DeChambeau’s long drives, putts pivotal at Bay Hill

The long ball helped Bryson DeChambeau outlast Lee Westwood on Sunday to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, only the key shots were as much with his putter as his driver.

DeChambeau holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the front nine and a 50-foot par putt early on the back nine. He closed it out with a nervy 5-foot par putt for a 1-under 71 and a one-shot victory over the 47-yearold Westwood in Orlando, Fla.

It matched the low score of the day, one of only three rounds under par in the toughest final round at Bay Hill in 41 years.

DeChambeau and Westwood were never separated by more than one shot over the final 15 holes, a fascinating duel of generations that came down to the last shot.

For the second straight day, DeChambeau revved up thousands of fans on the par-5 sixth hole by smashing driver over the lake and leaving himself 88 yards away on the 565-yard sixth hole. Westwood was 168 yards behind him, and raised both arms to jokingly mimic DeChambeau’s reaction from the day before. They both made birdie.

DeChambeau appeared to be in trouble on the 11th when he narrowly missed going in the water off the tee, caught a plugged lie in the front bunker and gouged it out to 50 feet. He made that for par to stay ahead by one.

Westwood tied him with a 30foot birdie putt on the par-5 12th, only to give it back with a threeputt on the 14th. The tournament turned on the par-5 16th, where it was Westwood who had the edge.

DeChambeau’s drive went up against the lip of a bunker and he had to lay up short of the water. Westwood had 158 yards and hit a poor short iron that came up short of the green. He chipped nicely, except that it rolled out 6 feet by the hole on the lightningquick greens and he missed the birdie for a chance to tie.

They were tied going to the 18th when DeChambeau hit his most important drive of the day — in the fairway. Westwood’s tee shot settled in a divot, and he did well to get it on the green and twoputt from 65 feet. DeChambeau’s birdie putt slid by some 5 feet and he shook his arms in celebration when the par putt dropped.

Westwood closed with a 73, not a bad score considering the average of 75.49 was the highest for a final round since 1980.

ETC.: Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka withdrew from The Players Championship next week with what his manager described as a strained right knee. Koepka won the Phoenix Open last month and was a runner-up in the Workday Championship last week.

• Austin Ernst won the Drive On Championship for her third LPGA Tour title, pulling away to beat fellow former NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho by five strokes at Golden Ocala in Ocala, Fla.

Ernst closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 15-under 273, after being tied for the lead with Kupcho after each of the first two rounds and a stroke ahead entering the day.

Kupcho, coming off a closing eagle Saturday, had a double bogey and three bogeys in a 74.

Ernst gave the United States three straight wins to open a season for the first time since 2007, following sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda in the first two events of the year.

Rublev wins in Netherlands

Andrey Rublev won his fourth tour singles title in seven months as the Russian beat Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

• Danish teenager Clara Tauson clinched her first career title in style, beating Viktorija Golubic 6-4, 6-1 to win the Lyon (France) Open without dropping a set after coming through two qualifying rounds.

Shiffrin rips race organizers after controversial wait

Mikaela Shiffrin slammed Slovakian race organizers after a women’s World Cup giant slalom in Jazna, calling them “unprofessional” for making her wait in the start gate before her final run for what she felt was too long.

Holding a slim lead from the opening leg, Shiffrin was ready to start when she had to wait for two minutes while course workers replaced a broken gate.

Finally allowed to go, the American posted only the 11thfastest time and dropped to third, 0.37 behind the winner, Petra Vlhova of Slovakia.

“It took (two) minutes to fix a gate, that should take 30 seconds,” Shiffrin said. “I just felt like she is a good enough skier to win these races on her own and doesn’t need this unprofessional act from something that she doesn’t have control over, I don’t have control over, but just to say, ‘Oh, she is in the lead, let’s see if we can do something to get into (Shiffrin’s) head.’ ”

While Shiffrin acknowledged interruptions are a common part of the sport, she said the lengthy delay was not necessary this time.

“It’s one thing if an athlete falls and gets injured, but it’s another thing when it’s fixing a gate and that takes (two) minutes with two people and they can’t find the flag, or I don’t know what was happening,” the American said.

“It was a bit ridiculous and that’s really obvious,” she added.

• Marco Odermatt dominated the penultimate men’s World Cup super-G of the season in SaalbachHinterglemm, Austria, to keep himself in the race for the discipline title. The Swiss skier finished his gutsy run on the Schneekristall course 0.62 seconds ahead of runner-up Matthieu Bailet.

Blachowicz defends title

Jan Blachowicz defended his UFC light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 late Saturday night in Las Vegas, thwarting Adesanya’s bid to hold two championship belts simultaneously.

Aljamain Sterling also won the UFC’s bantamweight title when Petr Yan was disqualified for an illegal knee strike in the fourth round. Two-division champion Amanda Nunes then defended her featherweight belt with ease, beating Megan Anderson by submission 2:03 into the first round at the Apex gym on the UFC’s corporate campus.

The 38-year-old Blachowicz (28-8) made his first title defense after weathering an impressive start by Adesanya (20-1), the fearsome middleweight champion moving up for a shot at history. The Polish champion turned their fight with two huge takedowns and subsequent ground control in the fourth and fifth rounds.

Blachowicz ended the fight in full mount while raining down punches on Adesanya, who had never lost in a mixed martial arts career that began in 2012. Adesanya, the charismatic Nigerian-born New Zealander, failed to join Nunes, Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo as the UFC’s only simultaneous two-belt champions.

Three players isolated after breaking COVID protocols

For the third time in less than a year, the Cleveland Indians are having to isolate players because they broke COVID-19 protocols.

Third baseman José Ramírez and slugger Franmil Reyes are being kept away from their teammates at spring training in Arizona after they reported to the team that they went out to dinner in violation of team and Major League Baseball regulations.

Manager Terry Francona said that the two players were sent to their temporary homes as the Indians await word from the league as to when they can rejoin the team.

• Chicago Cubs reliever Pedro Strop is away from the team after he violated baseball’s COVID-19 protocols.

• Jeremy Jeffress was released by the Washington Nationals for what GM Mike Rizzo called unspecified “personnel reasons.”

ManU ends Man City streak

Success for Manchester United these days is being the spoiler as Manchester City goes on to eventually claim the league titles.

City manager Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of a world-record winning streak ended after host United won the derby 2-0 on Sunday.

A penalty won after 36 seconds was converted by Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw netted five minutes into the second half to end City’s 21-match winning run in all competitions.

• Glasgow Rangers won its first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years to complete its recovery from financial implosion and being forced to start again in the fourth division.