Verstappen wins again in F1 season-opener
SAKHIR, Bahrain — The ongoing drama around Red Bull had no effect on its threetime reigning world champion as Max Verstappen routed the field by 22 seconds in the season-opening Formula 1 race on Saturday.
Verstappen started the Bahrain Grand Prix on pole position and was never seriously challenged on his way to a commanding one-two win for Red Bull with teammate Sergio Perez. Embattled team principal Christian Horner was joined before the race and during the podium celebration by his former pop star wife, Geri Halliwell.
“Today went even better than expected,” Verstappen said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Carlos Sainz Jr. was third for Ferrari after fighting hard with teammate Charles Leclerc.
At the start of the longest ever F1 season at 24 races, Verstappen already shows signs of repeating his near-perfect record from 2023, when the Dutch driver won 19 of 22 races.
Bahrain was the eighth win in a row for Verstappen going back to last September. He set an F1 record of 10 consecutive wins last season.
The F1 paddock’s focus has firmly been on Horner, with Verstappen saying on Saturday his boss was “probably a little bit distracted.”
“Obviously, it’s not been pleasant, some of the unwanted attention, but the focus is now very much on the cars,” Horner said. “My focus has very much been on what’s going on on track and the result today, I think, demonstrates where the whole team’s focus is and we move onwards.”
Horner arrived on race day hand in hand with Halliwell, also known as Ginger Spice of the pop group the Spice Girls, and they celebrated together as Verstappen received his trophy. The race came after FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the turmoil around Horner was “damaging the sport,” in comments to the Financial Times.
On Wednesday, the team’s parent company dismissed a complaint of alleged misconduct by Horner toward a team employee.
In another sign that Red Bull is significantly faster than any other team, Perez climbed from fifth on the grid to second and faced little challenge after that.
Sainz’s third place was his first podium finish since the United States GP in October as a challenge from George Russell’s Mercedes faded.
Russell was fifth, Lando Norris sixth for McLaren, and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton seventh after an uneventful race in the second Mercedes. Oscar Piastri of McLaren was eighth, ahead of the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
LOWRY, SKINNS, ECKROAT TIED AT TOP OF PGA TOUR’S COGNIZANT CLASSIC
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Shane Lowry nearly won at PGA National two years ago. The Irishman has given himself a big chance to get a victory there Sunday.
Lowry, David Skinns and Austin Eckroat were tied for the lead Saturday after third round of the Cognizant Classic. Lowry and Skinns had rounds of 66 to and Eckroat shot a 68. They were at 13-under 200.
Lowry is looking for his third victory on the PGA Tour. Skinns is trying for his first top-10 finish in 33 tour starts. Eckroat is seeking his first tour win in his 50th start.
“Even though the scoring is pretty good this year, I like playing tough golf,” said Lowry, who has shot in the 60s all three days. “I like when everything is on the line a lot out there. You’re standing there over a lot of shots on this golf course, a lot that mean a lot, as in one bad swing can lead to a big number. I feel like I just know how to play the golf course. I feel like I’ve figured it out.” Jacob Bridgeman (65), Min Woo Lee (66), Martin Laird (66), Kevin Yu (70) and Victor Perez (70) were 10 under. Andrew Novak (70) and C.T. Pan (70) were another shot back.
This is the 18th time that the tournament — known as the Honda Classic until this year — has been contested at PGA National. And it’s proven to be hard to rally for a win there on Sunday: in the previous 17 tour events at PGA National, 11 eventual winners had at least a share of the lead after 54 holes and 16 were no worse than tied for second.
The exception was Sungjae Im, who was fifth entering the final round in 2020. And the only players to rally from more than one stroke back entering the final round to win the Honda at PGA National were Sepp Straka (five back in 2022 when he prevailed over Lowry), Im (three back in 2020), Padraig Harrington (three back in 2015) and Russell Henley (two back in 2014).
“I would say when the course gets tricky like that, in a sense you have maybe a little bit more freedom not being in the lead, not having to kind of protect anything,” Perez said. “So, maybe that does play to an advantage for the guys coming from behind. I don’t know what the stats are with 54-hole winners. At the end of the day, whoever is going to shoot the least amount of strokes is going to win.”
Lowry went to the 72nd hole at PGA National in 2022 tied with Straka for the lead. Straka, a group ahead, hit his drive 334 yards on the par-5 hole. And moments later, it began pouring — a storm out of nowhere, as tends to happen in South Florida.
Lowry had to tee off in the worst of the rain and win, and his drive was 90 yards behind Straka. He had no chance of reaching the green in two, laid up and watched Straka make birdie. Lowry had a long birdie putt, it missed and Straka got his first PGA Tour victory.
Twenty-five players are within five shots of the lead — with a 15-way tie for 11th at 8 under. Among the players in that logjam: Rickie Fowler (who shot a second consecutive 67 on Saturday) and second-round leader Bud Cauley (74). Rory McIlroy was in a group another shot back at 7 under.
SHINNECOCK HILLS TO GET DOUBLEHEADER OF U.S. OPENS
FAR HILLS, N.J. — The USGA is planning another doubleheader for its biggest championships, this time at storied Shinnecock Hills. The New York club will host the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens in consecutive weeks in 2036.
The USGA first played the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014, with Martin Kaymer winning the first week and Michelle Wie winning her lone major the following week. It plans to do the same at Pinehurst in 2029.
This will be the first time for back-to-back Opens at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, L.I., one of the five founding golf clubs of the USGA. It hosted the second U.S Open in 1895 and remains the only course to hold the U.S. Open in three centuries.
Shinnecock Hills hosted the U.S. Open for the fifth time in 2018 when Brooks Koepka won to become the first back-toback winner since Curtis Strange in 198889. It will host the U.S. Open again in 2026, and then hold the doubleheader in 2036. That will be the first time the U.S. Women’s Open is held at Shinnecock.
The Pinehurst doubleheader in 2014 was one of the USGA’s finest moments. The No. 2 course played at 7,562 yards for the men and 6,649 yards for the women. The USGA managed to set it up in a way that similar clubs were used by players both weeks.
BIENIEMY NAMED UCLA’S ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
LOS ANGELES — UCLA made it official on Saturday, announcing Eric Bieniemy is the Bruins’ associate head coach and offensive coordinator.
The former Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator is the first significant hire for new UCLA coach DeShaun Foster, who was hired on Feb. 12 after Chip Kelly left Westwood to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
“Having one of the most innovative offensive minds in football join our staff speaks volumes to the type of program we are building here at UCLA,” Foster said in a statement. “Coach Bieniemy’s belief in our pillars shined throughout our conversations and confirmed he was the right man to not only help us develop an explosive approach on the field, but leaders off of it.”
Bieniemy, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, spent the past season in Washington. He wasn’t retained by new Commanders coach Dan Quinn, who replaced Ron Rivera.
Foster doesn’t have head coaching or coordinator experience, so the hiring of Bieniemy gives the Bruins an experienced voice as they enter the Big Ten in 2024 and try to retain or add players via the transfer portal.
Despite his success in Kansas City, Bieniemy hasn’t landed a heading coach job, even though he’s interviewed with more than half of the NFL’s 32 teams.
Bieniemy only received offers to be a running backs coach and pass game coordinator for 2024, so he chose to return to UCLA. That’s where he spent three seasons as an assistant in various roles with the Bruins from 2003-05.
Bieniemy spent 10 seasons with the Chiefs working under Andy Reid and played a major role in helping Patrick Mahomes develop into one of the NFL’s best players. Mahomes just led the Chiefs to their third Super Bowl title in five years and earned MVP honors for the third time.