Off the wire
GOLF
Ernst wins Drive On title
Austin Ernst won the Drive On Championship on Sunday for her third LPGA Tour title, pulling away to beat fellow former NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho by five strokes at Golden Ocala in Florida. Tied for the lead with Kupcho after each of the first two rounds and a stroke ahead entering the day,
Ernst closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 15-under 273. Kupcho, coming off a closing eagle Saturday, had a double bogey and three bogeys in a 74. Following sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda in the first two events of the year, Ernst gave the United States three consecutive victories to open a season for the first time since 2007. The 29-year-old former LSU star from South Carolina, showing her school spirit with a purple shirt, also won the 2014 Portland Classic and the 2020 NW Arkansas Championship. She won the NCAA title in 2011. With brother Drew,a former player at Coastal Carolina, working as her caddie, Ernst bird- ied Nos. 4-7 to get to 17 under, but dropped back with bogeys on Nos. 12 and 13. Kupcho is winless on the tour. The former Wake Forest star won the 2018 NCAA title and the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019.
Koepka out of Players
Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from The Players Championship this week with what his manager described as a strained right knee. Koepka won the Phoenix Open last month and was a runner-up in the Workday Championship last week. He has been saddled the last few years with injuries to his left knee, including a partially torn patella. His manager at Hambric Sports, Blake Smith, said Koepka would meet with doctors this week for a better evaluation and no further details. In the last two weeks, he has talked about soreness in his neck that at times makes it difficult for him to turn his head. Koepka was planning to play the Honda Classic the following week, and he had the Dell Match Play after that as the Masters on April 8-11 gets closer.
BASKETBALL
Griffin to sign with Nets
Blake Griffin has agreed to sign with the Brooklyn Nets, a person with knowledge of the details said Sunday. Griffin became a free agent Friday when the former All-Star completed a buyout agreement with the Detroit Pistons.
He cleared waivers Sunday and was eligible to sign with any team. He decided to join All-Stars Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden in Brooklyn, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because there was no announcement. The 31-year-old Griffin is a six-time All-Star who has averaged 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds since being the No. 1 pick in the 2009 draft.
BASEBALL
Pirates trade for RHP
The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired right-hander Duane Underwood Jr. in a trade with the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. Underwood, 26, went 1-0 with a 5.66 ERA in 17 games with Chicago during the pandemic-shortened season. He was designated for assignment on Tuesday. Underwood, a second-round pick in the 2012 amateur draft, is 1-1 with a 5.20 ERA in 30 career games. The Cubs received minor league first baseman Shendrik Apostel in the deal. The 20-year-old Apostel was signed by the Pirates out of Curaçao in July 2017.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Blachowicz, Nunes keep belts
Jan Blachowicz defended his UFC light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 on Saturday night in Las Vegas, thwarting Adesanya’s bid to hold two championship belts simultaneously. Aljamain Sterling also won the UFC’s bantamweight title when Petr Yan was disqualified for an illegal knee strike in the fourth round. Two-division champion Amanda Nunes then defended her featherweight belt with ease, beating Megan Anderson by submission 2:03 into the first round at the Apex gym on the UFC’s corporate campus. The 38-year-old Blachowicz (28-8) made his first title defense after weathering an impressive start by Adesanya (20-1). The much-anticipated slate of three title fights at UFC 259 got off to a bizarre start when Yan’s inexplicable rules violation handed the 135-pound title to Sterling. The fight was stopped with 31 seconds left in the fourth when Yan drove his knee into the face of Sterling, who was kneeling on the canvas in front of him. Mixed martial arts rules strictly prohibit such blows to a downed opponent, and the knee clearly hurt Sterling, who struggled and failed to get up for several minutes. The bout was called off by referee Mark Smith, who had verbally warned Yan not to throw such a strike a few seconds earlier. Sterling (20-3) appeared disoriented and disappointed when the belt was wrapped around his waist after a fight he appeared to be losing to Yan (15-2). Sterling threw the belt onto the canvas before he left the octagon.
TENNIS
Danish teen earns Lyon title
Danish teenager Clara Tauson clinched her first career title in style, beating Viktorija Golubic 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday to win the Lyon Open without dropping a set after coming through two qualifying rounds. The final between the two qualifiers was even until Tauson reeled off six consecutive games, after Golubic had broken back to trail 5-4 when Tauson served for the first set. The 18-year-old Tauson broke straight back to take it and was 5-0 up in the second when her Swiss opponent finally won another game. Tauson entered the final with a strong advantage in serve, too, with 25 aces compared to just one for Golubic, and she added seven more to make it 32 overall at the tournament.
Rublev wins at Rotterdam
Andrey Rublev won his fourth tour singles title in seven months as the Russian beat Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Sunday in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Rublev continued the form which has made him one of the top players in men’s tennis since play resumed amid the coronavirus pandemic last year. Since September he has won titles in Hamburg, St. Petersburg and Vienna, and was on the Russian team which won the non-ranking ATP Cup last month. Fucsovics pushed Rublev hard as the first set went with serve but faded after the tiebreaker and was broken in the opening game of the second set. The Hungarian said he had an “unbelievable” week after he came through qualifying in Rotterdam and was playing his seventh match in nine days. Rublev has won his last seven tour finals going back to the Kremlin Cup in Moscow in 2019 and has an 8-2 career record in finals.
Gauff advances in Dubai
Coco Gauff had trouble closing out and needed to save two match points before finally fending off Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (3), 2-6, 7-6 (8) on Sunday to advance to the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship. The 16-year-old American led 5-1 in the third set and twice had chances to serve out the match, holding four match points in the 10th game, but Alexandrova rallied to force a tiebreaker. Gauff then had to save match points in the tiebreaker before winning the last three points to finish off the match in 2 hours, 40 minutes. Gauff’s 17th birthday is next Saturday, the same day as the Dubai final.