey college teams, as well as on any collegiate game played in New Jersey – even if they feature teams from other states.
That same law is preventing fans of Jersey City-based Saint Peter’s University from betting legally on their Cinderella team’s Sweet 16 game Friday.
New Jersey voters had a chance to change this law last November, but overwhelmingly defeated a referendum that would have allowed such bets.
FIGURE SKATING
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: The U.S. pairs team of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier took the lead after the short program in France, where the majority of Olympic figure skating medalists are absent because of the ban on Russian athletes from international competition.
Knierim and Frazier scored a personal-best 76.88 to lead American teammates Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc by just over a point entering Thursday’s free skate. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan were in third place.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
UKRAINE: Undefeated Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov has withdrawn from his upcoming title defense to stay in his native Ukraine.
Bellator says the 28-year-old Amosov is fighting in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia last month. Amosov will not be available to take on Michael “Venom” Page on May 13 in the main event of Bellator 281 at the OVO Arena Wembley in London.
DOPING
FRANCE: Twenty-six people were arrested in relation to a suspected doping ring in horse racing, prosecutors in France said.
The Bordeaux prosecutor’s office said those arrested on Tuesday were racehorse trainers and owners, doctors and pharmacists.
Of those arrested, 25 were in France and another person was in another country in the European Union that couldn’t be disclosed, the prosecutor’s office said.
SWIMMING
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Russian and Belarusian swimmers were banned from competing because of the war in Ukraine.
The sport’s governing body, known as FINA, had broken with most other organizations by continuing to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete, though as “neutral athletes” without national symbols.
“Following the review of an independent risk assessment, the FINA Bureau met today and confirmed that athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus will not take part (in the world championships),” FINA said.
The event, which will be held in Hungary in June and July, includes swimming, diving, water polo and artistic swimming.
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