Dunlap becomes 1st amateur winner on PGA Tour since 1991
LA QUINTA >> Nick Dunlap became the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour, holding on for a oneshot victory over Christiaan Bezuidenhout at The American Express on Sunday.
Dunlap, the 20-yearold University of Alabama sophomore and reigning U.S. Amateur champion, is the first amateur winner since Phil Mickelson at the Tucson Open in 1991.
He's only the seventh amateur since 1945 — and the third since 1957 — to win a tour event. In just his fourth tour event, Dunlap also became the youngest amateur to win on the tour since 1910.
Dunlap was the only amateur in the 156-person field in the tournament long known as the Bob Hope Desert Classic, but he surged into a threeshot lead with a sizzling 60 in the third round. He lost that lead Sunday on the front nine on the Stadium Course at PGA West, but he played with the resilience of a seasoned veteran down the stretch, capped by his recovery from two errant shots on the 18th to finish with a 6-foot par putt for a 2-under 70. At 29-under 259, he broke the tournament scoring record as a 72-hole event.
Bezuidenhout birdied the 18th in the group ahead to keep pressure on Dunlap, whose tee shot landed high in the rough. His second shot wasn't much more accurate, but took a fortunate roll from the rough into a grassy drainage area off the green.
Dunlap got inside 6 feet with his third shot, and he celebrated the par putt for the title with hugs from his parents and girlfriend, who flew cross-country Saturday to watch in person.
Dunlap doesn't get the $1.5 million first-place prize, which goes to Bezuidenhout after the South African's final-round 65.
MCILROY WINS IN DUBAI >> Rory McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Classic for a record fourth time, completing a remarkable weekend comeback by reeling in Cameron Young early in the final round, then holding off Adrian Meronk by a stroke,
McIlroy closed with a 2-under 70 to retain the title at a tournament he first won in 2009 and has captured more than any other in his career. Among his 35 wins as a professional, he had also won the Tour Championship and Wells Fargo Championship three times.
KO GETS VICTORY >> It took only four rounds for Lydia Ko to put a dismal 2023 LPGA Tour season completely behind her.
Ko rediscovered her winning touch in the seasonopening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, closing with a 2-under 70 for a two-shot victory over Alexa Pano at Lake Nona.
NFL
BROWNS INTERVIEW DORSEY >> The Cleveland Browns may bring back one of their many former starting quarterbacks to oversee their offense.
The team interviewed Ken Dorsey to be their coordinator on Friday, a person familiar with the meeting told The Associated Press.
Dorsey, who was fired by Buffalo earlier this season, is the second candidate to speak with Cleveland, which will conduct more interviews, according
to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the Browns are not publicly disclosing interviews.
NBA
YOUNG OUT WITH CONCUSSION >> Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young was diagnosed with a concussion after getting elbowed in the face during a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and will be out indefinitely, the team said.
Young left Saturday night's game with 8:43 remaining after taking a charge from Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro and accidentally getting elbowed. Young stayed on the court for a few minutes and walked back to the locker room with the Hawks trailing by 25.
Women's basketball
NO. 2 IOWA FALLS >> Caitlin Clark got upset and then upended.
Iowa's superstar, who scored a season-high 45 points, was accidentally knocked to the floor by a fan storming the court following Ohio State's 100-92 overtime victory.
The No. 18 Buckeyes rallied from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game and took control in overtime in front of more than 18,000 fans — the largest crowd to watch a women's basketball game at Ohio State.
As fans streamed onto the court, Clark, the nation's top scorer and reigning college player of the year, was accidentally collided into by a fan and had to be helped up by her teammates. Her coach, Lisa Bluder, said fans also screamed inappropriate things to the star player.
NHL
FLAMES FORWARD ON LEAVE >> Calgary Flames forward Dillon Dube has
been granted an indefinite leave to attend to his mental health, the team announced.
The 25-year-old from Golden, British Columbia, is under the care of professionals, the Flames said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Dube was not in Calgary's lineup for Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
SENATORS' PINTO RETURNS >> Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto returned to the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers after sitting out the first 41 games because of a suspension from the NHL for “activities related to sports wagering.”
Pinto, 23, had 20 goals and 15 assists in 82 games for the Senators last season. The league's investigation found no evidence that Pinto bet on NHL games and provided few details, and Pinto has not disclosed specifics in recent interviews.
College football
BUFFALO HIRES LEMBO >> Buffalo hired South Carolina special teams coordinator Pete Lembo, who has 15 years of experience as a college head coach, to lead the Bulls.
Lembo replaces Maurice Linguist, who last week stepped down after three years leading the Bulls to become an assistant coach at Alabama under Kalen DeBoer. The Bulls went 14-23 under Linguist, who was hired to replace Lance Leipold after he left for Kansas in 2021.
Skiing
SHIFFRIN WINS SLALOM >> Mikaela Shiffrin earned her record-extending career win 95 by triumphing in a women's World Cup slalom, a day after the American ski star's main rival sustained a season-ending injury.
In the first race without Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova, Shiffrin edged out Croatian teenager Zrinka Ljutic by 0.14 seconds. Sweden's Anna Swenn Larsson in third and Switzerland's Camille Rast in fourth were the only other racers to finish within a second of Shiffrin's time.
GERMAN SKIER WINS >> German skier Linus Strasser got down on his knees and kissed the snow on an Austrian slope he has known since he was a child, with his wife Maria and their one-year-old daughter watching from the stands.
Returning to the place where he learned to ski as a young boy, Strasser won the men's World Cup slalom at the classic Hahnenkamm races for his first win in two years.