Watson wins Match Play title in blowout
2009The Kofa baseball team rallied from a late, five-run deficit to beat Yuma High, 8-7, in 11 innings. The Kings trailed 7-2 entering the sixth, but wound up sending the game to extras thanks to a Jared Holms two-run double in the seventh. Gustavo Albarran provided the winning hit in the 11th.
BOSTON — With all of the underdogs and upsets that have upended the NCAA tournament, no one has managed to come close to Villanova.
The 2016 national champions are headed back to the Final Four, thanks to a fourth straight double-digit victory in a month of March where they’ve played every bit like the No. 1 seed they earned.
“This tournament’s a crazy tournament. Anybody can beat anybody,” guard Jalen Brunson said after the Wildcats beat Texas Tech 71-59 in a coldshooting East regional championship on Sunday to send Villanova back to the Final Four for the second time in three years.
“The underdog mentally, they may have it. But, honestly, they believe they’re good. That’s why they’re in that position. That’s (also) why we’re in that position,” Brunson said. “We’re a good team, and we believe we can keep getting better.”
The Wildcats (34-4) will play fellow No. 1 seed Kansas, which beat Duke 85-81 in overtime later Sunday. They will join 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago and its telegenic nun , along with No. 3 seed Michigan in the national semifinals on Saturday in San Antonio.
Sister Jean, get ready for Father Rob.
AUSTIN, Texas — Bubba Watson was in high spirits for someone with such low expectations at the Dell Technologies Match Play.
Walking to the sixth tee, already 2 up in his semifinal match against Justin Thomas, he smiled and said, “Just remember, I was beating No. 1 at some point.” Thomas only had to win that match to reach No. 1 in the world, and Watson figured that’s what would happen.
It was about the only thing he got wrong Sunday.
Watson denied Thomas with a brand of golf that was close to flawless, and then he made the final look as though he were on vacation all along. Watson won his second World Golf Championship with the biggest blowout since the title match switched to 18 holes in 2011, a 7-and-6 victory over Kevin Kisner.
He sure didn’t expect to play only 28 holes in two matches on the final day at Austin Country Club, lead after every one of them, and pose with the trophy.
“There’s stories all different directions that didn’t go the way I saw it,” he said. “It worked out in my favor. I’m