Nelly Korda leads LPGA as Sorenstam falls
ORLANDO, FLA. » Nelly Korda surged into the lead Saturday in the Gainbridge LPGA with a 4-under 68 that left her in position to make it consecutive wins for the Korda family to start the season.
Annika Sorenstam sank to the bottom.
Korda, whose older sister Jessica won the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions last month to start the new LPGA Tour season, dropped only one shot on a breezy day at Lake Nona to lead by one over Patty Tavatanakit.
Sorenstam, playing for the first time in more than 12 years after retiring, had no expectations and no excuses. She kept leaving herself in bad spots around the green and finished with a 79. That put her in last place by four shots, 22 shots behind Korda.
The 50-year-old Swede was making a one-time appearance because the tournament was brought to her home course, and she was happy enough to make the cut on the number.
“We put every effort into every single shot,” she said. “Just wasn’t meant to be today. Another day tomorrow. I got two bonus days this week, so that’s a good thing.”
Korda was at 13-under 203, one shot ahead of Tavatanakit, the blossoming Thai star who needed only a half-dozen starts on the Symetra Tour to earn her LPGA card when she left UCLA.
Snider wins after Gragson slams into lapped car
HOMESTEAD, FLA. » Noah Gragson had close to a 9-second lead, the outside lane wide open and the white flag waiting for him ahead.
The JR Motorsports driver was on the verge of an elusive victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And then the unthinkable happened. A lapped car blew a tire and turned right in front of him. A fraction of a second earlier or later and Gragson would have cruised by and ended up in victory lane.
Instead, Gragson had nowhere to go and no time to stop. He slammed into David Starr and ended his day in disappointing fashion.
Myatt Snider was the beneficiary. Snider won the Xfinity Series race, taking the checkered flag in overtime after Gragson’s untimely wreck with two laps to go in regulation.
“What are you going to do?” Gragson said. “You’ve got (idiots) in the way every single week.”
Weir leads by 2, Phil 9 back
TUCSON, ARIZ. » Mike Weir went on a back-nine birdie binge to take control of the Cologuard Classic.
Phil Mickelson waded into the mud for the second straight day and will have to dig out of a deep hole if he’s going to make history.
Weir shot a 5-under 67 to build a two-shot lead in the Cologuard Classic, leaving Mickelson with a lot of ground to make up to win his third straight PGA Tour Champions start.
Tim Petrovic became the second player in PGA Tour Champions history to have a hole-in-one in consecutive rounds with an ace on No. 14. He was 8 under after a 67.
Mickelson is bidding to become the first player to win his first three career starts on a PGA Tour-sanctioned tour. The five-time major champion was nine shots back after a 72 that included a second straight day of hitting out of the mud on No. 15.
Pujols says he’ll decide future after season with Angels
ANAHEIM » Albert Pujols woke up from a nap last Monday in Arizona to find several hundred messages and missed calls on his phone.
While he was sleeping, the Angels slugger’s wife, Deidre, had put up a complimentary Instagram post about her husband that was widely interpreted to mean Pujols had decided to retire after this season, his 21st in the majors.
“Hey, that’s the life we’re living on social media,” Pujols said Saturday with a chuckle. “It’s sad that everybody just had to run with it.”
The 41-year-old slugger quickly reiterated what he has been saying for months: He hasn’t decided whether he will continue playing after the conclusion of his 10-year, $240 million contract with the Angels this fall, and he won’t make or announce a decision until after the season.
Conchita Martínez has virus
MADRID » Former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martínez has tested positive for the coronavirus. Martínez said on social media she is in quarantine at a hospital in Doha after the positive test on arrival in Qatar.
Martínez, 48, is the coach of former world No. 1 Garbiñe Muguruza, who is set to play at the Qatar Open.
Zubcic wins GS
BANSKO, BULGARIA » Filip Zubcic won the first men’s World Cup race after the skiing world championships to give new impetus to the battle for the season-long giant slalom title.
The Croatian skier overtook firstrun leader Mathieu Faivre, who won the world title last week, to win by 0.40 seconds. Unheralded Stefan Brennsteiner was 0.93 behind in third for the Austrian’s first career podium.
Gut-Behrami wins downhill
MOENA, ITALY » Lara Gut-Behrami won her second World Cup downhill in two days at Val di Fassa to maintain her chance of winning the discipline title this season.
Gut-Behrami led Corinne Suter, the downhill world champion, by 0.32 seconds for a Swiss 1-2 finish. Kira Weidle of Germany finished 0.68 behind in third.