Pritchett gets 2nd straight NHRA Top Fuel winPritchett gets 2nd straight NHRA Top Fuel win
Pritchett gets 2nd straight NHRA Top Fuel win
Day: February 27, 2017
Leonard scores 25, leads Spurs to 119-98 rout of Lakers (Sports Betting News)Leonard scores 25, leads Spurs to 119-98 rout of Lakers (Sports Betting News)
With the Los Angeles Lakers in the middle of their latest franchise upheaval, the San Antonio Spurs showed their young opponents what steady excellence looks like. Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and the Spurs routed the Lakers 119-98 on Sunday in Los Angeles’ first home game since Magic Johnson took over the franchise’s basketball operations. Pau Gasol added 15 points against his former team, which has lost four straight and 15 of 19.
Nicklaus: Tiger’s current status is puzzlingNicklaus: Tiger’s current status is puzzling
Nicklaus: Tiger’s current status is puzzling
Kurt Busch steals monster victory by winning Daytona 500 (Sports Betting News)Kurt Busch steals monster victory by winning Daytona 500 (Sports Betting News)
Kurt Busch had a monster start to the season with a last-lap pass to win the crash-filled Daytona 500. Busch is sponsored by Monster Energy, which kicked off its first season as the title sponsor for NASCAR’s top series Sunday with the season-opener. It wasn’t NASCAR finest moment, though, as multiple accidents pared down the field and had a mismatched group of drivers racing for the win at the end.
Panthers re-sign Mario Addison to 3-year contract (Sports Betting News)Panthers re-sign Mario Addison to 3-year contract (Sports Betting News)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Panthers have re-signed defensive end Mario Addison to a three-year contract.
Nicklaus says Woods’ status is puzzling (Sports Betting News)Nicklaus says Woods’ status is puzzling (Sports Betting News)
Jack Nicklaus says he was ”painting a picture” when he suggested after a practice round with Tiger Woods at the 1996 Masters that Woods had the game to win at least 10 green jackets. In an interview before making an appearance in the NBC Sports broadcast booth, Nicklaus was raving about the growing number of young players who can win major championships. ”And now, I don’t know about Tiger,” Nicklaus said.
Golf-Race to Dubai rankings (Sports Betting News)Golf-Race to Dubai rankings (Sports Betting News)
Feb 26 (Gracenote) – Race to Dubai rankings 1. (1) Tommy Fleetwood (Britain) 566717 2. (2) Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay) 461689 3. (3) Wang Jeunghun (South Korea) 436151 4. (4) David Lipsky (U.S.) 429136 5. (5) Sergio Garcia (Spain) 410224 6. (6) Sam Brazel (Australia) 386683 7. (7) Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 371396 8. (8) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 330253 9. (12) Brandon Stone (South Africa) 315844 10. (9) Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 315779 11. (10) Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 310471 12. (11) Brett Rumford (Australia) 273553 13. (13) Jaco Van Zyl (South Africa) 253875 14. …
Winner’s Bag: Rickie FowlerWinner’s Bag: Rickie Fowler
Using a Cobra King F7+ driver that he shortened by an inch, Rickie Fowler rolled to a five-shot victory at the Honda Classic. Ranked 131st in driving accuracy coming into the week, Fowler took his 44.5-inch driver and cut it down to 43.5 inches. The change produced immediate results for Fowler, who finished T17 in driving accuracy (67.86 percent) and T12 in driving distance (303.9 yards) with the new setup. “The reason I did that was start — I played short with my irons, my 5-wood and 3-wood are both short,” Fowler said, “and if you look at the progression of my 5-wood and 3-wood to where my driver was, they are roughly an inch apart except when I went to 3-wood and driver. Right now it’s actually at a perfect progression and they are all roughly the same swing weight.” The rest of Fowler’s game was equally impressive. He led the field in birdies (21) and ranked second in strokes gained: putting (plus 7.401) with a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Prototype putter that’s been a staple since the 2014 season. Here’s a look at the rest of the equipment in Fowler’s bag. Driver: Cobra King F7+ (Aldila NV 2K Blue 70X shaft), 8.5 degrees 3-wood: Cobra Fly-Z+ (Aldila Tour Blue 75TX shaft), 13 degrees 5-wood: Cobra King F6 Baffler Rail (Aldila Tour Blue 75TX shaft), 18.5 degrees Irons: Cobra King Forged MB (4-PW; KBS Tour C-Taper S+ 125 shafts) Wedges: Cobra King V-Grind (52, 56 and 60 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts) Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Prototype Ball: Titleist Pro V1x PGA TOUR Superstore: Buy equipment here
The Latest: Kurt Busch wins Daytona 500 for Stewart-Haas (Sports Betting News)The Latest: Kurt Busch wins Daytona 500 for Stewart-Haas (Sports Betting News)
Kurt Busch has won the Daytona 500, surviving a crash-filled season opener to win the race for the first time in 16 tries. Larson ran out gas shortly after passing Chase Elliott, who also came up short on fuel. Busch prevailed in a race that saw many of NASCAR biggest stars knocked out in crashes.
