Scheffler chasing history at The Players Championship
From staff, wire service reports
Tiger Woods never did it. Neither did Jack Nicklaus, even before The Players Championship found its home in a former swamp now known as the TPC Sawgrass.
This is the 50th edition of the PGA Tour’s premier championship, and no one has ever defended his title. Next up is Scottie Scheffler, and the odds are as much in his favor as any of the previous winners.
That includes Woods, who got only one crack at it in 2002, didn’t break 70 and tied for 14th.
Only five players have won twice on the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass. Nicklaus won The Players three times, but that was before it moved permanently to this Pete Dye arena of endless thrills and that one island green on the par-3 17th.
Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the world, the first time the defending champion of The Players has been atop the world ranking since Jason Day in 2016. The difference is Scheffler arrived at Sawgrass straight from a dominant performance to win at Bay Hill by five shots.
Scheffler has been No. 1 for the last 10 months, and it’s not difficult to do the math. Along with three victories in the last year he has finished out of the top 10 only three times in 22 tournaments.
How that translates to Sawgrass is yet to be seen.
No. 2 Sabalenka falls at BNP Paribas Open
Emma Navarro beat second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells for the biggest win of the young American’s career.
Navarro improved to 18-5 this year, with her victories leading the WTA Tour. She is 11-2 in three-set matches. The 2021 NCAA singles champion from Virginia reached her fourth quarterfinal of the year and first at the 1000 level.
Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, trailed 1-4 in the third set and won just one more game before getting broken on Navarro’s second match point.
Navarro, a 22-year-old American, won the title at Hobart early in the year.
Coco Gauff celebrated her 20th birthday with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Elise Mertens to reach the quarters for the second consecutive year at Indian Wells.
For the men, No. 9 seed Casper Ruud rallied to beat Gael Monfils 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Clippers fall to Wolves
The wheels haven’t come off, but fissures have begun to appear in the health of the two of the players driving the Clippers this season.
Kawhi Leonard and James Harden are experiencing soreness and spasms that could affect their availability over the next few games. Leonard left Tuesday night’s 118100 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves with thoracic spasms, and Harden was treated by a Clippers trainer long after the game.
Coach Tyronn Lue said after the game that he wasn’t sure whether Leonard would accompany the team on its two-game trip to play Chicago today and New Orleans on Friday.
Harden said he would have to see how his shoulder felt overnight before determining whether he would make the trip.
Leonard and Harden have been counted on heavily this season and are vital to the Clippers playoff hopes. Leonard, who played just 52 games the previous two seasons, has already played in 58 this season.
He tried to play in his 59th Tuesday. But after going through the morning shootaround and pregame warmups, his back didn’t loosen up and he left the arena during the second quarter. He played 12 minutes.
Galaxy assistant cleared of charges
Galaxy assistant coach Nick Theslof was cleared after he was arrested and jailed early Saturday morning in Nashville on suspicion of public intoxication. The Galaxy traveled to Nashville on Friday and played Nashville SC on Sunday afternoon. By Tuesday, the case against Theslof had been closed, with the charges dismissed.
■ UFC Hall of Famer and former champion Mark Coleman was airlifted to a hospital and was “battling for his life” after saving his parents from a house fire in Ohio this week, his daughter said on Instagram.
Morgan Coleman posted that her father went into the burning house several times and was able to bring out his mother and father.
Coleman said her 59-year-old father was at the hospital “battling for his life after this heroic act.”
■ Alaska’s annual Iditarod dog sled race ended with a victory for the ages: One of the biggest names in the sport came from behind after a moose attack to win the grueling, dayslong contest for an unprecedented sixth time.
But Dallas Seavey’s record-setting win Tuesday was overshadowed by the deaths of three dogs in this year’s storied endurance race across the Alaska wilderness, and renewed calls from an animal rights group to stop the race. A fourth dog, one of Seavey’s, was severely injured by a moose on the trail.
Seavey, 37, finished the 51st Iditarod in 9 days, 2 hours, 16 minutes and 8 seconds and won just more than $55,000. As he neared the finish line, he jumped off his sled and ran with his dogs, pumping his fists. After he reached the finish line, he hugged each dog on his team — and they gave him sloppy dog kisses as they sat on the winner’s podium.
The Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race takes humanand-dog teams across 1,000 miles of wilderness on a trail that traverses two mountain ranges, the Yukon River and a slice of the frozen Bering Sea before ending in the Gold Rush town of Nome.