Sports
Hideki Matsuyama overtakes Ryo Hisatsune for Phoenix Open lead
Feb 7, 2026; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; Hideki Matsuyama of the Republic of Korea hits a shot out of the bunker on hole 18 during the third round of the WM Phoenix Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Anna Carrington-Imagn Images Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune played in the final group at the WM Phoenix Open together on Saturday, and it was set up for the Japanese countrymen to do the same on Sunday.
One missed putt at the end of the day changed those plans.
Matsuyama overtook Hisatsune for the lead after three rounds when Hisatsune bogeyed the last hole Saturday at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona.
Hisatsune, 23, led his more-accomplished peer by one stroke through two rounds. Matsuyama’s 3-under-par 68 propelled him to a 13-under 200 through three rounds while Hisatsune’s late blunder led him to a round of 70.
“Yeah, it was a great day today. Kind of a first today for Japan to have two Japanese pros play in a final group,” Matsuyama said through a translator. “I was hoping we could do it tomorrow, but, again, I hope tomorrow just to play well and stay on top.”
Hisatsune, meanwhile, dropped into a four-way tie at 12-under with Maverick McNealy (65), Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (65) and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (66). The final threesome to go off Sunday will be Matsuyama, McNealy and Hojgaard.
Matsuyama and Hisatsune were tied at 13 under after Hisatsune birdied Nos. 10 and 17 to catch up. Matsuyama parred No. 18 and Hisatsune escaped a greenside bunker, leaving himself 5 1/2 feet to save par.
But Hisatsune’s putt started left and stayed left, missing the cup altogether for a difficult bogey.
Hisatsune later said it was “special” to play alongside the 33-year-old Matsuyama, who became the first Japanese man to win a major when he captured the 2021 Masters.
“You know, he’s like won Masters and then like 11 times PGA winner, so like very different for me,” Hisatsune said. “But more chasing Hideki tomorrow, like going to also today as well.”
Two of those PGA Tour wins for Matsuyama were the 2016 and 2017 Phoenix Opens. Matsuyama brushed that off Saturday by saying this is a “brand-new tournament,” and he had a funny response to a follow-up about what he likes about TPC Scottsdale.
“I like this course because even if I miss a fairway, I can still find my ball,” he said. “Unless it’s in the cactuses.”
Matsuyama mixed three birdies and two bogeys over his first five holes Saturday. He took over the lead with an 11-foot birdie putt at the par-4 10th, and he added his last birdie at the par-5 13th.
Hojgaard, 24, is a three-time winner in Europe seeking his first PGA Tour victory. His bogey-free round was buoyed by five birdies in the closing six holes.
“It’s easy to then go out and hunt the birdies a little bit, but I stayed patient, hitting into the right zones and hit some really, really good shots coming in and capitalized with some birdies, so it was a great way to finish,” Hojgaard said.
Then there’s McNealy, who at 30 is seeking his second PGA Tour title. He ranks second this week in greens in regulation (44 of 54) and made eight birdies Saturday. A bogey at the par-4 17th kept him from a share of the lead through 54 holes.
“You have to take every hole as it comes,” McNealy said about an aggressive approach to Sunday. “If you hit the fairway, you can be aggressive if you have the right number. Miss the fairway, you just can’t shoot yourself out of the tournament and make soft bogeys.”
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick held a share of the lead after consecutive birdies at Nos. 14-15, but he made a mess of the par-3 16th “Stadium Hole” and recorded a double bogey. A birdie-bogey finish left him at 67 for his round and tied at 11 under with Michael Thorbjornsen (65), Jake Knapp (66) and Akshay Bhatia (67).
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler posted a 67 that featured a chip-in birdie from the sand at No. 10. He’s five off the pace at 8 under entering Sunday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cubs place RHP Cade Horton (forearm) on 15-day IL
Mar 28, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton (22) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images The Chicago Cubs placed right-handed starter Cade Horton on the 15-day injured list Sunday with a right forearm strain.
The move is retroactive to Saturday for Horton, who exited Friday’s start against the host Cleveland Guardians after one-plus inning and 17 pitches.
Horton retired the side in order in the first inning before walking Kyle Manzardo on five pitches to open the second. He left the game with the Cubs’ head trainer. The Guardians went on to win 4-1.
“I had some tightness in my wrist and as the game went on, it went into my forearm,” Horton said on Friday. “I wanted to err on the cautious side and not hurt anything else. I just wanted to be smart about it and make a smart decision.”
