Straka rallies to win Honda Classic

Sepp Straka is going back to Georgia in a few weeks. He’s headed to his first Masters, after pulling off a huge comeback to win the Honda Classic.

Straka, down by five shots entering the final round, tapped in for birdie in the rain on the final hole and ended up beating Shane Lowry by one shot to become the first Austrian winner in PGA Tour history. He shot a 4-under 66 on Sunday to finish at 10 under and earn $1.44 million.

“The words aren’t really coming to me right now,” Straka said. “It’s just crazy. I really don’t know what to think.”

He sure knew how to play.

A first-round 71 was followed by a 64 on Friday, 69 on Feb. 26 and then then 66 on Feb. 27. He was 4 under in his final 10 holes, 3 under over the final five, finishing with a flourish while most others sputtered.

“It’s hard to win out here,” Lowry said. “It’s just hard. End of story. There is no point saying any different.”

Lowry shot his third consecutive round of 67, finishing the week 9 under. First-round leader Kurt Kitayama (68) was alone in third at 8 under, and Daniel Berger — who led by six shots with 19 holes left in the tournament — simply fell apart Sunday, his round of 74 leaving him 7 under for the week and three shots behind Straka.

IndyCar MCLAUGHLIN WINS SEASON OPENER »

Scott McLaughlin at last showed his long move from Australia to the United States was worth the gamble, getting his first IndyCar Series win in the season-opening race through the downtown streets of St. Petersburg.

Now the New Zealander will have to see how far his first victory will take him: IndyCar’s season-opening winner has gone on to claim the championship the last three years.

McLaughlin, the three-time Australian V8 Supercars champion, made his IndyCar debut at St. Pete in the 2020 season finale and declared the experience “far out!” and “the best day of my life apart from my wedding,” even after a crash caused his early exit. In his third trip back, he made qualifying his priority and was rewarded with his first career pole.

He led 49 of the 100 laps but had to hold off reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou over the closing laps to secure the victory. McLaughlin was held up by rookie Devlin DeFrancesco, the last car on the lap, on the final trip around the track, which gave Palou the chance to take one look at a pass for the lead.

MLB METS HIRE FIRST FEMALE DIRECTOR »

The New York Mets have hired Elizabeth Benn as director of major league operations, making her the franchise’s highest-ranking female baseball operations employee ever, according to a person with knowledge of the hiring.

The person confirmed Benn’s hiring to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Mets had not announced it.

Benn has worked for Major League Baseball since finishing a master’s degree in philosophy at Columbia in 2017. She’s had roles in youth programs, labor relations and baseball operations with the league.