GOLF
Leishman wins Palmer
Marc Leishman of Australia holed a 50-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole to take the lead, and he stayed there with two tough pars to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Orlando, Fla., and earn a trip to the Masters. Leishman's pitch from 45 yards short of the 18th green rolled out to 3 feet, and he made the par putt for a 3-under 69. Kevin Kisner had a three-shot lead at the turn, but he didn't make a birdie over his final 11 holes. Rory McIlroy made a late charge and tied for the lead with a wild birdie around a tree and over the water on the 16th hole, only to 3-putt the final hole from 30 feet. It was the first Arnold Palmer Invitational since the death last September of the tournament host. David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) ended the tournament at 16-over 304 and earned $17,052.
Nordqvist prevails
Anna Nordqvist caught up with some college friends and left everyone else behind on another hot afternoon at the LPGA Founders Cup in Phoenix. The 29-year-old former Arizona State player shot a 4-under 68 on Sunday to hold off fellow major champions Ariya Jutanugarn, Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) and In Gee Chun by two strokes in record 96-degree heat at Desert Ridge. Nordqvist finished at 25-under 263, two strokes off the LPGA Tour record that Sei Young Kim matched last year at Desert Ridge. The 6-foot Swede had a tournament-record 61 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round. Jutanugarn and Lewis, who earned $105,329, also shot 68, and Chun had a 66. Nordqvist won her seventh LPGA Tour title and first since successfully defending the LPGA Classic title last June. In the U.S. Women's Open in July, she lost a three-hole playoff to Brittany Lang after being penalized for touching the sand with her club in a fairway bunker.
Lehman tops in Tucson
Tom Lehman took advantage of senior newcomer Steve Stricker's late mistakes Sunday to win the Tucson Conquistadores Classic for his 10th PGA Tour Champions victory. Two strokes behind Stricker with three holes to play, Lehman closed with two birdies and a par for a 7-under 66 and a one-stroke victory over playing partner Stricker. Stricker bogeyed the par-3 16th, matched Lehman with a birdie on the par-5 17th, and bogeyed the par-4 18th after hitting a 3-wood drive left into the water. Bernhard Langer broke the tour record for consecutive rounds under par at 32, shooting a 65 to finish third at 15 under. Fred Couples (70), Billy Andrade (70) and Gene Sauers (69) were 14 under. Glen Day (Little Rock) shot a 70 and finished at 7 under and earned $14,134.
TENNIS
Vesnina wins Open
Elena Vesnina defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., in an all-Russian final. Vesnina had never advanced beyond the third round in singles, although she has won the doubles title at the desert tournament three times. She beat No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber and No. 12 Venus Williams on her way to the final, the biggest of her career at age 30. Vesnina earned $1,175,505 for her third career singles title and will move up two spots to a career-high No. 13 in the world rankings today. The only other all-Russian women's final was in 2006, when Maria Sharapova beat Elena Dementieva. Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka met later in an all-Swiss men's final.
Djokovic withdraws
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the upcoming Miami Open because of a lingering right elbow injury. In a statement Sunday, Djokovic said the injury has bothered him for months and worsened in the past week. He beat Kei Nishikori in last year's final. Djokovic's most recent match was a loss to Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., on Wednesday. No. 1-ranked Andy Murray withdrew from the Miami Open on Saturday because of a right elbow injury. Eight-time champion Serena Williams will skip the tournament due to a left knee injury. Among those expected to play are Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams. The tournament begins Tuesday.
BASKETBALL
Naismith finalists
Villanova's Josh Hart, Kansas' Frank Mason III, Purdue's Caleb Swanigan and UCLA's Lonzo Ball are the finalists for the Naismith Trophy as the top player in men's college basketball. The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced the finalists Sunday. They were chosen by a national voting panel made up of journalists, current and former head coaches, former Naismith winners and conference commissioners. Fans are invited to help pick the winner. They can vote today through March 31 at naismithtrophy.com/vote. The fan vote will account for 5 percent of the total vote. The winner will be announced April 2.
Parsons' surgery set
Memphis Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons will undergo knee surgery today and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. The Grizzlies announced Sunday that Parsons will have a procedure to repair a partial tear of the medial meniscus in his left knee. Parsons signed a four-year, $94 million contract last summer as the Grizzlies' biggest free-agent acquisition. But he averaged just 6.2 points and played only 34 games this season.
while his minutes were limited because of knee problems. He didn't play more than 25 minutes in any game this season. The Grizzlies had announced last week that Parsons was out indefinitely because of the partial tear. Before this latest issue with his left knee, Parsons had undergone two surgeries on his right knee within the last two years.
MOTOR SPORTS
Newman gambles, stuns NASCAR field
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Newman gambled and skipped a tire-changing pit stop to move from seventh place to the lead and held on for the final two laps for a surprise victory in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series race.
Newman, 39, who broke a 127-race winless streak, held off Kyle Larson, the second-place finisher for the third consecutive race.
Kyle Busch, the leader for nearly all of the final stage of the race, was third on a day when the temperature soared to 97 degrees at Phoenix International Raceway.
Like nearly all the rest of the field, Larson and Busch went to the pits on the late caution caused when Joey Logano’s car blew a right tire and slammed into the wall six laps from the finish.
Newman, in his first victory since the 2013 Brickyard 400, gave Chevrolet its first victory of the season and ended a 112-race losing streak for Richard Childress Racing.
Once again, Logano’s misfortune foiled Busch. Last week Logano’s car knocked Busch’s into the wall on the final stretch in Las Vegas. That led Busch to storm down pit row and throw a punch at Logano, creating a scuffle with the crews and a meeting for the drivers with NASCAR officials on Friday.
Busch took the lead with a quick pit stop during a caution flag and led for 113 laps before heading to the pits after Logano’s crash.
The series of runner-up finishes gave Larson the Cup points lead, the first time Chip Ganassi Racing has led the points race this late in the season since 2002.
Larson, with two new tires on his Chevrolet, came out of the late pit stop with two new tires ahead of Childress’ Toyota and had the best chance to catch Newman. But he couldn’t find a way to get around the veteran.
Logano won the first stage and Chase Elliott the second in NASCAR’s new three-stage racing system.
Elliott dominated the second stage but lost the lead after Matt Kenseth, like Logano, blew a right front tire and slammed into the wall on the 193rd lap of the 314-lap race. In the ensuing pit stop, Busch got out quicker than Elliott to take the lead.
Blown tires were a common sight on the hot pavement.
Sports on 03/20/2017