After long day, Garcia wins Singapore Open by 5 strokes

SINGAPORE (AP) Sergio Garcia played 27 holes on the last day without dropping a shot to win the Singapore Open by five strokes Sunday in an ominous display of his new found self-belief as he prepares to defend his Masters title.

Still brimming with confidence after claiming his first major title at Augusta National last year, Garcia started his new season with a runaway victory at the Sentosa Golf Club, finishing at 14-under 270.

Returning to the course just after dawn to complete his third round after play was suspended on Saturday because of lightning strikes, Garcia finished his last nine holes in 4-under for a round of 66 to take a one-shot lead into the final round.

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With organizers desperate to avert the constant threat of more bad weather and finish the tournament on time, Garcia promptly returned to the first tee shortly after and fired a flawless 3-under 68, cruising to victory with 10 straight pars as his rivals floundered in the stifling hum..

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Kelly birdies 18th for comeback win on PGA Tour Champions

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) Jerry Kelly bounced back from an inexplicable miss off the tee to stun Colin Montgomerie in the season opener on the PGA Tour Champions.

Kelly made an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole, Montgomerie missed a 6-footer for par and Kelly turned a one-shot deficit into a victory Saturday in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship.

Kelly was tied with Montgomerie when he drove it well right into lava rocks on the wide par-4 16th. He hit a provisional but ended up taking an unplayable lie after he found his ball amid the rocks and made bogey.

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”It was shocking. … I stayed really solid within myself all week and I tried to hit the crap out of that one and it cost me right away,” Kelly said. ”I knew exactly what I did wrong. I took a big old backswing and I couldn’t come back from it, so it showed me a lot.”

On 18, it was Montgomerie who made a mistake off the tee, finding a fairway bunker. His approach went over the green and after ..

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Garcia snatches 3rd round lead at Singapore Open

SINGAPORE (AP) Masters champion Sergio Garcia made four early birdies to take the third-round lead at the Singapore Open on Sunday as organizers rushed to finish the tournament on time after three days of weather delays.

Returning to the Sentosa Golf Club just after dawn to complete his third round after play was suspended on Saturday because of lightning strikes, Garcia finished off his last four holes in 4-under for a 66 and a 54-hole total of 11-under 202.

That gave Garcia the outright lead by a shot from joint halfway leader Chapchai Nirat, who bogeyed the 18th for a 68, and his fellow Thai pro golfer Danthai Boonma, who signed for a 65.

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Indonesia’s Danny Masrin, who was given an invitation to play the $1million Asian Tour event, shot a 67 to join Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira (66), at 9-under.

Former teen prodigy Ryo Ishikawa, who led by two shots early in the third round, slipped down the leaderboard with a double bogey at the last that left him at ..

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Kelly birdies 18th for comeback win on PGA Tour Champions

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) Jerry Kelly made an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole, Colin Montgomerie missed a 6-footer for par and Kelly turned a one-shot deficit into a victory Saturday in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship, the season opener on the PGA Tour Champions.

After Kelly drove it well right into lava rocks on the par-4 16th, leading to bogey and giving Montgomerie the lead, Montgomerie made a mistake with his tee shot on the last, finding a fairway bunker. Montgomerie’s approach went over the green and after Kelly converted his birdie, the 54-year-old Scot jammed his par putt well past the hole.

It was the third win on the over-50 tour for the 51-year-old Kelly, who finished tied for 14th last week at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Honolulu. That gave him confidence as he hopped over to the Big Island for his tournament debut at Hualalai. The limited-field event includes winners from last season, past champions of the event, major champions and Hall of Famers.

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Austin Cook shoots 64 to take CareerBuilder Challenge lead

LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) Austin Cook hit a hybrid into the fairway bunker on the par-4 18th on a breezy Saturday afternoon at La Quinta Country Club, then chunked a wedge and raced a chip 20 feet past the hole.

Kip Henley, the longtime PGA Tour caddie who guided Cook to a breakthrough victory at Sea Island in November, stepped in to give the 26-year-old former Arkansas star a quick pep talk.

”Kip said, `Let’s finish this like we did on the first day at the Nicklaus Course.’ We made a big par putt on 18 there and he said, `Let’s just do the same thing. Let’s get this line right and if you get the line right it’s going in.”’

