Though still far from perfect — why not three days instead of one at the famous course? — the Augusta National Women’s Amateur delivered an epic Saturday.
NBA stars Vlade Divac, Sidney Moncrief and Jack Sikma are the headliners of the 2019 class for the Basketball Hall of Fame.
From 62 wins to a scorer who put up Jagr-in-his-prime points and much more. Here are 25 stats that tell the crazy story.
Women finally had the chance to compete at Augusta National, and Jennifer Kupcho took home the historical first trophy.
SAN ANTONIO — For the third straight round, Si Woo Kim is the leader of the Valero Texas Open, but he’s got plenty of company. Kim, the 23-year-old from South Korea, built a 4-stroke lead, the largest at the halfway point of a PGA TOUR tournament this season, with a pair of 66s. It was gone by the fifth hole on Saturday as Canadian Corey Conners, a Monday qualifier, made his move on Moving Day. Kim, the 2017 THE PLAYERS Championship winner, weathered a rainstorm early in the round, nearly aced the 16th hole for the second day in a row and made birdie at the final hole to shoot 3-under 69 and take a one-stroke lead over Conners. “It’s a tough day. First six holes, like rain and windy,” Kim said. “Back nine weather is better and a little bit of pressure. Yeah, still feels great and looking forward to tomorrow.” Conners, 27, carried his strong play at the end of Friday into Saturday’s action and said he was in the zone. He birdied four of his last five holes in the second round and five of his first seven holes in the third round. “Corey’s first six holes were crazy — like every shot right on it and then putted good,” Kim said. The rain didn’t seem to bother Conners either. “I just tried to block it out really and just focus, take a deep breath and just be really committed to the shot and not worry about what was falling from the sky because it was raining pretty good on a few of those approach shots,” he said. Conners is the last man to qualify for the Valero Texas Open. Playing out of the 126-150 category on the TOUR this season, he spent Monday at The Club at Sonterra, where 73 players attempted to earn one of four spots into the field. Conners survived a 6-for-1 playoff and is attempting to become the first Monday Qualifier to won on TOUR since Arjun Atwal at the 2010 Wyndham Championship “I feel like I belong in the field,” said Conners, who has two top-5 finishes and ranks No. 66 in the FedExCup. Kim made four birdies after opening the day with a bogey at the first hole. One day after acing the par-3 16th, Kim nearly did it again. He planted his palms to the top of his head in disappointment when the ball hopped over the hole and stopped inside 4 feet away. “I thought first bounce and then, oh, that’s going in, but just missed it,” Kim said. Instead, the hole-in-one heroics on Saturday came courtesy of Nick Taylor, who aced the 221-yard 13th hole with a 4-iron. “It might have been my first solid swing of the day,” said Taylor, who shot 1-under 71. Charley Hoffman, the 2016 Valero Texas Open champion, soared up the leaderboard with a tournament-low 8-under 64, and trails by two strokes. Scott Brown, who was born in Augusta, Georgia, and played his first 21 holes in even par, posted 5-under 67 and is tied with Danny Lee (66) and Jhonnattan Vegas (67) at 11-under 203. FedExCup points-leader Matt Kuchar moved into the top 10 with a 5-under 67. Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler both fell out of contention, shooting 1-over 73. The secondary cut came at 1-under 215. The final round of the Valero Texas Open is setting up to be an old-fashioned shootout. Kim, who has won twice, including his signature win at THE PLAYERS, is trying to go wire-to-wire while Conners, in his second season on TOUR, is seeking his first victory. “I’ve been in this position a few times before where I’ve been near the lead and I’ve got some good experiences to draw off of and hopefully can get over the edge,” Conners said.
NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho became the first woman to win at Augusta National with a charge on the back nine so often seen at the home of the Masters.
