Joaquin Niemann takes 1-shot lead into final round of PIF Saudi International

PEBBLE BEACH, California: Rory McIlroy played a game nearly as magnificent as the Pebble Beach scenery Sunday as he powered his way past a pack of contenders and closed with a 6-under 66 for a two-shot victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
McIlroy is one of the top attractions in golf, which only added to the appeal of the surprising sunshine and crashing surf at America’s most famous coastal golf course. And just like that, a sleepy start to the PGA Tour season had some life to it.
On a day when six players had at least a share of the lead, McIlroy took the top spot for good with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole into a stiff breeze along the Pacific. He effectively ended the drama with a towering drive and a 7-iron into the 571-yard 14th hole, setting up an eagle putt from just outside 25 feet.
“To win at one of the cathedrals of golf is really cool,” McIlroy said.
Shane Lowry fell out of a share for the lead when he sent his second shot over a cliff to the right of the par-5 sixth. But he shot 31 on the back nine, including a birdie on the final hole for a 68 that gave him second place alone.
Lucas Glover (67) and Justin Rose (68) were another shot behind. Sepp Straka, who started the final round with a one-shot lead, had a 72 and tied for seventh.
Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player whose season was delayed by minor hand surgery from punctured glass while making ravioli, closed with a 67 and tied for ninth.
McIlroy has talked about this being an important year for him, though his focus was more on April through September — an 11th chance to complete the career Grand Slam at the Masters, a return home to Northern Ireland for the British Open, a road Ryder Cup at Bethpage.
This wasn’t a bad start.
“It’s a really cool way to start the season,” said McIlroy, who won for the second time in California. “To get this win this early means a great deal, and hopefully I’ll keep the momentum going into Torrey Pines in a couple weeks’ time.”
The sixth hole began to separate the pack a little. In consecutive groups, Rose went over the cliff with his tee shot and Tom Kim hit down the hill toward the ocean with his second shot. Lowry followed him in the final group, leading to bogey.
But really, McIlroy looked as though he was the player to beat from the second hole, when he hit a tough pitch from 50 yards away over a bunker to a back pin with enough height and spin to set up a 2-foot birdie putt.
But it was after his lone bogey on the tough eighth hole where he pulled away — the 18-foot birdie on the 10th, a tee shot into 8 feet for birdie on the par-3 12th and finally get his due on the 14th hole. McIlroy drilled his drive for the third straight day over a tree, over the bunker complex and into the fairway. The previous two days, he had to settle for par.
This time, he cashed in for an eagle, extending his lead to four shots. And when he hit wedge into 3 feet for birdie on the 15th, it led to one of the best stress-free and gorgeous walks on the PGA Tour.
Everyone else was left in a hopeless chase.
“When he’s good, he’s great. And when he’s not great, he’s good,” Glover said. “There’s a reason he’s got 20-something wins and a bunch of majors and the game he has. Impressive round out there today under the pressure and under the conditions.”
McIlroy won for the 27th time on the tour and is 21st on the career victory list. He’s been stuck on four majors since winning the PGA Championship 11 years ago, and that he is sure to be reminded of that as the Masters gets closers.
For now, this will do. It’s his second victory in a signature event that McIlroy and other top players helped to create.
“When he’s good, he’s great and when he’s not great, he’s good,” Glover said. “There’s a reason he’s got 20-something wins and a bunch of majors and the game he has. Impressive round out there today under the pressure and under the conditions.”
McIlroy won his second signature event — he won at Quail Hollow last year — to earn $3.6 million. He finished at 21-under 267, one shot to par away from the tournament record.
Lowry at least tried to make him sweat, staying within range until missing a 7-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole that would have narrowed the gap to two. His final birdie, however, gave him a tidy consolation of $2.16 million for second place.
“I always say I believe when players like Rory McIlroy turns up and they have their ‘A’ game, they’re pretty impossible to beat,” Lowry said.

LONDON: Marcus Rashford will look to reignite his career at Aston Villa after joining on loan for the rest of the season from Manchester United, where he has fallen out with recently hired manager Ruben Amorim.

The move was completed late Sunday, with neither Premier League club disclosing any more terms surrounding the deal. The Press Association and other sections of the British media have reported Rashford was joining Villa with a view to a permanent transfer for £40 million ($50 million) and that Villa was paying a loan fee as well as covering the majority of Rashford’s salary, reportedly worth nearly $400,000 a week.

The 27-year-old forward, one of the most famous players in the Premier League, had not played for United, his hometown club, since Dec. 12 amid concerns from Amorim about Rashford’s commitment to training. He has also been overlooked for recent England squads and didn’t play at the European Championship last year, after a season when he was dropped by United on one occasion for disciplinary reasons.

There was speculation about a move to Italy or Saudi Arabia, but Rashford is staying in England and now needs to prove to Villa manager Unai Emery he deserves playing time.

Villa sold Colombia striker Jhon Duran to Saudi club Al-Nassr for a reported fee of £64 million ($80 million) on Friday so needed an attacking player to provide competition for Ollie Watkins.

Rashford scored 30 goals in the 2022-23 season, the most prolific of his career after bursting onto the scene early in 2016 at the age of 18, but hasn’t approached that level since. He has seven goals in all competitions this season.

Amorim recently said he would rather put United’s 63-year-old goalkeeping coach in the squad ahead of someone who isn’t fully committed in training, as he perceives Rashford.

“The reason is the training, what I think a footballer should do in training, in life and every day. If things don’t change, I will not change,” he said. “It’s the same situation for every player. If you do the maximum and the right things then we can use every player.”

At one point, Rashford even acknowledged he was “ready for a new challenge.”

Rashford has made 426 appearances for United, scoring 138 goals, and made a name for himself for his off-the-field work during the pandemic when his lobbying led to the British government agreeing to keep funding meals for poor students after initial resistance.