OFF AND RUNNING

Korda wins 4th straight

NORTH LAS VEGAS, NEV.>> Nelly Korda won the T-mobile Match Play on Sunday became the first LPGA Tour player in 16 years to win four straight starts, taking four of the first seven holes and going on to beat Leona Maguire 4 and 3 at Shadow Creek.

Lorena Ochoa in 2008 was the last player to win four consecutive starts. Korda, the world’s top-ranked player, will try to tie the record of five — set by Nancy Lopez in 1978 and matched by Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05 — in two weeks at the season’s first major, The Chevron Championship.

Because Korda took seven weeks off after winning in January in her hometown of Bradenton, Florida, this victory was her third straight in a scheduled event. Four players share the record of four in a row, with Mickey Wright doing it twice.

FORMULA 1

Verstappen dominant at Japanese Grand Prix

SUZUKA, JAPAN>> Max Verstappen’s record-breaking dominance in Formula 1 resumed Sunday with his victory in the Japanese Grand Prix, leading almost the entire race on a sunny day in central Japan.

Verstappen basically led from start to finish except briefly after a pit stop. He was followed across the finish line by Red

Bull teammate Sergio Perez — 12.5 seconds behind — and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari. Sainz was 20 seconds off the pace.

The three-time defending F1 champion is again this season’s points leader and now has won 22 of the last 26 races dating from the start of the 2023 season.

TENNIS

Collins wins Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.c.>>danielle Collins powered past 11th-ranked Daria Kasatkina for a 6-2, 6-1 victory Sunday, her careerbest 13th straight match win as she became the first since Serena Williams in 2013 to follow a hard-court victory at Miami with one on the green clay of Charleston.

Shelton outlasts Tiafoe

HOUSTON>> Ben Shelton captured his second career ATP Tour title, outlasting defending champion Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 on Sunday to win the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.

RUNNING

Brit runs length of Africa

RAS ANGELA, TUNISIA>> Sore and sandblasted but triumphant, Russ Cook reached the northernmost point of Africa on Sunday, almost a year after he set off from its southern tip in South Africa on a quest to run the length of the continent. Supporters gathered on a rocky outcrop beside the Mediterranean in northern Tunisia, cheering on the British charity fundraiser, who has run more than 10,000 miles across 16 countries in 352 days.

In the course of his journey the 27-year-old crossed jungle and desert, swerved conflict zones and was delayed by theft, injury and visa problems.

BASEBALL

Grote, catcher for 1969 New York Mets, dies at 81

NEW YORK>> Jerry Grote, the catcher who helped transform the New York Mets from a perennial loser into the 1969 World Series champion, died Sunday. He was 81.

Grote had suffered from heart issues and died at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said. Grote died of respiratory failure during ascheduled procedure, Horwitz said.

At two-time All-star, Grote played 16 major league seasons.

“Backbone of a young Mets team who captured the heart of New York City,” Mets owner Steve Cohen and wife Alix said in a statement.