Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 8, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba C4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Nelly Korda is on a roll not seen on the LPGA Tour in 16 years. She won four of the first seven holes, largely making the rest of the final Sunday in the T-Mobile Match Play a formality in beating Leona Maguire 4 and 3 at Shadow Creek. Lorena Ochoa in 2008 was the last player to win four consecutive starts. Korda, the world’s top-ranked player, will try to tie the record of five — set by Nancy Lopez in 1978 and matched by Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05 — in two weeks at the season’s first major, The Chevron Championship outside Houston. Because Korda took seven weeks off after winning in January in her hometown of Bradenton, Florida, this victory was her third straight in a scheduled event. Four players share the record of four in a row, with Mick- ey Wright doing it twice. Korda also became the first Amer- ican since Kathy Whitworth in 1969 to win four of her first five starts in a season. “I can’t even wrap my head around it,” Korda said “Such a whirlwind of the last three weeks. I just feel like I was just in go-mode constantly.” This was the first head-to-head match-play singles event between Korda and Maguire, but they have ex- perience against each other in similar settings at the Solheim Cup. The Irish player is 3-1 while representing Eu- rope in team match-play events against Korda. Korda birdied Nos. 5-7 for a 4-up lead. She was 5 up after 12, saw Magu- ire take 13 and 14 with pars, and ended the match with a par win on the par-4 15th. “It’s always nice to get a lead, kind of like a cushion,” Korda said. “But it’s Leona. She’s such a fiery competitor. I knew when I lost those two holes in a row, 13 and 14, that I really needed to put my foot down to finish the match off.” Korda earned $300,000 for her 12th career victory. “You know you’re going to have to make birdies if you want to beat her,” Maguire said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t make enough today. Hats off to her. She is an incredible player and she is playing some great golf right now. All I could do is play my own game, and that wasn’t good enough today.” This tournament was entirely match play the first three years and played in late May when temperatures often are in the high 90s. Many of the top players opted not to compete. The format changed this year to three days of stroke play, with the top eight advancing to match play on the weekend. The event also moved back to early April, when temperatures are much more moderate, which helped attract its strongest field. It’s a field that Maguire dominated during stroke play, ending the first three rounds at 6-under par, three strokes better than anyone else. “It almost felt like two separate tournaments this week, the stroke- play event and the match-play event,” Maguire said. “To lead the stroke play around this golf course by three at the end of the three days was something I can take a lot of positives from and be very proud of.” Korda had to fight just to get into the match play. She shot 73 each of the first two rounds, but then came through with a 69 on Wednesday to advance to the weekend. Then she didn’t let the opportunity go to waste at one of the more demand - ing courses on the tour. “It’s absolutely breathtaking, such an amazing, amazing golf course,” Korda said. “It is brutal, though. It has tested every part of my game. I think golf courses like that are so much fun play. They’re so frustrating where you’re just like you walk off the hole and you’re just so frustrated there are a couple swear words going through your head.” — The Associated Press SPORTS MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2024 IN BRIEF MCCREANOR, WASYLIK WIN CURLING TITLES GIMLI — The Deb McCreanor and Zach Wasy- lik teams rule Manitoba’s club curling scene. McCreanor, with Trisha Hill, Michelle Bu- chanan and Jen Cawson, from La Salle, edged Jennifer Clark-Rouire’s crew from Fort Garry 5-4 in the final of the provincial women’s curling club championship Sunday. They will represent Manitoba at the nation- als in November in Barrie, Ont. Joining them is the Wasylik team, with Jack Hykaway, Josh Harding and Graham Normand. The Pembina squad beat Corey Chambers of Fort Garry 8-7 in the men’s final. CANADA DEFEATS BRAZIL IN PENALTIES ATLANTA — Canada recovered from a poor first half Saturday, defeating Brazil 4-2 in a penalty shootout at the SheBelieves Cup to earn a date with the U.S. in Tuesday’s final. The 10th-ranked Brazilians pressed hard and had the upper hand for most of a match that did not see the best of No. 9 Canada until late in the game with centre back Vanessa Gilles scoring to tie the contest at 1-1 in the 77th minute. Canada coach Bev Priestman liked the response from her team if not all of the performance. “It wasn’t the perfect game but I’m really happy with the mindset of the group to pull through and do whatever it takes win,” she said. It was a second straight shootout for the Canadians, who lost the CONCACAF W Gold Cup semifinal 3-1 to the U.S. on March 6 in a shootout after extra time finished tied at 2-2. There was no extra time this time. And Unlike the W Gold Cup, Canada was on target with the exception of Ashley Lawrence who shot high to open the shootout. Adriana Leon, Jade Rose, Simi Awujo and Julia Grosso scored from the penalty spot with Grosso