NEW YORK (AP) — Wayne Ellington scored each of his 19 points in the second half, and the Miami Heat handed the New York Knicks their ninth straight loss with a 106-97 victory on Sunday night. Miami had seven players score in double figures in its second straight win. Dwyane Wade had 15 points and 10
City of Light drew away to win by 5 3/4 lengths in the sloppy $9 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Seeking the Soul finished second and favorite Accelerate was third. Get the results, charts, and photos here.
Bricks and Mortar won the inaugural $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) by 2 1/2 lengths over Magic Wand and Delta Prince, while favorite Yoshida finished a lackluster 6th. Get the results, charts, and photos here.
Luka Doncic one-upped LeBron James with 35 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the Mavs’ loss to the Raptors.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Pro Bowl has long been considered a laughable representation of the NFL game. It reached a new level of comedy Sunday as several players swapped positions during the annual all-star game. Sign up for Home Turf and get exclusive stories every SoCal sports fan must read, sent daily.
James Harden helped Houston come back from 15 points down against Orlando on Sunday night, making all the big shots down the stretch.
SAN DIEGO – Justin Rose needed a fresh start. After missing four short putts in his first six holes – and watching his three-shot lead dwindle to a single stroke – Rose drew a line. It was a metaphorical line in the sand, but he drew it in his scorecard. It was time to start over. “I said, ‘All right, we build the round from this moment on,’â€� he said. He did. Rose birdied three of the next four holes, then grinded through Torrey Pines’ difficult back nine to secure a two-shot win in the Farmers Insurance Open. Torrey Pines is Tiger’s territory, but Rose supplanted him in the tournament’s record book. Rose’s 21-under 267 (63-66-69-69) was the lowest score at the Farmers Insurance Open since the South Course was toughened up in the early 2000s. He was two shots lower than Woods’ winning total in 2008. The reigning FedExCup champion is now sixth in the standings after winning his third start of the season. This was Rose’s 10th PGA TOUR win, the most by an Englishman since World War II. Three of Rose’s wins have come since the start of last season. It’s been an incredibly consistent run that culminated with a win in last season’s FedExCup. He’s finished in the top 10 in 13 of his last 21 TOUR starts, including eight top-3 finishes. He’s missed just one cut. And it was another victory at a tough test. Torrey Pines was softened by last week’s rain, but the rough was lush. Rose’s has won at storied venues like Merion, Colonial, Muirfield Village, Aronimink and Congressional. MUST READS: Round 4, Farmers Insurance Open Tiger planning schedule, hopes to peak for PLAYERS Championship Adam Scott’s recent putter switch propels him to best finish since 2016 Gooch continues strong form, gets second straight top-10 finish “I always pride myself on the golf courses I’ve been able to win on and this one is another very great golf course with a lot of history,â€� Rose said. “I love winning on great tests of golf and this one will give some special feelings because of that.â€� Rose also joined Woods as the only player to convert a 54-hole lead at this event over the last decade. Nine of the last 10 leaders entering Sunday had lost the tournament. He was in danger of joining them after his tough start Sunday. The way Rose won – by battling back after his lead was in jeopardy – showed a side of the Englishman that is often overshadowed by his genteel nature. “He has a nasty streak in him, for sure,â€� said Rory McIlroy. “Justin is, he’s a grinder. He’s learned the hard way, with the way he started his career (by missing his first 21 cuts). “I don’t think there’s many mentally stronger people in the world of golf than Justin Rose just because of what he’s been through and coming out the other end of it.â€� Rose started Sunday’s round with consecutive misses from 8 feet, then missed a 7-footer for par at the fifth hole and three-putted the par-5 sixth hole. Jon Rahm was just one stroke behind him. “I never lost the lead so I had to stay patient,â€� Rose said. “Definitely there were times in my career where I’ve had decent sized leads and you start to throw it away a little bit and you panic. I just knew I couldn’t do that today. I stayed calm, I stayed with it.