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It did , giving Cook an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke lead in the CareerBuilder Challenge going into the final round on the Stadium Course at PGA West. Fellow former Razorback Andrew Landry and Martin Piller were tied for second, and Jon Rahm and Scott Piercy were a another stroke back after a tricky day in wind that didn’t get close to..

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Toto Gana in 3-way tie for lead at Latin America Amateur

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) Defending champion Toto Gana opened with a 3-under 68 in his home country and shared the lead Saturday after the opening round of the Latin America Amateur Championship.

Gana, the 20-year-old from Chile who attends Lynn University in Florida, won last year in Panama City to earn a spot in the Masters.

He made six birdies against three bogeys at Prince of Wales Country Club and was tied with Pablo Torres of Colombia and Mark Montenegro of Argentina. Montenegro led most of the opening round until dropping three shots over his final four holes.

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Among those one shot behind was Alvaro Ortiz, who lost in the three-man playoff a year ago.

Joaquin Niemann of Chile, the No. 1 amateur in the world, opened with a 74.

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McIlroy 1 shot behind leaders Fisher, Pieters in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Rory McIlroy fired a 7-under 65 Saturday in the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to sit one shot behind leaders Ross Fisher and Thomas Pieters.

Northern Ireland’s McIlroy is on 16-under 200 overall with the former world No. 1 playing his first event since October.

England’s Fisher also shot a 65, while overnight leader Pieters added a 67 to reach 17-under 199 on a low-scoring day in the absence of any wind at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club’s National Course.

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Top-ranked Dustin Johnson (68) is five shots behind the leaders.

Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood (67) was tied fourth on 201 with Matthew Fitzpatrick, whose 9-under 63 is the lowest round of the tournament so far.

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The Lakers made history with the worst stat imaginable, and still won

Kevork DjansezianLOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 19: Jordan Clarkson #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers scores basket against Cory Joseph #6 of the Indiana Pacers during the second half to finish off with a game high 33 points and defeat the Pacers, 99-86, at Staples Center on January 19, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)So far, the 2017-'18 season has been another one featuring growing pains for the Los Angeles Lakers, as they continue a rebuild five years in the making. But after a stretch where they lost nine straight games from late December into early January, the Lakers have rebounded with some of their better basketball of the year, winning five of the last seven.
One of those victories came on Friday night against the Indiana Pacers, a 99-86 win in which Lak..

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Garcia and Ishikawa in contention at Singapore Open

SINGAPORE (AP) Danthai Boonma and Chapchai Nirat built a two-stroke lead over a chasing pack including Sergio Garcia and Ryo Ishikawa their closest rivals midway through the third round of the weather-interrupted Singapore Open on Saturday.

The Thai golfers were locked together at 9-under when play was suspended at the Sentosa Golf Club for the third day in a row because of lightning strikes in the area.

Masters champion Garcia and former teen prodigy Ishikawa were among seven players leading the chase at 7-under on a heavily congested leaderboard.

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Garcia, one of 78 players who returned to the course just after dawn to complete their second rounds, was on the 10th hole of his third round when the warning siren was sounded to abruptly end play for the day.

”Let’s see if we can finish the round, that will be nice,” he said. ”But I think if I can play 4-under I should have a chance.”

The Spanish golfer credits the Singapore Open as having played a pa..

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Ishikawa grabs share of halfway lead at Singapore Open

SINGAPORE (AP) Ryo Ishikawa moved into a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the Singapore Open on Saturday, raising hopes the former teen prodigy can finally win a tournament away from home.

Ishikawa completed his weather-interrupted second round with a 5-under 66 to join Chapchai Nirat in a two-way tie for the lead at 7-under 135 at Sentosa Golf Club.

Masters champion Sergio Garcia was in a five-man group, a further stroke back at 6-under, but on a heavily congested leaderboard where the top 29 players were within three shots of the lead.

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Garcia, who held a share of the first-round lead, birdied the final hole to end a run of eight straight pars and shot a second-round 70.

”I felt like I hit the ball OK,” Garcia said. ”My putting and all went great but my speed hasn’t been great on this green so let’s see if I can be a little more aggressive on the rounds this weekend.”

The Spaniard credits the Singapore Open as having played a part in tou..

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