MacIntyre battles world No. 1 Johnson to a draw
AUSTIN, TEXAS » Bob MacIntyre grew up playing the rough-and-tumble Scottish sport of shinty, and he had more than enough fight to give Dustin Johnson all he could handle Thursday in the Dell Technologies Match Play.
Johnson had to rally late with an eagle and a clutch birdie to send the match to the final hole, where both players missed birdie chances and settled for a tie.
Justin Thomas, the No. 2 seed, fell behind big on the front nine for the second straight day and couldn’t catch up. Thomas made a strong rally against defending champion Kevin Kisner before losing on the 17th hole.
Hanyu domnates
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN » The faceoff between Yuzuru Hanyu and Nathan Chen was no contest. Japan’s Hanyu, looking every bit the champion of the sport, won the short program at the World Figure Skating Championships, distancing himself from Chen when the American fell on his opening quadruple lutz while Hanyu was sheer perfection.
Hanyu has been the sport’s biggest attraction for two Olympic cycles, each of which ended with him wearing a gold medal. He showed why in a short program packed with difficulty, style, artistry and a ton of energy.
Oklahoma coach Kruger retires
OKLAHOMA CITY » Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger announced his retirement, ending a 35year Division I college head coaching career that included taking five schools to the NCAA Tournament — with two of them reaching the Final Four — and more than 650 career wins.
Kruger, 68, led Florida to the national semifinals in 1994 and Oklahoma to the same spot in 2016. He is the only coach to lead five programs to NCAA Tournament wins — Oklahoma, Kansas State, Florida, Illinois and UNLV. At 674-432, his win totals were 10th among active Division I coaches and 27th overall at the time of his retirement.
Cardinals sign Butler
TEMPE, ARIZ. » The Arizona Cardinals added cornerback Malcolm Butler on a oneyear deal in an effort to bolster a thin secondary and also traded center Mason Cole to the Vikings for a sixth-round draft pick.
Butler, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, comes to the Cardinals about a week after the team lost cornerback Patrick Peterson, who signed with the Vikings. The 31-yearold Butler started all 16 games for the Tennessee Titans last season, had four interceptions and a career-high 100 tackles.