The Miami Dolphins are rewarding linebacker Kiko Alonso for his big season. The team announced they have signed the playmaker to a three-year contract extension.
AUSTIN, Texas – The first round of 32 matches in the group stage at the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play Technologies takes place Wednesday at Austin Country Club. The field of 64 players will play a round-robin format, with the 16 group winners advancing to the weekend’s single-elimination rounds. PGA TOUR Live’s coverage of Wednesday’s featured matches will begin at 10:15 a.m. ET, then transition to featured holes at 4 p.m. PGA TOUR Radio coverage on Wednesday begins at 2 p.m. ET. Here’s a look at those two matches, along with notes on other first-day matches. RORY McILORY, Northern Ireland vs. SOREN KJELDSEN, Denmark, 10:52 a.m. ET No player in this week’s field has won more matches in this event than McIlroy, who has a record of 22-8-1 (for a winning percentage of 72.5 percent). Since the switch to the round-robin format two years ago, McIlroy is a gaudy 11-2-1, winning two years ago at TPC Harding Park and losing the consolation match last year in Austin. So, in other words, he’s a heavy favorite this week. For the second straight year, he’ll open against a golfer from Denmark; last year, he beat Thorbjorn Olesen, 1 up. Kjeldsen – who teamed with Olesen to win the ISPS HANDA World Cup last year — has yet to win a match in three previous appearances in this event. JORDAN SPIETH, USA vs. HIDETO TANIHARA, Japan, 11:36 a.m. ET Although Spieth is 8-3 in his three previous Match Play appearances, he’s yet to reach the Final Four in this event. He lost to Ernie Els in the quarterfinals in 2014, then failed to make it out of group play the next year. Playing on a course he played fairly often during his college days at the University of Texas, Spieth won all three group matches last year but lost to eventual finalist Louis Oosthuizen in the Round of 16. After Monday’s draw, he acknowledged that he knew very little of Tanihara, who is making his Match Play debut. Tanihara has 13 wins on the Japan Tour. His last one, in November, moved him inside the top 64 in the world. More on Wednesday’s matches The Jimmy Walker-Martin Kaymer match involves the reigning PGA champ vs. a past champ. While Kaymer made some Match Play noise a few years ago, he’s been a non-factor in recent starts. Same with Walker, who is 2-6-0 in his career in this event … Top overall seed Dustin Johnson also opens against a former major winner in Webb Simpson. Johnson reached the quarters last year, his best result in this event, but his overall record is less than .500 (7-9-0). The match is one of six on Wednesday that pits American vs. American. … Defending champ Jason Day of Australia takes on Pat Perez, this season’s winner of the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. Perez’ last Match Play start was in 2009 when he was knocked out in the second round. … Jim Furyk, a Presidents Cup assistant captain to Steve Stricker this year, will get an up-close look at one of the key International competitors when he faces Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. Matsuyama is second to Day on the International team points list. That match is one of seven on Wednesday in which a USA player faces a player from an International team-eligible country. … One of those other matches is Phil Mickelson vs. Si Woo Kim of Korea. Mickelson won his first two matches here last year but failed to make it out of group play after losing to Patrick Reed. Mickelson, with a record of 18-12-0 in this event, has never advanced past the quarterfinals. … Watch out for last year’s finalist, Louis Oosthuizen. In his last three Match Play appearances, he’s 13-3-0. Two of those losses were to Jason Day. Oosthuizen plays England’s Ross Fisher, the fourth-place finisher in 2009, on the first day. … Brooks Koepka and Kevin Kisner probably won’t see much of each other in the fairway. Koepka ranks sixth on the PGA TOUR in driving distance (309.2 yards) while Kisner is 150th (285.5). LOOKING AHEAD TO THURSDAY PGA TOUR Live’s coverage of featured matches for the second day of group play begins at 10:15 a.m ET. Here’s a sneak peek at the two matches to be shown: Hideki Matsuyama, Japan vs. Ross Fisher, England, 10:52 a.m. ET … Matsuyama, the fourth overall seed, is seeking his second WGC win of the season, having already claimed the HSBC Champions. Patrick Reed, USA vs. Kevin Kisner, USA, 11:14 a.m. ET … Reed, an established match play performer in Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup competitions, lost to Dustin Johnson in the Round of 16 last year.
Thomas Davis, 68, was the prosecution’s star witness in the insider trading case brought against his onetime friend, William ”Billy” Walters, in Manhattan federal court. Prosecutors say Walters encouraged friends including professional golfer Phil Mickelson to buy stock in Dean Foods Co., a Dallas-based company that is one of the nation’s largest processors of milk for retailers.
CHICAGO (AP) — The rebuilding Chicago White Sox and promising shortstop Tim Anderson have agreed to a $25 million, six-year contract.
Q&A: How Jumbo Joe keeps his cool
Barry Bonds is back with the San Francisco Giants just as the club had hoped. Bonds, who spent a one-season stint as Miami’s hitting coach last year before being fired, will serve as a special adviser to CEO Larry Baer. General manager Bobby Evans mentioned it last month at FanFest .
Carolina’s star quarterback is going under the knife. Cam Newton will undergo surgery on his throwing shoulder to repair a partially torn rotator cuff on March 30, the Panthers announced Tuesday.
