One tough hole doesn’t derail Kuchar, who leads by 4 shots

Matt Kuchar had another rough hole and enough birdies to atone for it, posting a 6-under 65 to open a fourshot lead in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

Kuchar hit a wild drive to the right into mangroves on the par-4 14th and had to get up-and-down to salvage a bogey. That was the only big mistake for Kuchar, who is going after his first PGA Tour title in more than four years. He saved par from just off the green at the 18th to finish at 20-under 193, four shots ahead of Whee Kim, who had a 66.

Richy Werenski and Danny Lee each shot 67 and were five shots back, followed by a group that included PGA Tour rookie of the year Aaron Wise (63) and Cameron Champ (69). MCCARRON LEADS CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP >> Scott McCarron moved into position to win the PGA Tour Champions’ season points race, birdieing the final two holes for a onestroke lead in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. McCarron shot a 5-under 66 at Phoenix Country Club. One of six players fighting for the Charles Schwab Cup and a $1 million annuity, McCarron had an 18-under 195 total. tephen Ames (61) and Tim Petrovic (66) were tied for second.

GARCIA KEEPS LEAD IN SOUTH AFRICA >> Sergio Garcia leads by two strokes going into the final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge and is on course for a wire-to-wire win at the penultimate event of the European Tour season in Sun City, South Africa. Garcia is at 10 under after Saturday’s 1-under 70, Louis Oosthuizen (72) is in second.

College basketball

USF BURIES MAINE >> Charles Minlend scored a career-high 22 points with five 3-pointers, and the Dons hit 14 of 29 from distance in beating visiting Maine 93-50. Six players scored in double figures for the Dons (2-0), who never trailed and led by as many as 47 points.

Motorsports

ALONSO SEEKS TRIPLE CROWN IN RETURN TO INDY 500 >> Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso and his McLaren team will return to the Indianapolis 500 next year. Alonso said he wants to be the second driver in history to win the unofficial triple crown of motor sports with a victory at the historic American speedway. Alonso and McLaren made the announcement at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paolo. The Spanish driver, who qualified 18th for today’s race at Interlagos, is retiring from F1 after the Abu Dhabi season-closer on Nov. 25. HAMILTON EARNS BRAZILE POLE >> World champion Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position at today’s Brazilian Grand Prix. Hamilton clocked a record 1 minute, 7.281 seconds around Interlagos, edging Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by 0.093 seconds. Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was third, and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen fourth.

BELL QUALIFIES FOR XFINITY SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP >> Christopher Bell saved his season by winning at ISM Raceway to snag a spot in the Xfinity Series championship. The victory was the series-high seventh of the season for Bell, last year’s Truck Series champion. Despite his dominance throughout the year, Bell crashed in the previous two races and started Saturday’s race outside Phoenix ranked seventh in the standings. His only shot to make it to the finale at HomesteadMiami Speedway was via a victory, and Bell came through to earn a shot at a second NACAR national title. Bell will race next Saturday for the crown against Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick.

Tennis

U.S. WOMEN IN FED CUP HOLE >> Barbora Strycova and Katerina Siniakova won their singles for the host Czech Republic to take a commanding 2-0 over the defending champion United States in the Fed Cup final. Strycova rallied from a set down to defeat Sofia Kenin 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4. Siniakova stretched the advantage by dispatching Alison Riske 6-3, 7-6 (2) to the delight of more than 14,000 fans at Prague’s O2 Arena. The Czechs are one win away from their sixth title in eight years.

TSITSIPAS WINS NEXT GEN FINALS >> Top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas recovered from a set down to beat Australian teenager Alex de Minaur and win the second edition of the Next Gen Finals in Milan, Italy. The 20-year-old Greek, who had been the alternate last year, prevailed 2-4, 4-1, 4-3 (3), 4-3 (3). De Minaur, who was seeded second, saved two match points at the end of the sixth game of the final set to force a tiebreak. However, Tsitsipas secured the victory and the title at his next opportunity, falling onto his back in celebration after De Minaur hit a forehand long. De Minaur has climbed more than 170 ranking spots since December, up to No. 31.

Boxing

USYK SENDS OPPONENT INTO RETIREMENT >> Undisputed world cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk successfully defended his four belts and sent Tony Bellew into retirement by knocking out the British fighter in the eighth round in Manchester. Usyk took control when he sent Bellew to the canvas by following up a straight right with a looping left. The referee got to a count of six before calling off the fight.The 35-yearold Bellew, who had already said this would be his 34th and last fight, had the better of Usyk early in the fight. But Bellew began to get worn down by the sixth round.

Hockey

U.S. WINS FOUR NATIONS CUP >> Hilary Knight scored twice and the U.S. women’s hockey team beat Canada 5-2 win the fourth straight Four Nations Cup title and ninth overall. Holders of the world and Olympic titles, the Americans reinforced their status as the No. 1 team in the world by beating their archrivals on home ice at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon for the second time this week. The last time Canada beat the U.S. in a tournament final was the 2014 Four Nations in British Columbia.