Kirk’s playoff birdie delivers first win in eight years
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.— Chris Kirk waited nearly eight years to win a PGA Tour event again. Waiting one more hole on Sunday was no problem.
Kirk stuck his approach to the par-5 18th to tap-in range, and his birdie on the first hole of a playoff lifted him past Eric Cole for the victory at the Honda Classic on Sunday.
Cole had a chance, playing his third shot from the sand to just outside of 10 feet for a birdie that would have extended the playoff. But it lipped out, and Kirk nudged his ball in for his fifth career win — his first since prevailing at Colonial in 2015.
And he’ll be the last Honda winner. The car company is ending its title sponsorship of the event after 42 years, with a new sponsor set to be in place — the PGA Tour hopes, anyway — in the coming weeks.
On the LPGA Tour, American Lilia Vu rode a hot putter to claim her first crown with a oneshot victory over home favorite Natthakritta Vongtaveelap at the LPGA Thailand.
In Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, Charles Howell III finally made winning feel easy at Mayakoba when his putter came to life for an 8-under 63 to win the LIV Golf Invitational by four shots for his first title in the Saudifunded series.
Cardinal snap 3-game home losing streak
Spencer Jones hit four 3pointers and scored 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, Brandon Angel added 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Stanford beat Washington 81-69 at home to snap a threegame losing streak.
Maxime Raynaud made 7 of 12 from the field and finished with 15 points for Stanford. Harrison Ingram added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists and Michael Jones scored 10 points, including three 3-pointers.
Also in the Pac-12, Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 17 points and Tyger Campbell had 13 of his 14 points in the second half as No. 4 UCLA beat Colorado 60-56 to win the conference title outright.
Providence got 25 points from Ed Croswell in an 88-68 rout of Georgetown . ... Maryland finished its Big Ten slate unbeaten at home with a 75-59 win over Northwestern.
Women’s college basketball:
Aliyah Boston had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Zia Cooke added 12 points as No. 1 South Carolina completed a perfect Southeastern Conference season with a 73-63 victory over Georgia . ... Caitlin Clark’s buzzer-beating 3pointer lifted No. 6 Iowa to an 86-85 win over No. 2 Indiana . ...
Three players scored nine points and No. 22 North Carolina denied No. 11 Duke a share of the ACC championship with a 45-41 win.
NBA: Quin Snyder has reached agreement on a five-year deal to become the next head coach of the Hawks, according to a report from ESPN . ... Anthony Davis had 30 points and 15 rebounds and the Lakers erased a 27-point deficit in a 111-108 victory over the Mavericks . ... Brook Lopez made a tiebreaking layup and a steal in the final 25 seconds as the Bucks edged the Suns 104-101 for their 14th consecutive victory . ... De’Aaron Fox scored 33 points as the Kings beat the Thunder 124115 for their third straight win.