Hideki Matsuyama. Phil Mickelson. Sergio Garcia. Charl Schwartzel. Danny Willett. Martin Kaymer. Bubba Watson. Branden Grace. Justin Thomas. Paul Casey. Ten golfers worthy of any One & Done. It’s a lineup so formidable that you wouldn’t be unhappy with any as your selection in a World Golf Championship. Now consider that none survived pool play in the 2016 Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club. Still interested? Didn’t think so. You know the rewards, but you’re also keenly aware of the risks. Yes, the new round-robin format tends to benefit higher seeds because the margin of error is greater, but no matter how fond you are of anyone, the knockout portion beginning with the round of 16 is a recipe for regret. This is why Ian Poulter was the quintessential pick when he qualified. Since he was a beast in match play, you could settle with burning him and knew that you weren’t going to miss him elsewhere, all the while retaining depth on your board just that one pick deeper that can come in handy so often late in the season. Despite the Englishman’s absence – he’s competing again at the Puerto Rico Open – there are more than enough surrogates to step in. In alphabetical order, this year’s short-listers are Rafa Cabrera Bello, Ross Fisher, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Joost Luiten, Alex Noren and Thomas Pieters. Note the European influence. For good reason, too. They simply play this format more often, but only Cabrera Bello is a PGA TOUR member. Also, because of the free-for-all that can occur, you actually have more options to burn a non-member in this WGC and flourish than you do in any of the others because they are stroke-play contests. I’m going to follow my own advice and plug in Hatton even though he’s in the same pool as RCB. The Brit is pacing the PGA TOUR in strokes gained: putting, which is, of course, impressive, but not unpredictable. That’s his M.O. and he’s feelin’ it right now. You can analyze the pools until your blue in the face, but you’re still going to revert back to the opening point about how little that means. Choose wisely no matter who you have winning your bracket. Frankly, only Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy have earned enough of my confidence to deserve consideration as your selection among the usual chalk, but that’s only if you’re breathing the air in the basement of your league and there’s no sense in playing the waiting game any longer. If you invest and the window suddenly slams shut, you’re not going to know the difference, anyway, much less care. Still, those two are so keyed in on what they do best right now, I expect to see them face off in the finale. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2016-17. All are pending golfer commitment. Daniel Berger … Houston; New Orleans; St. Jude (defending) Paul Casey … Masters; Travelers; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Kevin Chappell … Valero; Dell Technologies Jason Day … WGC-Match Play (defending); Masters; New Orleans; PLAYERS (defending); U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Jason Dufner … Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; U.S. Open; TOUR Championship Jim Furyk … WGC-Match Play; Heritage; Memorial; U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Sergio Garcia … PLAYERS; Byron Nelson (defending); Open Championship; TOUR Championship Branden Grace … Heritage (defending); U.S. Open; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship Bill Haas … Wyndham J.B. Holmes … Houston Charles Howell III … Houston; Byron Nelson Dustin Johnson … Masters; Byron Nelson; Memorial; St. Jude; U.S. Open (defending); Canadian; TOUR Championship Zach Johnson … PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA; John Deere; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Martin Kaymer … PLAYERS Kevin Kisner … PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA; Wyndham Russell Knox … Heritage; PLAYERS; Travelers (defending); Dell Technologies Brooks Koepka … Byron Nelson; St. Jude; U.S. Open; PGA Championship Matt Kuchar … Heritage; Valero; PLAYERS; Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; Memorial; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone Marc Leishman … Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; Memorial; Travelers; Open Championship Hideki Matsuyama … Masters; PLAYERS; Memorial; PGA Championship; BMW William McGirt … Heritage; Memorial (defending); Wyndham” Rory McIlroy … WGC-Match Play; Masters; PLAYERS; Memorial; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies (defending); TOUR Championship (defending) Phil Mickelson … Houston; Masters; St. Jude; Open Championship; PGA Championship Francesco Molinari … PLAYERS Ryan Moore … Travelers; John Deere (defending); TOUR Championship Kevin Na … Heritage; Memorial; John Deere; Wyndham Louis Oosthuizen … WGC-Match Play; Masters; Dell Technologies Pat Perez … Houston; Heritage; Valero Scott Piercy … Houston; John Deere; BMW Patrick Reed … Houston; Wyndham; Dell Technologies Charl Schwartzel … Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone Webb Simpson … Greenbrier; Wyndham Brandt Snedeker … Masters; DEAN & DELUCA; U.S. Open; Travelers; Canadian; Wyndham Jordan Spieth … Houston; Masters; Heritage; DEAN & DELUCA (defending); John Deere; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Brendan Steele … Valero; Travelers; Barracuda (already eligible for concurrent WGC-Bridgestone) Justin Thomas … Valspar; PLAYERS Jimmy Walker … Valero; Greenbrier; PGA Championship (defending); Dell Technologies Bubba Watson … Masters; Travelers; Greenbrier; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Lee Westwood … Masters; PLAYERS Gary Woodland … Byron Nelson; Barracuda; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship
Bracket picks for the WGC-Match Play
Why the Tony Romo-Cowboys breakup hasn’t happened — yet
