Ryan Brehm makes his final putt on the 18th hole during the first round of the Valspar Championship on Thursday in Palm Harbor, Fla. Mike Carlson/Associated Press

GOLF

Ryan Brehm turned a good round into a memorable one Thursday, making a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th hole at Innisbrook for a 5-under 66 that led to a three-way share of the lead at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.

Stephan Jaeger also had a 66, while Adam Schenk joined them with the low score in the afternoon on the Copperhead course.

Jordan Spieth, back at Innisbrook for the first time in five years, had a bogey-free round and was particularly sharp with the putter, making birdie putts of 60 feet and 30 feet on his way to a 67. Also at 67 were former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and Maverick McNealy.

Brehm’s ace came with a 6-iron from 196 yards, and he closed with a par. It was his 11th time in the 60s in 43 rounds on the PGA Tour this season.

Jaeger had seven birdies in the morning, which started with temperatures cold enough for some players to wear beanies and extra layers. Schenk finished his round with a 10-foot par save on the par-3 eighth hole, and then after going bunker-to-bunker on the ninth, made a par putt from 5 feet.

Advertisement

Tommy Fleetwood was at 68, while the group at 69 included two-time defending champion Sam Burns and Justin Thomas, at No. 10 the highest-ranked player in the field.

EUROPEAN TOUR: David Ravetto and Kristian Krogh Johannessen carded 5-under 67s at a windy St. Francis Links course to share the clubhouse lead in the first round of the SDC Championship in St. Francis Bay, South Africa.

France’s Ravetto picked up six birdies and just one bogey and Norway’s Johannessen had a blemish-free round of five birdies as the tournament made its debut on the tour.

They are one shot ahead of Scotland’s Connor Syme in third. Syme had an eventful day, starting with three birdies and a bogey in his opening four holes. He carded seven birdies in all, but also three bogeys for his 68.

SOCCER

WORLD CUP: The Women’s World Cup is getting an increase in prize money of more than 300% for this year’s tournament.

Advertisement

The $152 million fund for the first 32-team tournament – covering prize money, team preparation and payments to players’ clubs – is a huge boost from the 24-team edition in 2019, and 10 times what it was in 2015.

Some of the $110 million in pure prize money should be dedicated to paying players, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in Rwanda after being re-elected by acclamation through 2027.

Infantino also again expressed his anger with broadcasters for offering too little for TV rights. He said FIFA will not sell broadcast rights for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand at the prices currently being offered.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Two-time defending Formula One champion Max Verstappen’s arrival at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been delayed because of a stomach bug.

The Red Bull driver posted on Twitter that illness forced him to miss his initial flight and meant he could not do his scheduled media duties. The 25-year-old Dutchman was expected to arrive on Thursday evening in time for the practice sessions on Friday.

Advertisement

TENNIS

INDIAN WELLS: Top-ranked Iga Swiatek breezed past Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday.

Swiatek, the defending champion, took a 4-0 lead in the second set and converted her second match point to close it out.

“I’m happy that I played so intense that I could start both sets well,” Swiatek said. “I’m feeling like I’m handling things pretty well and just playing my game.”

Next up for Swiatek is No. 10 seed Elena Rybakina, who outlasted Karolina Muchova 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4. It will be a rematch from the Australian Open in January, when Rybakina won 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Rybakina became the first woman from Kazakhstan to earn a semifinal berth at Indian Wells.

SKIING

Advertisement

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami won the women’s World Cup super-G at Soldeu, Andorra, and Mikaela Shiffrin finished 14th in her first race since setting the record for most career victories with 87.

Gut-Behrami had a near-flawless run on the Aliga course to win the last super-G of the season and overtake Italian rival Elena Curtoni in the standings. Curtoni finished 1.23 seconds behind in 10th, a day after she crashed in the downhill on the same hill.

Federica Brignone finished 0.22 seconds behind in second place and Ragnhild Mowinckel was 0.47 back in third. Both needed to finish ahead of Gut-Behrami to maintain their chance of winning the super-G title.

Shiffrin has locked up the overall, giant slalom and slalom titles before the last races in her strongest events. The final slalom is on Saturday and the giant slalom is Sunday.

MEN’S WORLD CUP: Swiss skier Marco Odermatt won the men’s super-G at the World Cup Finals Soldeu, Andorra to close in on the 23-year-old record for most points in a single season.

The victory raised Odermatt’s tally to 1,942 points, leaving him 58 short of the all-time mark set by Austrian great Hermann Maier in the 1999-2000 season.

Odermatt can break the record of 2,000 points with a top-three finish in Saturday’s giant slalom. He has finished on the podium in all eight giant slalom races he started this season.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.