Lowry wins Wentworth event `for the good guys'

Shane Lowry tapped in for birdie at the 18th hole and then had to wait and see if Rory Mcilroy could produce something special to force a playoff at Wentworth.

Mcilroy gave himself a chance and the crowd cheered as his long eagle putt on the final hole crept slowly toward the cup, only to stop less than an inch short.

Mcilroy crouched down, staring at the ball in disbelief, while Lowry hugged his caddie in the scorer’s tent to celebrate a one-shot victory at the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday in Virginia Water, England.

It was Lowry’s first win since the British Open at 2019 and came after a bogey-free performance over three days at Wentworth.

It was also, according to the 35-year-old Irishman, a win for all the golfers who — like him — have rejected the lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway series LIV Golf. Lowry and Mcilroy were both outspoken this week in criticizing the fact that a contingent of LIV golfers had been allowed to play at Wentworth.

“I wanted to go out and win this tournament for myself, first and foremost, but I think for this tour and everyone that has stayed loyal to this tour,” Lowry said. “I really feel like this is one for the good guys.”

Mcilroy and Jon Rahm were tied for second, one shot back. Talor Gooch, who plays on the LIV circuit, was another shot back in fourth place.

The tournament was reduced to 54 holes with no play on Friday after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.

Lowry finished with a 7-under 65 for a 17-under total of 199.

Rahm surged up the leaderboard with a 62, rolling in an eagle putt on the 18th to take a two-shot clubhouse lead at 16 under. He then had to wait more than two hours to see if it would be good enough for the win.

A superb approach shot from Lowry on the 18th made sure of that.

Lowry hit an iron from 242 yards onto the center of the green and then rolled an eagle putt to within a few inches of the hole, leaving himself a tapin birdie for the lead.

Mcilroy, playing in the pair behind Lowry, also had a 14-foot birdie putt on the 17th break just to the right of the hole. When Lowry birdied the last hole, Mcilroy needed to eagle the par-5 18th — something he has never done at Wentworth.

He came agonizingly close.

• Ally Ewing ran off five straight on the back nine and closed with a 7-under 65 to hold off Xiyu Lin and win the Queen City Championship in the LPGA Tour’s return to Cincinnati.

Ewing now has three career wins, one in each of the last three years, though she came into this tournament without a top-10 finish all year.

The 29-year-old American played bogey-free on a rain-softened course and was pushed to the very end by Lin, who birdied two of her last three holes for a 65.

• Padraig Harrington built a comfortable lead and even a few mistakes at the end couldn’t keep him from winning the Ascension Charity Classic in St. Louis for his third title this year on the PGA Tour Champions.

Harrington had seven birdies in a closing round of 3-under 68 for a one-shot victory over Y.E. Yang (66) at Norwood Hill Golf Club.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS Diaz wins at UFC 279

Nate Diaz stopped Tony Ferguson with a guillotine choke in the fourth round of the hastily arranged main event of UFC 279 in Las Vegas late Saturday night.

The 37-year-old Diaz (21-13) finished his current UFC contract by finishing fellow veteran Ferguson (25-9) in a matchup made only on Friday after Khamzat Chimaev badly missed weight for his main-event bout with Diaz.

Chimaev stopped Kevin Holland with a D’arce choke 2:13 into the first round of their grudge match, which was also created after Chimaev (12-0) missed weight by 71/2 pounds on Friday morning. The UFC dramatically shuffled its card to keep both Chimaev and Diaz on the show, resulting in three new matchups for the final three fights at Tmobile Arena.

Diaz’s desire to fight the vaunted Chimaev seemed foolhardy in a distinctly Diaz way, but the late matchup with Ferguson was much more competitive than the original booking likely would have been. Ferguson, who agreed to be on the card only three weeks ago, had lost his previous four fights over the past three years, while Diaz was 1-2 in the last six years.

BASKETBALL Team USA gets bronze

USA Basketball didn’t head home from Americup empty-handed. Gary Clark scored 18 points, and the U.S. rallied in the final minutes to top Canada 84-80 in the bronze medal game in Recife, Brazil.

Later Sunday, Gabriel Deck’s layup with 16.1 seconds left lifted Argentina over Brazil 75-73 in the gold medal game.

CYCLING Evenepoel captures Spanish Vuelta

Remco Evenepoel put some tough times behind him with the biggest win of his career.

Two years ago, he was flying off a bridge in a horrific crash that left him hospitalized for several days. A year ago, his loyalty to teammates was being questioned by a cycling great.

It was all forgotten as the Evenepoel, 22, from team Quick-step Alpha Vinyl won the Spanish Vuelta for his first Grand Tour victory.

It was a statement win for Evenepoel, who became the first Belgian to win a major three-week event since Johan De Muynck won the Giro d’italia in 1978.