Fowler finally makes it easy in Honda Classic victoryFowler finally makes it easy in Honda Classic victory
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Rickie Fowler made it interesting Sunday for as long as it took him to make two big putts to pull away in the Honda Classic. Staked to a four-shot lead, Fowler hit one putt into a sprinkler hole, hit a tee shot into the water and watched a big lead shrink to one over Gary Woodland early on the back nine. Fowler answered with consecutive birdie putts of 40 and 25 feet and closed with a 1-over 71 for a four-shot victory. “If I don’t make those putts, I’ve got a pretty tight race,” Fowler said. Instead, those chasing him had the biggest problems with the closing stretch at PGA National. Fowler effectively ended it with a shot over the water to the 3 feet that stretched his lead to five shots with two holes to play. Woodland appeared to have second place wrapped up until he three-putted the 17th, and then tried to lay up on the par-5 18th and came up short into the water. He closed with another bogey for a 69. He had to share second place — the difference of $128,000 — with Morgan Hoffmann, who missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th. PGA champion Jimmy Walker was lurking on the fringe of contention until tee shots into the water on the 15th and 17th holes, which cost him five shots. Tyrrell Hatton of England, who played in the final group in his first PGA TOUR event in Florida, was out of the picture quickly. He still had a chance to finish alone in second, which would have gone a long way toward securing a PGA TOUR card, until missing a 3-foot birdie putt on the 17th. Fowler even got into the act when it no longer mattered. He hit his tee shot into the water on the 17th hole and made bogey, then hit a wedge into the bunker on the 18th and closed with another bogey to finish at 12-under 268. All that mattered was the trophy, the fourth of his PGA TOUR career. Fowler jokingly referred to it as a “small collection” on Saturday evening, though it was important. He had gone 13 months and 25 starts worldwide without a victory as everyone around him was winning multiple times. It was his first PGA TOUR victory since the Deutsche Bank Championship in September 2015. “I guess I can already plan on Hawaii for next year,” Fowler said, referring to the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. “I can relax a little bit. This just lets us chill out in a way. There’s less pressure, less stress. I think this is something we needed going into Augusta. I like this spot we’re in right now.” Fowler won with the lead last year in Abu Dhabi and in 2011 when he won the Korea Open, but it was the first time in five tries he converted a 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR into a trophy. In all five rounds with at least a share of the lead, he has shot over par. A four-shot lead, which he built with two late birdies Saturday afternoon, allowed him to play smart and safe. It just always didn’t work out that way. He went over the green on the par-4 fourth and tried to putt it up the slope, except that it went into a sprinkler hole and led to bogey. Two holes later, Fowler hooked his tee shot into the water on the tough par-4 sixth and made double bogey. He bounced back with a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 8, only to drop another shot on the ninth. Woodland hit wedge into 4 feet on the 13th for a birdie to get to 10 under, suddenly one shot back of Fowler. And just like that, it was over. Fowler leaned over on his putter as he watched his 40-foot on No. 12 drop into the cup, and while he went long with a wedge on the 13th, he dropped that one in from 25 feet for birdie. Woodland had reasonable looks at birdie over the next four holes and couldn’t get any to drop. He powered his 20-foot attempt on the 17th about 6 feet by the hole, ending is last hope. “I thought all of them looked pretty good,” he said of his birdie chances. “It was a little deflating on 18. Thought I hit a pretty good drive and thought I would have a chance, and I just couldn’t get home and laid up in the water, which was bad.” Hoffmann tied for second, his best finish ever on the PGA TOUR. Jhonattan Vegas made a hole-in-one on the 15th hole and closed with a 64 to tie for fourth. Fowler’s victory and Woodland’s tie for second knocked Charles Howell III and Hudson Swafford out of the top 10 in the FedExCup standings, keeping them from qualifying for the Mexico Championship next week, the first World Golf Championship of the year.