slotting home the winning spot kick, as she did in the final of the Tokyo Olympics. Cristiane and Tarciane scored in the shootout for Brazil, which brought on ‘keeper Lorena in second-half stoppage time, replacing Tai Borges for the shootout. Kailen Sheridan stopped Marta while Antonia shot wide. “(Sheridan) can makes saves I’ve not seen other goalkeepers do,” said Priestman, who cited the “bravery” of 20-year-old Awujo and 21-year-old Rose to step up in the shootout. VERSTAPPEN BOUNCES BACK WITH VICTORY SUZUKA, Japan — Max Verstappen’s record-breaking dominance in Formula 1 resumed Sunday with his victory in the Japanese Grand Prix, leading almost the entire race on a sunny day in central Japan. His abrupt breakdown two weeks ago in Melbourne, Australia, looks like a blip in his total command over F1. He was out on the fourth lap when the rear brakes caught fire. Nothing like that this time. Verstappen basically led from start to finish except briefly after a pit stop. He was followed across the finish line by Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez — 12.5 seconds behind — and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari. Sainz was 20 seconds off the pace. The three-time defending F1 champion is again this season’s points leader and now has won 22 of the last 26 races dating from the start of the 2023 season. Only two other drivers have won in that span — Red Bull teammate Perez and Sainz, the winner in Australia two weeks ago. A red flag halted the race seconds into the tightly packed first lap when Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo clipped each other on the second turn and crashed out. That was basically the only real drama. Both Albon and Ricciardo walked away, ap- parently without serious injuries. The restart was delayed 30 minutes to get the cars off the track and clear debris. PITCHER STRASBURG ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT WASHINGTON — Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg announced his retirement Sunday, ending the 2019 World Series MVP’s injury-filled career. Since leading Washington to its only World Series title five years ago, the 35-year-old Strasburg pitched just 31 1/3 innings over eight starts. “I realized after repeated attempts to return to pitching, injuries no longer allow me to perform at a major league level,” Strasburg said in a statement. His retirement had been listed on Major League Baseball’s transaction page Saturday. Strasburg was 113-62 with a 3.24 ERA over 13 seasons and made three All-Star appear- ances. He led the National League with 18 vic- tories in 2019 and then delivered a dominant post-season, going 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA over six appearances. That included wins in Games 2 and 6 of the World Series in Houston. — staff, news services JOHN LOCHER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Nelly Korda hits out of a bunker at the fourth green during the final round of the LPGA T-Mobile Match Play golf tournament Sunday, in North Las Vegas, Nev. Korda wins 4th straight LPGA Tour start at match play MARK ANDERSON AUGUSTA, Ga. — Lottie Woad watched the Augusta National Women’s Ama- teur when it began in 2019, and she has watched the Masters even longer. To find herself in Butler Cabin on Satur- day to join the long list of champions was surreal. And how she got there was even more amazing. Two shots behind with five holes to play, the 20-year-old from England delivered a charge that would hold its own against some of the greatest finishes at Augusta National. Woad birdied three of her last four holes for a 3-under 69 and a one-shot victory. “I was hoping it was going to be like a nice stress-free day, but it was far from that,” Woad said. “In the end, it’s a cooler way to finish.” Arnold Palmer in 1960 and Mark O’Meara in 1998 are the only players to birdie the last two holes at Augusta National to win by a single shot. Woad did it with a wedge to 10 feet for birdie on the 17th, and a 9-iron to 15 feet to set up the winner. Bailey Shoemaker could only watch after finishing with a bogey-free 66, the best round of the day that looked like a winner until Load came through in the clutch. “Good for her, especially under pres- sure, knowing she had to do it. That’s amazing,” said Shoemaker, a USC freshman. “I’m obviously disappointed, but at the end of the day, I played about as good as I could have.” Woad finished at 8-under 208. The victory gets her into every LPGA major except the Women’s PGA Cham- pionship, starting with the Chevron Championship in two weeks. Woad started the final round with a two-shot lead and fell behind when Shoemaker made her sixth and final birdie, and posted at 7-under par. And then it got worse for the Florida State sophomore. Woad did just about everything wrong on the par-5 13th — a bad tee shot, the wrong layup, a ter- rible wedge and a putt down the slope she thought might go into the tributary of Rae’s Creek. It added a bogey on a birdie hole, and she was two behind. And then she drove into the trees on the 14th and had no chance of hitting the green. Woad made a 10-foot par putt that she considered more valuable than any of her closing birdies. “If I made bogey there, I was defi- nitely out of it,” Woad said. She holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-5 15th and narrowly made one from about the same distance on the next hole. She set up her last two birdies with ideal drives, leaving her 104 