SAN ANTONIO — When Charley Hoffman approached a veteran television reporter for a post-round interview, the broadcaster greeted Hoffman with a smile. “I knew at some point this week you were going to come and talk to me,” the reporter said. Hoffman, 42, grinned. This is his 14th career start at the Valero Texas Open and in addition to being the 2016 champion, Hoffman has recorded a runner-up, a third and five top-10 finishes in this event. In other words, he’s a world-beater at TPC San Antonio, where he’s also never missed the cut, and has become accustomed to conducting interviews as one of the tournament leaders. “The old saying ‘Horses for courses,’ it’s not a fluke. I think it’s something,” Hoffman said. “I really enjoy San Antonio. I really enjoy the (J.W. Marriott) Resort. My family loves coming here and hanging out. I think we’re always in a good frame of mind this week. Even after a tough start to the year, I came with a good head on the shoulders and it’s showing.” Hoffman rocketed up the leaderboard on Saturday, shooting an 8-under 64, the low round of the tournament and his career-best at TPC San Antonio. He started with two birdies and finished even hotter, closing with two birdies and an eagle at 18 to climb into third place at 13-under 203 and two strokes behind 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim. Hoffman, a four-time PGA TOUR winner, said he had hoped playing at TPC San Antonio would give his season a spark. He hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish since the 2017 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and has missed the cut in more than half of his 11 starts this season and three of his last four coming into this week. He blamed his pedestrian play of late on a balky putter. Hoffman said instructor Derek Uyeda and Greg Rose noticed he was getting too fixated on his alignment. Rose, who runs the Titleist Performance Institute, doesn’t usually look at Hoffman’s putting, but compared his stroke to that of Jack Nicklaus.  “He said Nicklaus is always tracing the line back and forth to the ball and you’re just standing over the ball stagnant,” Hoffman said. “He said, ‘I don’t care how good you are lined up over the ball. You don’t have any feel.’ It was pretty easy once he showed me and I worked on it last week and it’s been going great.” Hoffman added, “I think I’m a fairly good putter when I used my instincts and just visualize the putt going in instead of getting honed in on a line.” Hoffman led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting on Saturday (+3.953) and ranks 13th for the week. Hoffman rolled in birdie putts early and then survived the onslaught of the rain in the middle of his round. He chipped in at No. 11 to keep his momentum going and played his last five holes in 5 under. “Once the sun came out again, the birdies did also,” Hoffman said. “It was nice to finish off the round birdie‑birdie‑eagle.” At the par-5 18th, Hoffman had 284 yards from the right rough and drew a good lie. He ripped 3-wood to 10 feet and sank the eagle putt. “This finish is where you get this golf course,” Hoffman said. “I was able to take advantage of my good golf shots and hopefully carry that momentum, that finish into tomorrow’s round.”
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Si Woo Kim narrowly missed a second hole-in-one on consecutive days and saw his four-shot lead trimmed to one over Monday qualifier Corey Conners after Saturday’s third round of the Valero Texas Open. Kim, the 2017 THE PLAYERS Championship winner, aced the 16th hole at the TPC San Antonio on Friday, and he missed it by inches on the way to a third round 3-under 69. He was at 15 under, and Connors, trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA TOUR since 2010, was a stroke back after shooting a 6-under 66. Charley Hoffman, the 2016 Valero Texas Open winner, moved up the leaderboard with a birdie-birdie-eagle finish and the week’s best round of 64. He was two back of Kim at 13-under. Scott Brown turned in a second straight 67, and Jhonattan Vegas also shot 67. Both were at 11 under with Kyoung-Hoon Lee (69) and four strokes back. Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth started the day tied for second, four shots back. Both finished eight shots out of the lead after ballooning to rounds of 1-over 73. Kim flirted with the 16th hole on the second bounce on Saturday. This time, the ball rolled past the hole to inside four feet for what looked like an easy birdie. He missed, Conners made his from inches shorter and they shared the lead again. But Conners returned the favor on the next hole, missing a birdie from inside seven feet. Kim got out of a greenside bunker at the par-5 18th and sank a four-foot par to get the one-stroke advantage. Conners is trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA TOUR since Arjun Atwal nine years ago. Before that, no one had done it in 24 years. He birdied the opening three holes, including a near-ace at the third, and almost had a fourth to start the day when his 58-foot putt rested a couple of inches from the cup on No. 4. He birdied again at the fifth, which gave him a share of the lead with Kim, and joined Kim in birdieing the seventh. Conners, 27, was a finalist in the 2014 U.S. Amateur, but he has not won on the PGA TOUR or any of its affiliate tours. This season he has finished second in the Sanderson Farms Championship and, after Monday qualifying, was third at the Sony Open. Hoffman’s hot finish came with a birdie at the 14th. He wrapped it up with a 22-foot birdie putt at 16 and a 15-footer at 17 before he reached the green in two at the downwind 607-yard finishing hole. Fowler bogeyed his first two holes, part of five on the day. Even with an eagle on the 18th, Fowler dropped 14 spots to 16th and 7-under. Spieth was in the last group of the day with leaders Kim and Conners, but he quickly joined Fowler in going the other way. He didn’t hit a fairway until the 11th hole and by that time had two double bogeys. After his front-nine 42, Spieth’s first birdie came on the 12th. He added four more on the backside.
The Bengals have waived running back Mark Walton, who has been arrested three times this offseason and is facing one felony charge and three misdemeanors.
Paul Westphal, Sidney Moncrief, Vlade Divac, Bill Fitch and Teresa Weatherspoon were among the 12 inductees named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday.
