Leishman wins at Bay Hill
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 in Orlando, Fla., and earn a trip to the Masters.
Kevin Kisner led by three shots at the turn, but he didn’t make a birdie over his final 11 holes at Bay Hill and finished in a second-place tie with thirdround co-leader Charley Hoffman at 10 under, one behind Leishman. Rory McIlroy made a late charge to tie for the lead, only to three-putt the final hole from 30 feet and finish fourth at nine under.
It was the first Arnold Palmer Invitational since the death last September of the tournament host.
Former Arizona State player Anna Nordqvist shot a four-under 68 to hold off fellow major champions Ariya Jutanugarn, Stacy Lewis and In Gee Chun by two strokes to win the Bank of Hope Founders Cup in record 96-degree heat at Desert Ridge in Phoenix. The 29-year-old Swede won her seventh LPGA Tour title, finishing at 25-under 263, two strokes off the tour record that Sei Young Kim matched last year on the same course.
Tom Lehman took advantage of senior newcomer Steve Stricker’s late mistakes 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 seven-under 66 and a one-stroke victory over his playing partner, who bogeyed Nos. 16 and 18.
Former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark announced on Twitter that he has Lou Gehrig's disease and suspects playing football might have caused it. Addressing whether football caused his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that attacks cells that control muscles, he wrote, “I don’t know for sure. But I certainly suspect it did.” Clark, 60, said he’s lost significant strength in his left hand and also has weakness in his right hand, midsection, lower back and right leg. He says he “can’t run, play golf or walk any distances” and that “picking up anything over 30 pounds is a chore.”
In baseball, Cleveland Indians right-hander Cody Anderson will undergo reconstructive elbow surgery and miss the 2017 season. The team also said second baseman Jason Kipnis is still four to five weeks away from playing in a game as he deals with shoulder inflammation . . . . . Miami third baseman Martin Prado is expected to miss the start of the season after straining his right hamstring at the World Baseball Classic.
Federica Brignone led an Italian sweep in the giant slalom at the World Cup Finals at Aspen, Colo. Tessa Worley of France finished fifth and clinched the season championship on the discipline. Newly crowned overall season champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. was sixth.
Andre Myhrer of Sweden won a men’s slalom at Aspen. Marcel Hirscher of Austria was fourth and will have to wait until next season to try to join Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark and Italy’s Alberto Tomba as the only men with at least 50 podium finishes in the discipline.
Clarkson College of Omaha, Neb., defeated Wisconsin, 3-0, to win the NCAA women’s hockey national championship at St. Charles, Mo.