U.S./World Sports category, Page 118
UFC, WWE combine to form $21.4B sports entertainment company
WWE is saying goodbye to existing as a family-run business as it joins with the company that runs Ultimate Fighting Championship to create a $21.4 billion sports entertainment company. The deal announced Monday between Endeavor and World Wrestling Entertainment, on the heels of its biggest event of the year, catapults...
Snoop Dogg steps in at last second during WrestleMania
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Leave it to Snoop Dogg to emerge as the Most Valuable Performer of WrestleMania 39. During a weekend that saw World Wrestling Entertainment set a two-night attendance record for their signature event, the company on the verge of being sold and Roman Reigns remaining the undisputed champion,...
Brooks Koepka hangs on to win LIV event ahead of Masters
ORLANDO, Fla. — Brooks Koepka became the first multiple winner in LIV Golf when he closed with a 3-under-par 68, making a 4-foot par putt on the final hole for a one-shot victory over Sebastian Munoz. LIV Golf-Orlando came one week before Koepka and 17 other players in the Saudi-funded...
Kyle Larson keeps Hendrick, Chevrolet in NASCAR driver’s seat
Kyle Larson pulled away on a restart with 14 laps to go and easily won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway on Sunday. Larson started the final green flag run with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Josh Berry to his outside and beat Berry into the first turn. Berry, who...
Corey Conners wins Valero Texas Open for 2nd time in 5 years
SAN ANTONIO — Corey Conners won the Valero Texas Open for the second time in five years Sunday for his second PGA Tour title, closing with a 4-under-par 68 for a one-stroke victory over rookie Sam Stevens. Also the 2019 winner, Conners had a 15-under 273 total on TPC San...
LSU wins 1st NCAA championship, beating Clark and IowaVideo
DALLAS — Kim Mulkey had tears of joy streaming down her face as she guided LSU to it first national championship. Her Tigers used a record offensive performance to beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa, 102-85, on Sunday and win the first basketball title in school history. The victory made Mulkey...
Transfer portal lifts UConn, San Diego State to NCAA finalVideo
HOUSTON — Dan Hurley knew in the wake of a first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament last year that his Connecticut team had to find more perimeter punch to surround his top NBA prospects and match opponents. Similarly, Brian Dutcher quickly went about luring a new point guard to San...
Augusta National has Sunday unlike any other at MastersVideo
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Mark O’Meara is reminded every year how meaningful it was to win the Masters. O’Meara was on the practice green Sunday at Augusta National, 25 years removed from his birdie-birdie finish to win his first major. Now he is 66 and plays the PGA Tour Champions only...
UConn puts Final Four beatdown on Miami
HOUSTON — Nobody was guarding UConn’s best player. So Adama Sanogo spun the ball to get his fingers just right, set his feet behind the 3-point line and splashed in the shot. Then, less than a minute later, he did it again. It was as much basketball clinic as highlight...
Rose Zhang holds on to win Augusta Women’s Amateur in playoff
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rose Zhang has won enough to realize that rarely does something so meaningful ever come so easily. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the final piece to her brilliant amateur career, meant the world to her. It turned out to be her toughest test. Staked to a five-shot...
Butler’s buzzer-beater sends San Diego State to title gameVideo
HOUSTON — Lamont Butler made a jumper at the buzzer, sending San Diego State to its first national championship game with a 72-71 win over fellow mid-major Florida Atlantic in the Final Four on Saturday night. “It’s unbelievable,” Butler said. “This is what I came here to do. I’m glad...
Koepka takes 3-shot lead in LIV Golf event ahead of MastersVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Brooks Koepka became known for showing up big in the majors. He started to hit his stride Saturday with a 6-under-par 65 for a three-shot lead in LIV Golf-Orlando on the weekend before he heads for the Masters. Koepka played bogey-free at Orange County National. Sebastian Munoz...
Patrick Rodgers takes 1-shot lead into Texas Open finaleVideo
SAN ANTONIO — Patrick Rodgers shot a 1-under-par 71 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Valero Texas Open, with his first PGA Tour title and Masters spot at stake. Making his 235th tour start, the 30-year-old Rodgers had a 12-under 204 total at...
Iowa, LSU both seeking first NCAA titles in women’s finalVideo
DALLAS — Caitlin Clark has captured the attention of basketball fans with her historic performance in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa’s sensational guard will try to finish off the unprecedented run with a championship when the Hawkeyes face LSU on Sunday in the title game. “I think winning a national championship...
Kyle Busch ahead of Richmond: Parity keeps it interestingVideo
RICHMOND, Va. — Kyle Busch is off to a solid start for Richard Childress Racing with a victory, two top-10 finishes and sitting fourth in points through six races. Now comes Richmond Raceway, where Busch leads all active drivers with six career victories, to start a stretch of three consecutive...
Party for first-timers: Caitlin Clark, Iowa will play LSU for title
DALLAS — Caitlin Clark gets the national stage for one more game this season. Same with the Texas homecoming for Alexis Morris. The standout guards have made it a party of first-timers for the women’s NCAA championship game Sunday. Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes knocked off undefeated defending national champion...
AP source: NBA, players reach deal for a new labor agreement
The NBA will have labor peace for years to come. The league and its players came to an agreement early Saturday on a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press. The deal will begin this summer and will last at least...
Clark, Iowa end perfect South Carolina season in Final Four
DALLAS — Caitlin Clark tossed the ball high in the air as the clock ticked down, gave a huge shout-out to her adoring fans and then took off on a gleeful gallop around the court. In the biggest matchup of her life, the dazzling point guard from Iowa had done...
Mulkey-led LSU women reach 1st title game, top Virginia TechVideo
DALLAS — Alexis Morris scored 27 points and had two of her misses in the fourth quarter turned into putback baskets by Angel Reese in a big run as LSU rallied to beat top-seeded Virginia Tech, 79-72, in a national semifinal game Friday night. Reese finished with 24 points and...
All female officials in women’s Final Four for 1st time ever
DALLAS — The NCAA has an entirely female crew working the national semifinals and championship game at the women’s Final Four this weekend. It’s the first time that’s ever happened, according to the organization. The NCAA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX this year, which makes it fitting...
Gianna Clemente making name for herself in return to AugustaVideo
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Gianna Clemente was halfway through her practice round Friday at Augusta National when she looked over at the 18th green and couldn’t help but think of the last time she was here, facing a big putt on the final hole at the home of the Masters. Clemente...
Wimbledon drops ban on Russians, lets them play as neutrals
LONDON — Russian and Belarusian players will be able to compete at Wimbledon as neutral athletes after the All England Club on Friday reversed its ban from last year. The players must sign declarations of neutrality and comply with “appropriate conditions,” including not expressing support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine....
MASTERS ’23: Return of Tiger, hope for Rory and a lot of LIVVideo
Tiger Woods returns to the Masters, no longer a surprise as it was a year ago but no less a rare appearance. This will be only his third tournament against elite competition since he remarkably hobbled his way through 72 holes at Augusta National. For Rory McIlroy, this might be...
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark wins AP Player of the YearVideo
DALLAS — Caitlin Clark has put together one of the greatest individual seasons in NCAA history with eye-popping offensive numbers. Iowa’s junior guard, though, saved her best performance for the game’s biggest stage, recording the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history to get Iowa to the Final Four for the...
Final Four: Last year’s bluebloods are this year’s no-names
A year ago, college basketball was getting ready for the game of a lifetime: North Carolina vs. Duke at the Final Four. And this year? Well, to put it kindly, who the heck are these guys? The NCAA Tournament, the annual event that has told and sold and made marketing...