yards to the back pin on the 17th and making the 10-foot birdie putt, and then hitting 9-iron from 130 yards on the 18th to 15 feet behind the hole. The winning putt was good all the way, and Woad lightly pumped her fist. “You’re now a part of Augusta National history,” Masters Chairman Fred Ridley said in Butler Cabin, where Woad received a trophy, but no green jacket. — The Associated Press Woad delivers Masters-like charge to win Augusta National Women’s Amateur DOUG FERGUSON Bhatia earns Masters trip in wild finish S AN ANTONIO — Akshay Bhatia nearly celebrated too soon Sunday, hurting his left shoulder while pumping his arms on a 12-foot birdie to force a playoff. He recovered to make birdie on the first extra hole and win the Texas Open over hard-luck Denny McCarthy to earn a trip to the Mas- ters. It was a wild finish on so many levels. McCarthy was six shots behind going to the back nine at the TPC San Antonio when he birdied eight of the nine holes — including the last seven — making a 12-foot birdie for a 9-under 63. Bhatia had to make his birdie putt from the same range to have a chance. He made it for a 67, raising his arms to shake them in his clutch moment. And that’s when he felt his shoulder — which he says has given him trouble before — pop out of its socket. Bhatia hit his tee shot and laid up with a 5-iron on the par-5 18th in the playoff. McCarthy, playing in his 174th PGA Tour event without winning, was first to play and chunked a wedge so badly that he immediately hung his head. The ball came up some 20 yards short into the middle of a creek. And then Bhatia called for treat- ment, jogging off the course briefly to get his shoulder taped. He returned and hit wedge to 6 feet. Needing three putts to win, he holed it to win for the second time on the PGA Tour. “Man, what a crazy, crazy day,” Bhatia said. The 22-year-old Bhatia, who turned pro five years ago, won at the Barra- cuda Championship last summer. It was held opposite the British Open, so it did not get him into the Masters. This one did, his first trip to Au- gusta National. And it came 10 years after Bhatia played in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at the home of the Masters. Now he gets to play on more than just the 18th green, and he fulfilled his mother’s wish. “This is awesome,” he said. “It’s hard to win out there as it showed today. My mom’s birthday was April 1 and her wish was to go to the Mas- ters.” McCarthy had already earned his spot from finishing in the top 50 in the world last year, but all that mattered in this moment was that elusive PGA Tour trophy. He lost in a playoff last year at the Memorial to Viktor Hovland. This might have been even more crushing given the circumstances. Mc- Carthy looked to have no chance after Bhatia, who started the final round with a four-shot lead, birdied three of the opening four holes and stretched his advantage to six shots at the turn. There was a two-shot swing on the 10th when Bhatia missed a 5-foot par putt and McCarthy, one of the best putters on tour, holed an 18-footer for birdie. Bhatia answered with a birdie on the 11th, and then it was the McCar- thy Show the rest of the way. He made a 30-footer on the 12th, drilled a 5-iron on the long par-3 13th to 4 feet, made from 10 feet on the par-5 14th, holed a 40-foot chip on the 15th and closed within one shot with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 16th. Bhatia missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the reachable par-4 17th — McCarthy got up-and-down from the rough for birdie — and they were tied going to the 18th. McCarthy made his birdie putt first, and stood to the side, as close as he has been to winning. And then Bhatia delivered a clutch moment of his own to match him at 20-under 268, forcing a playoff that ended badly for McCarthy. “Wish I could have had that wedge shot back there,” McCarthy said. “I backed off a couple times. There was a bug on my ball and some noise in the stands and a bug jumped back on my ball. I probably should have backed away again, but I thought I could kind of not let it distract me and maybe it did a little. Maybe a learning experi- ence for me.” Rory McIlroy closed with a 66 to finish alone in third in his final event before the Masters, the one major keeping him from the career Grand Slam. McIlroy was runner-up and won in consecutive weeks in Dubai to start the year. This was his first top 10 on the PGA Tour. “I’m in a better spot than I was a few weeks ago,” he said. “It was nice to see a round like this today, nice to play a golf tournament where … I’m obvi- ously going to finish quite a few shots behind Denny and Akshay, but still, I played pretty solid in some tough conditions.” He finished nine shots out of the playoff. Bhatia will be the first Drive, Chip and Putt finalist to play in the Mas- ters. The competition has been one of several innovations from Augusta National. It also started the Asia-Pacif- ic Amateur, where a young champion Hideki Matsuyama went on to capture a green jacket. “I got the goal I had in mind,” Bhatia said. That includes a trip to Augusta National. His also qualifies for the U.S. Open with his second PGA Tour victo- ry, and he moves to No. 34 in the world. — The Associated Press ERIC GAY / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Akshay Bhatia reacts to a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the final round of the Texas Open golf tournament, Sunday, in San Antonio. ;