Kirk has 2-shot lead for final round at Honda
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLA. >> Chris Kirk’s last win on the PGA Tour was nearly eight years ago. He’s put himself in a position to change that at the Honda Classic.
Kirk battled his way to a 4-under round of 66 on Saturday, putting him at 13-under 197 for the week and giving him a two-shot lead over Eric Cole (66) through three rounds at PGA National.
His last win on tour was at Colonial in 2015 — 180 tournaments ago. He’s a four-time winner on tour, played in the Presidents Cup in 2015, and has been waiting to hoist a trophy again since.
Kirk made a wild birdie on the last, after his second shot on the par-5 18th wound up next to the grandstand and underneath someone’s bag that was left against structure. He got a drop, chipped on from there and made the putt to restore a two-shot lead.
And now he has a chance to be a winner again — with most of the players nearest to him on the leaderboard looking for their first tour wins.
Cole stayed in the mix with his second consecutive round of 66.
Justin Suh holed out from the fairway for an eagle on the par-4 12th, and is alone in third at 10 under. He shot even-par 70 on Saturday.
ROOKIE LEADS LPGA >> Thai rookie Natthakritta Vongtaveelap shot a bogey-free 64 to grab a four-stroke lead over fellow countrywoman Atthaya Thitikul after round three of the US$1.7 million LPGA Thailand.
The 20-year-old Vongtaveelap began with an eagle and went on to notch six
birdies, including three in a row from the 16th, to finish on 20-under-par-196 in front of thousands of jubilant home fans at the Siam Country Club.
Motor sports PEREZ LEADS F1 TESTING >>
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez moved up the leaderboard as the sun went down to lead the third and final day of Formula One testing.
It underlined how strong Red Bull looks heading into next weekend’s seasonopening race on the same Sakhir desert circuit in Bahrain. Defending world champion Max Verstappen led the first test day.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was .36 seconds behind Perez in second but the twitchy W14 again experienced problems with balance and traction.
NHL JETS ACQUIRE FORWARD >>
The Winnipeg Jets acquired forward Nino Niederreiter from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
The 30-year-old Niederreiter had 18 goals and 10 assists over 56 games for the Predators this season.
He has totaled 199 goals and 197 assists over 788 career NHL games with Nashville, the New York Islanders, Minnesota and Carolina. Niederreiter also has 15 goals and 15 assists in 82 career playoff games. RANGERS MAKE MOVES >> On the way out of the arena late in the third period of the New York Rangers’ latest loss, Vitali Kravtsov ran into Washington Capitals forward Aliaksi Protas and told him he was heading to Vancouver.
Patrick Kane could soon be going from Chicago to New York in his place.
The Rangers began the machinations necessary if a trade for Patrick Kane were to materialize. They traded Kravtsov to the Vancouver Canucks and put forward Jake Leschyshyn on waivers, transactions that in combination could clear the cap space to get Kane from Chicago.
Skiing
AUSTRIAN TAKES WIN >> Marco Schwarz of Austria won a tight giant slalom race as the men’s World Cup circuit made a stop at the Palisades Tahoe resort for the first time since 1969.
In fifth place after the opening run, Schwarz powered through the course in a combined time of 2 minutes, 23.63 seconds to hold off Swiss standout Marco Odermatt by 0.03 seconds. Rasmus Windingstad of Norway wound up third to earn his first World Cup podium finish since 2019.
Horse racing
PANTHALASSA WINS SAUDI CUP >> Panthalassa led all the way to win the $20 million Saudi Cup by threequarters of a length, relegating trainer Bob Baffert’s horse, Country Grammer, to second place for the second straight year.
Japan nearly swept the first four places until Country Grammer rallied late on the outside under Frankie Dettori.
Defending champion Emblem Road was sixth.
Tennis
MEDVEDEV BEATS MURRAY >> Daniil Medvedev won the Qatar Open on debut when he defeated Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4 in a final matchup of former No. 1s.
Medvedev converted fast starts in each set. He reached 4-1 in the first and 3-1 in the second.
Murray fought back but Medvedev stifled him and earned his 17th singles title. SWIATEK GETS UPSET >> Topranked Iga Swiatek was upset by Barbora Krejcikova 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Dubai Championships.
Krejcikova closed the tournament by beating the top three players in the WTA rankings: No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, then Swiatek. No. 8 Daria Kasaktina was also overcome in the second round.
The Czech is the fifth woman in the Open era to beat the world’s top three at the same event.