Malnati gets second PGA Tour victory
Peter Malnati got a great break with the tournament on the line and followed that with an even better shot, making a late birdie on his way to a 4-under 67 to win the Valspar Championship on Sunday and earn his first trip to the Masters.
Malnati tapped in that yellow golf ball for par on the final hole for only his second PGA Tour victory. He won by two over Cameron Young, who made it easier on him by taking bogey on the final hole for a 68. Young now has seven runner-up finishes without a win.
On a wild day of rallies and meltdowns, it came down to Malnati and Young playing a group apart as they headed into the tough finishing stretch at Innisbrook known as the “Snake Pit.”
Malnati’s approach on the 16th went long and left into gnarly rough some 50 feet from the pin, leaving him a tough chip to try to save par and stay tied. But his foot was on a sprinkler head, which entitled him to a free drop. With the extra club length, he was able to drop it on the fringe and use putter, which he sent down to short range for par.
On the par-3 17th into wind, Malnati hit a laser to 6 feet and made birdie to take the lead. Up ahead, Young hit his drive well left and did well to hammer a gap wedge over the trees and onto the green, 50 feet away. He lagged it about 10 feet short and missed the par putt.
Malnati found a fairway bunker on the 18th, but hit that on the green for a simple
two-putt to finish at 12-under 272, his first victory since the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2015.
More than the $1,512,000 from winning, Malnati goes to the Masters for the first time and gets a two-year exemption. He also is assured of getting into the remaining four $20 million signature events without any help.
More golf
Jesper Svensson won his first European Tour event after beating Kiradech Aphibarnrat in a playoff at the Singapore Classic. Svensson tapped in for par at the par-5 18th and the win at the third playoff hole after Aphibarnrat could only make bogey after his third shot rolled off the green and down the slope at the back at the Laguna National Golf Resort Club.
• Nelly Korda made bogey on her final two holes to fall into a playoff and atoned for it quickly, making a 12-foot birdie putt to beat Ryann O’Toole in the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship to return to No. 1 in the world.
Baseball
Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff says he won’t pitch this season while he recovers from surgery to his throwing shoulder.
When Woodruff underwent the surgery in October, the Brewers said the twotime All-Star was expected to miss most, if not all, of the season. Woodruff told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he won’t pitch this year and is targeting a return in 2025.
• Shohei Ohtani plans to speak to the media Monday for the first time since the illegal gambling and theft allegations involving the Los Angeles Dodgers star and his interpreter emerged during the team’s trip to South Korea.
• Right-hander Chase Anderson agreed to a oneyear contract with the Boston Red Sox, one day after he was released from a minor league deal by the Pirates.
• The Chicago White Sox have re-signed Kevin Pillar two days after they released the veteran outfielder.
• The Chicago Cubs released reliever Carl Edwards Jr. and infielder Dominic Smith.
Auto racing
William Bryon started on pole and delivered a dominant drive to win NASCAR’s first road course race of the season at the Circuit of the Americas. The Daytona 500 winner snatched his second win of the season and delivered the fourth in six races for Chevrolet. The Hendrick
Morning briefing
Motorsports driver led 42 of 68 laps and held off a hardcharging run from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell in the final two laps.
• Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz ended Red Bull’s Formula 1 winning streak when the Spaniard took advantage of Max Verstappen’s early exit to win the Australian Grand Prix just two weeks after missing the previous race in Saudi Arabia due to an emergency appendectomy. Sainz, who started on the front row alongside Verstappen, kept his place into turn one, but passed the Dutchman on lap two at turn nine for the lead and took control once his rival retired two laps later with a fiery mechanical failure.
• Alex Palou won the Thermal $1 Million Challenge in a total rout. Palou dominated the three day weekend — he was among the fastest drivers in practice sessions and led every lap of anything that counted while winning his qualifying group, his heat race and all 20 laps of IndyCar’s first non-points race since 2008.
Tennis
Third-ranked Coco Gauff came from behind in the first set to beat Océane Dodin, 6-4, 6-0, and advanced to the fourth round of the Miami Open for the second time in her career.
Soccer
Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna score a goal each for the United States as the U.S. triumphed against Mexico, 2-0, in the CONCACAF Nations League final.