Sports
Maverick McNealy, Sepp Straka among 5 tied for The Players lead
Maverick McNealy hits out of the rough on 18 during the first round of The Players Championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass, March 12, 2026 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. March 12, 2026. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Maverick McNealy, Lee Hodges, Sahith Theegala and Sepp Straka formed a tie for the lead in Thursday’s weather-hit opening round of The Players Championship when play was suspended in fading light.
Surprise package Austin Smotherman, one of four players yet to complete the opening round, has a chance to seize the outright lead when play resumes on Friday as he faces a 15-foot birdie putt on his final hole — the par-5 ninth.
Smotherman was at 5 under after mixing four birdies with a lone bogey on his back nine, but he regretted playing a chip shot from 40 yards out before deciding to mark his ball on the green and return the following morning to complete his round.
“It was just getting so dark,” said Smotherman, a three-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour who was a runner-up at last month’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. “Greens are getting — I mean, the rain softened them enough to where spike marks, footprints, all that stuff’s kind of adding up.
“So a 15-, 16-footer, whatever I have. I mean, it’s not worth it right now (and he will) get fresh greens in the morning, which is the benefit of that. Do I wish I hit the chip in the morning as well? Went back and forth. The fact I was even questioning it, I probably should have maybe backed off.”
McNealy, Hodges, Theegala and Straka fired matching 5-under-par 67s on a day of mixed weather conditions at TPC Sawgrass, where the course was relatively firm in the morning before being softened by early afternoon thunderstorms.
Former world No. 1 amateur McNealy, who teed off in the morning wave, reeled off five birdies in his first 12 holes on his way to an early one-shot lead. He was then caught late in the day by fellow American Hodges, who birdied two of his last three holes, and Austrian Straka, who eagled the par-5 16th with a chip-in from 50 feet.
“It was a very straightforward chip,” said Straka, who has won four times on the PGA Tour with his most recent victory coming at last year’s Truist Championship. “It was just off the green, upslope in the first cut. It was about as easy as they come, and I was able to take advantage of it.”
American Theegala made it a four-way tie at the top after covering his back nine in 3 under, highlighted by a hole-out eagle at the par-4 12th where he hit a stunning 99-yard approach from the right fairway, his ball bouncing sharply to the left off the fringe before disappearing into the cup.
“I hit it a little skinny and just came out a little right,” said Theegala, whose only PGA Tour victory came at the 2023 Fortinet Championship. “Got a nice bounce … it was probably going to spin left off that slope, was probably going to go like 20, 25 feet down that slope, just straight left of the hole. So for it to crash into the pin and go in is pretty cool. It’s a nice bonus.”
World No. 6 Russell Henley and fellow American Justin Thomas, who won this event in 2021 and is making his second PGA Tour start of the year after undergoing back surgery in November, were among a group of four players who opened with 68s on a tightly bunched leaderboard.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, bidding for a rare third victory at The Players Championship, produced a mixed bag as he opened with an even-par 72. He birdied his final hole, the par-5 ninth, following consecutive bogeys.
“I did some good things, changing weather out there, but overall I felt like I gave away some shots,” said Scheffler, who clinched his 20th career victory on the PGA Tour at The American Express in January. “Hoping to clean it up a little bit the next few days.
“It can get very challenging when you get some high winds like we had this morning. It can get even more challenging when you’re playing from the rough, which I felt like I was doing a bit too much of today … I struck it better on the back nine. Just made a few mental errors and just need to be a little bit sharper the next few days.”
World No. 2 and defending champion Rory McIlroy, looking to shrug off a back injury that led to his withdrawal from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, experienced a frustrating day as he battled to a 74. Often wayward off the tee, he mixed three bogeys with a lone birdie to finish seven strokes off the pace.
“I would say the most discomfort was like when the ball was below my feet or with chipping,” McIlroy replied when asked if his back had posed any problems. “Just like getting down a little bit to it. Honestly, overall it was fine. Got a little bit tired at the end of the day, but yeah, it was actually all pretty good.”
