Scheffler, McIlroy headline Match Play semis
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler twice had to rally from deficits to win both matches and reach the semifinals of the WGC- Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas, for the third year in a row. Rory McIlroy joined him by making 17 birdies in two matches that went the distance.
Sam Burns also advanced by beating Patrick Cantlay in 17 holes and then overcoming an early deficit to beat Mackenzie Hughe, 3 and 2.
Burns will meet Scheffler in one semifinal, while McIlroy will face Cameron Young. Young was 3 up at the turn in his quarterfinal match, missed a chance to go 4 up on the 12th and then had to go to the 18th hole before he could dispatch of Kurt Kitayama.
Scheffler, who lost in the final in his Match Play debut in 2021, now has won 10 consecutive matches. He was 2 down against J. T. Poston in the morning with five holes left when he birdied the 17th to square the match and won the 18th with a par. He was 3 down against former Match Play champion Jason Day through seven holes in his afternoon quarterfinal when he battled back, taking his first lead with a birdie on the 13th and then pulling away.
Day earlier on Saturday birdied the 16th for a 1- up lead and then held on to beat Matt Kuchar, denying the 44- yearold American a chance to set the tournament record for most matches won. He leaves sharing the mark of 36 wins with Tiger Woods.
More golf
Nicolai Hojgaard played bogey- free for a 6- under 66 and shared the lead with PGA Tour rookie Sam Stevens in the Corales Punta Cana Championship in the Dominican Republic.
Figure skating
Twelve years into their partnership, Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States won their first ice dance title at the world championships in Saitama, Japan. First after the rhythm dance, Chock and Bates finished first in the free dance at Saitama Super Arena with 134.07 points for a total of 226.1. Reigning European champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy were second.
• Shoma Uno prevailed in a quad showdown in the free skate to become the first Japanese man to defend his title at the world championships. Uno attempted five quadruple jumps and landed all except the quad salchow which he under- rotated for a total of 301.14 points. American teenager Ilia Malinin finished third.
Auto racing
A. J. Allmendinger dominated early, then had to fight to retake the lead at the start of the final stage to earn his 11th career NASCAR Xfinity series road course victory in Austin, Texas. Allmendinger held off William Nyron late for the win. Byron will start on the pole for the Cup Series race Sunday.
Tennis
In the highlight match of the day in the Miami Open, Coco Gauff let a big lead slip away and wound up dropping the last five games of a mistake- filled 6- 7 ( 8), 7- 5, 6- 2 loss to Anastasia Potapova in the third round.
Baseball
New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino is expected to open the season on the injured list because of a low- grade lat strain on his right side.
Horse racing
Ushba Tesoro produced a remarkable run to come from the back of the field under jockey Yuga Kawada and win the $ 12 million Dubai World Cup in United Arab Emirates. The 6- year- old Ushba Tesoro caught Algiers in the homestretch to win for the fifth time in his past six starts.