â€� Walking off the sixth green, Rose told himself to play like the man that he is: the unanimous No. 1 player in the world. Not only is he the reigning FedExCup champion, but he sits atop the world ranking. “I just said, “You’re No. 1 in the world for a reason, just start playing like it, please,’â€� Rose said. It started with a 138-yard approach to 5 feet on the seventh hole. He gave an understated fist pump when that putt fell. Then he got up-and-down from a bunker on the par-5 ninth. He hit a 150-yard approach to 8 feet on the 10th hole to take a four-shot lead with eight holes remaining. Then he had to grind. He parred two of the South Course’s hardest holes, Nos. 11 and 12, after hitting long-irons within 30 feet. His caddie, Gareth Lord, called Rose’s 4-iron on 11 his best shot of the day. Lord is filling in for Rose’s longtime caddie, Mark Fulcher, as he recovers from heart surgery. “His iron shots, the way he takes yardage off. That was a holding 4-iron. If he hits it normal, he’s going to go through the back. If he hits 5-iron, we’re 35, 40 feet short,â€� Lord said. “He said, ‘I’ve got that shot.’ And to pull it off the way he did, he’s pretty good under pressure.â€� Then he had to lean on his short game to maintain his advantage. Rose finished second in greens hit this week, but he had to save par after missing three in a row. He deftly executed a touchy chip on the par-5 13th, made a sand save on 14 and holed a 9-footer for par on the next hole. He made a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th, then finished with a birdie after wedging close. This was Rose’s first PGA TOUR win in January, and erased questions about his recent switch to Honma equipment. This was just his second start with the new clubs. “Everything has worked out better than I would have hoped,â€� he said.
Somehow Justin Rose seems underrated. His victory at Torrey Pines makes one thing clear: He shouldn’t be underrated, because he is undeniably the top player in the world.
Paul George does it all for the Thunder.
SAN DIEGO – When Adam Scott putts well, Adam Scott contends. It’s a simple saying that could apply to most PGA TOUR players but it most certainly applies to the 13-time TOUR winner. Known as a premier ball-striker throughout his career the former PLAYERS champion has long struggled to match up his putting stats with the rest of his game. In 10 of his last 11 seasons Scott’s year-long rank in Strokes Gained: Putting has been outside the top 100 on TOUR with six of those outside the top 150. But on the rare occasions he gets it right – like the Australian did this week at the Farmers Insurance Open – Scott becomes a monster to contend with. Since the beginning of 2016 Scott has finished just 10 tournaments inside the top 25 players of Stroked Gained: Putting. Eight of those weeks resulted in a top six finish, including two wins and two runner ups, the latest at Torrey Pines this week. Scott was 14th in putting at Torrey Pines needing just 28 putts each round across four days. He did it after moving to an armlock putter with a claw grip and leaving the flagstick in for all of his putts. Armlock putting has been successfully used recently by Matt Kuchar, Bryson DeChambeau, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson. All have won at least once in the last year. “Making the putter change was a pretty good experiment this week, it worked nicely,â€� Scott admitted. “Definitely something to build on. I learned a lot with that style of putting this week and it was quite a big adjustment and I made some errors out there with it, but it’s looking all positive and I like that. Twenty‑eight putts four straight days is probably the best I’ve ever done.â€� The errors Scott spoke of were certainly ugly. And without them he may just have been able to take down Justin Rose rather than finish two shots behind the Englishman. On Sunday he missed a putt from 21 inches. On Thursday he had a three-putt from six feet. Those were just a few of the miscues. But given he only picked up the armlock putter in the days prior to the event there were sure to be teething problems. Armlock putters have different loft angles because of the setup needed to use them, a visual the 38-year-old veteran certainly wasn’t used to. “All of a sudden six degrees of loft and the grip is three inches in front of the blade, so it was a little fiddley getting into position,â€� Scott said. “And when I didn’t put it in the right position, it was in a more natural position, I didn’t start putts where I was intending. “So I missed a couple really short putts throughout the week, which was carelessness.â€� Scott intends to continue the method at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Open in coming weeks.