The elite Players Championship field is one of the strongest in the game with the top 10 golfers in the world rankings — and 47 of the top 50 — assembled at TPC Sawgrass for the tournament’s 52nd edition.
However, World No. 4 Collin Morikawa withdrew from the tournament due to a back injury after playing just one hole on Thursday. After teeing off on the 10th hole and making a par, he experienced some discomfort while taking a practice swing on the 11th tee box.
–Mark Lamport-Stokes, Field Level Media
Sports
Strong start propels Arizona to easy UCF defeat in Big 12 tourney opener
Mar 12, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Brayden Burries (5) shoots the ball over UCF Knights forward Jordan Burks (99) during the first half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images Brayden Burries scored 21 points and top-seeded Arizona never trailed while cruising to an 81-59 victory over eighth-seeded UCF on Thursday afternoon in Kansas City to reach the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.
Tobe Awaka had 12 points and 12 rebounds in the quarterfinal matchup and Koa Peat also scored 12 points for the Wildcats (30-2). Ivan Kharchenkov added 10 points for Arizona.
Themus Fulks scored 14 points for the Knights (21-11), who are expected to receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Jordan Burks and Chris Johnson added 10 points apiece for UCF.
Arizona will face fifth-seeded Iowa State in Friday night’s first semifinal.
UCF’s John Bol was helped off the court with an apparent chest injury with 11:07 remaining in the game, collapsing to the floor while touching his chest with a hand. He had six points and five rebounds.
Arizona shot 48.3% from the field, including 6 of 16 from 3-point range, while leading by as much as 27.
The Knights made 36.5% of their attempts and were just 3 of 21 from behind the arc.
UCF threatened to make it a game after cutting its 27-point first-half deficit to 54-42 on Johnson’s floater with 11:49 left in the game.
But Awaka converted a three-point play to get it back to 15. A short time later, Motiejus Krivas made two free throws to give the Wildcats a 61-44 advantage with 8:22 left in the contest.
The Knights made another attempt on baskets by Johnson and Burks to move within 13 with 7:24 to play.
The Wildcats pushed the lead back to 66-49 on a dunk by Peat with 5:31 left.
A trey by Fulks got UCF within 12 with 4:48 left before Burries went on a personal 7-0 burst to give Arizona a 73-54 lead with 3:32 to play.
Kharchenkov followed with a 3-point play to boost the lead to 22 with 2:53 left as the Wildcats closed it out.
Arizona exploded at the outset of the game with seven straight points and led 14-2 before the game was five minutes old.
Awaka scored consecutive baskets to make it 20-6 with 13:11 left in the half. Johnson scored next for UCF before the Wildcats ripped off 15 straight points.
Peat scored the last five of that run to give Arizona a 35-8 lead with 7:38 left in the half.
The Knights later scored 18 of the last 25 points in the half to trail 46-30 at the break.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Conference imbalance on display as Islanders host Kings
Mar 10, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) reacts after center Bo Horvat (not pictured) scored the game tying goal against the St. Louis Blues during the third period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images If the New York Islanders were in the Western Conference, they already would be preparing to host playoff games.
If the Los Angeles Kings were in the Eastern Conference, they likely would have spent the trade deadline looking toward the future instead of loading up for a postseason push.
Thanks to geography, both teams will be in the position of trying to bolster their playoff chances Friday night when the Islanders host the Kings in Elmont, N.Y.
Both have been off since playing overtime road games on Tuesday. The Islanders overcame a three-goal deficit to edge the St. Louis Blues 4-3 and the Kings fell 2-1 to the Boston Bruins.
Mathew Barzal’s winner allowed the Islanders to salvage a split of a four-game road trip (2-2-0) and become the first NHL team to win its first 10 overtime decisions.
The 2021 Vegas Golden Knights went 9-0 in overtime during the pandemic-shortened 56-game season.
More importantly, the two points ensured the Islanders would remain in a playoff spot. New York entered Thursday tied for second in the Metropolitan Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 79 points apiece, three ahead of the surging Columbus Blue Jackets.
“This was an important game,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “Winning that one makes a big difference because every team in our division got a point today.”