Horton lowered his ERA to 2.45 on Friday after he yielded two runs in 6 1/3 innings in the Cubs’ 10-2 win over the Washington Nationals on March 28. It is the 24-year-old’s second season in the major leagues.
He was 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA in his rookie season.
Also on Sunday, the Cubs recalled left-hander Riley Martin from Triple-A Iowa and tabbed right-hander Ethan Roberts as the 27th man for Sunday’s doubleheader against the Guardians.
Martin, 28, has yet to pitch in a major league game. He is 24-13 with a 3.76 ERA in 174 career appearances (three starts) in the minors.
–Field Level Media
Sports
UConn G Solo Ball nursing foot injury, uncertain for title game
Apr 4, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; UConn Huskies guard Solo Ball (1) dunks against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half of a semifinal of the Final Four of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images UConn guard Solo Ball’s availability for Monday’s national championship game against Michigan is in question as he deals with “some type of a foot sprain,” per head coach Dan Hurley.
Hurley told reporters that Ball was in a walking boot and will not practice Sunday, one day after the Huskies’ 71-62 victory over Illinois in the Final Four.
“It’s going to be tough to get an MRI on Easter, on a Sunday,” Hurley said.
Ball contributed 13 points and two assists in 28 minutes during the win over the Fighting Illini. The 6-foot-4 guard is averaging 12.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 38 games (all starts) this season for UConn, which will vie for its third national title in four years Monday.
If Ball is unable to play, it likely would put more of the onus on freshman guard Braylon Mullins. Malachi Smith and Jayden Ross likely will see additional playing time as well.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Michigan heavy favorite to complete dominant title run vs. UConn
Apr 4, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines center Aday Mara (15) high fives forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) during the second half in a semifinal of the Final Four of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images UConn has won two of the past three national championships but will enter Monday night’s title game against Michigan as a heavy underdog.
That’s because the top-seeded Wolverines have blitzed through their first five games of the NCAA Tournament, winning by an average of 21.6 points. That includes an 18-point dismantling of fellow No. 1 seed Arizona on Saturday night in a game that wasn’t even as close as the final score.
UConn, the No. 2 seed in the East, followed a dramatic upset of No. 1 Duke in the Elite Eight with a systematic breakdown of No. 3 seed Illinois. Still, the Huskies will enter Monday night as the underdog for their third consecutive game.
Michigan was a consensus 7.0-point favorite across major sportsbooks on Sunday, with the Wolverines seeking to become the first Big Ten team to win the national title since the 1999-2000 season.
The line was sitting at 6.5 points at both BetMGM and DraftKings, where the line opened at 7.5. The total points line at 144.5 at both books. At DraftKings, the shortest odds on the winning margin was Michigan to win by 3-6 points at +425, followed by a Wolverines victory by 10-13 points at +450. UConn’s shortest odds for a victory were 3-6 points at +800.
The Wolverines are the 10th Big Ten team to reach the final in a season that began this century, but the most recent team to cut down the nets remains Michigan State in 1999-2000. Michigan looking to complete a turnaround that saw the program stumble to an 8-24 finish just two years ago.
UConn is in the final for the third time in four years, but will go up against a Michigan team that already is the first in history to score at least 90 points five times in a single NCAA Tournament.
“We know it’s just one more, so we’re going to try to get it,” Michigan’s Aday Mara said after Saturday’s beat down of Arizona.
The Huskies certainly have recent history on their site, and coach Dan Hurley will enter Monday night with a 350-179 career coaching record along with that pair of national titles. No program has won three in a four-year span since the 1972-75 UCLA Bruins.
UConn has 18 wins this season in which it has held its opponent under 40 percent shooting, and the Huskies held Illinois to 33.9% shooting from three-point range on Saturdya.
“We’re a group of fighters. It’s not appealing to everyone,” Hurley said. “I’m sure there’s some people in here that it’s off-putting for. But we are a group of fighters. We are incredibly tough. We’ve got incredible will. We go into these games, we’re ready for battle.
“Again, for us it’s not a game that we’re just kind of running around in uniforms throwing the ball around, hoping it goes in. That’s not what we’re doing out there. We’re fighting. It’s a life-and-death struggle for us to get to Monday night for the opportunity to win a championship, and then just to be able to prolong this season with each other and to make the people of Connecticut proud, to make the university proud and all the former great players.”
–Field Level Media
Cubs place RHP Cade Horton (forearm) on 15-day IL
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