Austin Eckroat got the first victory of his tour career Monday at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, topping Erik van Rooyen and Min Woo Lee by three shots to win the weather-delayed Cognizant Classic. Among his prizes: $1.62 million – by far his biggest golf payday – along with tour status for two years and a trip to the Masters for the first time.
Eckroat shot a final round of 4-under 67, finishing at 17-under 267. He left PGA National on Sunday night when darkness stopped play with a one-stroke lead and was never caught. Back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes protected his lead, and a 12-footer for birdie on the par-4 16th pushed the edge out to three shots.
He said he was nervous Monday. He hid it well, never giving up the lead.
“This has always been my dream to win on the PGA Tour,” Eckroat told Golf Channel. “And just to win, I haven’t won since 2019 — it was a college event. It’s just been so long. I’m just so happy.”
HOCKEY
ECHL: Forward Alex Kile and defenseman Gabriel Chicoine are back with Maine Mariners after short stints in the AHL.
Kile was reassigned from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, while Chicoine was returned from loan to the Calgary Wranglers. In a corresponding move, the Mariners released forward Garrett Devine.
NHL: The New Jersey Devils fired Coach Lindy Ruff and named assistant Travis Green as the interim replacement.
Ruff, 64, was in his fourth season with the team. The Devils reached the second round of the playoffs last year. General Manager Tom Fitzgerald made the surprising move with less than 30 games left in the NHL season. The Devils have lost five of seven to fall further out of playoff contention.
BASKETBALL
NBA: Cleveland All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell will miss at least three more games after treatment for a bone bruise in his left knee.
Mitchell is averaging 28.0 points per game and career-highs in several other categories for the Cavs, who are third in the Eastern Conference. He missed the past two games with what the team described as soreness in his knee.
SOCCER
PREMIER LEAGUE: Arsenal delivered another statement win in its league title challenge by thrashing last-placed Sheffield United 6-0.
Some home fans left their seats and were seen heading to the exits after 25 minutes when Kai Havertz made it 4-0, adding to strikes from Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli either side of an own-goal by Jayden Bogle. Declan Rice slotted home a fifth in the 39th minute. It meant Arsenal scored five goals in three straight away league games – after West Ham (6-0) and Burnley (5-0) – and tied the record for most goals scored in the first half of a league game.
SERIE A: It’s becoming more and more a matter of when and not if Inter Milan will be crowned Serie A champion after beating Genoa 2-1 on Monday and extending its lead to 15 points over second-placed Juventus, which lost to Napoli the previous evening.
It was a 12th straight win for Inter – a run dating to December and a draw at Genoa. The Nerazzurri also have the best attack and defense in Europe’s top five leagues.
MLS: Major League Soccer is going back to having its All-Star Game feature the league’s top players facing the best of Mexico’s Liga MX.
MLS said the July 24 game at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, will have the format used in 2021 at Los Angeles, which was won by MLS on penalty kicks, and 2022 in St. Paul, Minnesota, won by MLS 2-1.
Arsenal beat MLS 5-0 In last year’s game at Washington, D.C.
TENNIS
RUBLEV DECISION: Andrey Rublev will get to keep the ranking points and prize money – minus a fine of $36,400 – from the Dubai Championships, the ATP ruled, after he appealed the punishment of his default from the semifinals for yelling in the face of a line judge last week.
The No. 5-ranked Rublev, a 26-year-old from Russia, forfeited the match after his reaction to a point being awarded to his opponent, Alexander Bublik, at 6-5 in the third set on Friday. When a tennis player is defaulted from a match because of on-court conduct, he relinquishes all money and rankings points earned in that event.
But the ATP ruled that the “customary penalties associated with a default … would be disproportionate in this case.”
“The appeal process took into consideration testimonies from the player, officials, as well as a review of all available video and audio materials,” the tour said.
In a post on social media, Rublev thanked the appeal committee for its decision and added that he wants the tour to consider altering the rule that led to his disqualification.
“I hope that in the future, the ATP will take a closer look at this rule and make changes to it, so that an official can’t force a match outcome without having clear evidence and not letting the player have a video review,” Rublev’s statement reads.
It ends: “I promise I will learn from this and will try to be a better player and better person.”
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: Two executives in charge of designing a new car for Formula One team Alpine have quit after a disappointing performance in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first race of the season.
Alpine said that technical director Matt Harman and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer had both “chosen to leave the team to seek new challenges.”
On Saturday, Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly started at the back of the grid after finishing last in qualifying for the Bahrain GP. They finished 17th and 18th, respectively, with no points.
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