The Islanders are tied with the wild card-leading Detroit Red Wings and are one point ahead of the Bruins. The Penguins, Blue Jackets, Red Wings and Bruins all play Thursday night.
The Blue Jackets climbed out of last place in the East and gained seven points on the Islanders by going 14-2-3 since hiring Rick Bowness as head coach on Jan. 12. New York is 12-8-0 in the same span.
The playoff race the Kings are involved in is decidedly less heated.
With 67 points, Los Angeles entered Thursday in a tie with the Seattle Kraken for the West’s second wild-card spot. The Kraken had a game in hand ahead of their clash with the league-leading Colorado Avalanche.
That point total would place the Kings and Kraken in a tie for 13th in the East. The Islanders would have the fourth-most points in the West and the most in the Pacific Division.
The Kings have lost eight of 11 since Feb. 1, a stretch in which they acquired left winger Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers and center Scott Laughton from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Panarin has eight points in eight games with Los Angeles, while Laughton has three points in as many games.
Los Angeles is 2-2-1 since March 1, when head coach Jim Hiller was fired and replaced by D.J. Smith.
The inconsistency stretches further back for the Kings, who have won consecutive games just three times since the start of December. The Islanders have seven separate winning streaks in the span.
The Kings had a chance to win a second straight game Tuesday despite collecting just 16 shots, their third fewest in a game this season. Drew Doughty forced overtime by scoring with six minutes left before Charlie McAvoy scored 39 seconds into the extra session for the Bruins.
“We showed resilience and heart tonight,” Doughty said. “We played hard. We got a point against a really good team and can take some positives, but clearly we need to look at the negatives and fix those things.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tennessee uses 20-0 run to knock Auburn to NCAA Tournament brink
Auburn forward Sebastian Williams-Adams (33) guards Tennessee forward Jaylen Carey (23) during their Day 2 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 12, 2026. NASHVILLE – Nate Ament led No. 25 Tennessee in points (27), rebounds (eight), assists (four) and blocks (three) in his return to action as the Volunteers’ late 20-0 run earned them a 72-62 win over Auburn in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 15 points and a team-leading three steals for No. 5 seed Tennessee (22-10), which got Ament back after he missed the prior two games with a leg injury.
Tahaad Pettiford scored 28 points but also committed five turnovers for the 12th-seeded Tigers (17-16).
Tennessee trailed most of the game but put on a defensive clinic late, with the Vols’ full-court man making it tough for the Tigers to muster a decent shot.
The one good look that the Tigers got during the 20-0 run was the front end of a one-and-one, which Keyshawn Hall missed with 4:27 left. Auburn was held scoreless for 7:36, missing seven straight shots and committing four turnovers during the drought.
The blitz started when the Volunteers got eight straight points from Ament and tied the game for the first time since the 16:24 mark of the first half when Gillespie hit a fastbreak layup off an Ament assist on a possession that originated with a Felix Okpara block.
After an Auburn time out, Amari Evans hit a free throw with 6:30 left to give Tennessee the lead.
Auburn then turned it over and Jaylen Carey put back his own miss to extend the lead to three.
A Gillespie steal and fastbreak layup forced another Auburn time out with 5:31 left. The Tigers never got closer than that again.
Auburn, not known for its defense, took a 32-25 halftime lead by holding Gillespie to three points and Tennessee to 37% shooting. The Tigers also outrebounded the Volunteers 21-15 in the first period.
Pettiford (16 first-half points) hit a turnaround jumper with 3:12 remaining in the first half to give Auburn its biggest lead at 29-18.
Tennessee advances to play No. 4 seed Vanderbilt (24-7) in Friday’s quarterfinals in a rematch of last Saturday’s regular-season finale, which the Commodores won.
The Tigers will await their NCAA Tournament fate. ESPN’s bracketology had Auburn had the first team in its latest update prior to this loss.
This loss drops the Tigers to 4-13 in Quad 1 games. A team with 16 losses, like Auburn has this season, has never earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
– Chris Lee, Field Level Media
Strong start propels Arizona to easy UCF defeat in Big 12 tourney opener
Conference imbalance on display as Islanders host Kings
