Tom Hoge leads at Kapalua where good golf exceeds expectations in PGA Tour opener

Tom Hoge of the US lines up a putt on the fifth green during the first round of The Sentry 2025 at Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Club on Jan. 0\2, 2025 in Kapalua, Hawaii. (Getty Images via AFP)
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Updated 03 January 2025
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Tom Hoge leads at Kapalua where good golf exceeds expectations in PGA Tour opener

  • Hideki Matsuyama tried out a new putter and he had a birdie-eagle-birdie stretch on the back nine that carried him to a 65
  • Most of the 60-man field is coming off a short winter’s nap with the holidays, looking to shake off some rust on a Plantation course with some of the widest, most generous fairways

KAPALUA: Tom Hoge grew up in North Dakota and found the ideal vibe for Kapalua on Thursday, keeping expectations low and riding the momentum of good golf on his way to a 9-under 64 to take a one-shot lead at The Sentry in the PGA Tour season opener.

Hideki Matsuyama tried out a new putter — he saw someone else use it and figured it would work for him — and he had a birdie-eagle-birdie stretch on the back nine that carried him to a 65 and was one back along with beefed-up Will Zalatoris.

That was the theme for the first day of a new PGA Tour season with so much more at stake than previously. Most of the 60-man field is coming off a short winter’s nap with the holidays, looking to shake off some rust on a Plantation course with some of the widest, most generous fairways they will see all year.

Xander Schauffele, the double major winner and highest-ranked player in the field, was among the few who showed up on the weekend at Kapalua. He twice had a fruitless search for his golf ball that led to bogey on the back nine for a 72.

Hoge, among the 29 players who made it to Kapalua without winning — the field includes the top 50 in the FedEx Cup last year — and wasn’t sure what to expect.

The weather didn’t allow for much practice in Fort Worth, Texas, where he now lives. Neither did the birth of his first child, a boy named Thomas Bennett, born a few weeks ago.

“I played all the way through Mexico the first week of November, then was just at home,” he said. “We had our first child in early December, so kind of forced time off. I feel like with the changes in the schedule, last year was a lot of golf from now until the Tour Championship. I felt like I was pretty burned out at that point.”

If the game was rusty, his putter was not. He made a 15-foot birdie out of the gate, saved par with a 6-foot putt on the next hole, holed an 18-foot birdie on the third and chipped in from a dicey spot on the fourth hole.

“It just kind of frees you up. And you’re in Maui, just no expectations, just let it go and see what you can do,” he said.

Zalatoris arrived looking a lot bigger. He took two months off after failing to reach the Tour Championship and used that time to build some muscle, which he hopes will give him a little more longevity from back issues that have forced him to miss too much time.

He missed the last four months of 2022, then the rest of 2023 with back surgery when he had to withdraw from the Masters.

“I don’t feel like I’ve even had surgery now,” Zalatoris said. “The ceiling is something that I wanted to keep raising, because I knew that if I was going to be sitting at 160 pounds and trying to hit it 300 yards out here, it’s not a recipe for longevity.”

He left the BMW Championship in August at 163 pounds. He weighed in at 182 pounds when he got on a plane from Dallas to Maui.

“I’m hoping that this year my best golf is at the end of the season,” he said.

The first day of the new season wasn’t bad. Zalatoris played bogey-free, though a three-putt on the par-5 fifth — the easiest hole on the Plantation — felt like a bogey.

Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young and Corey Conners were at 66, while Tony Finau was in the group at 67 in his first tournament in four months because of surgery on his left knee.

Matsuyama, who had been playing in Japan during the fall, fell back with a three-putt bogey from 15 feet on the 13th hole. He followed with a pedestrian tee shot on the next hole, but hit wedge to 10 feet for birdie and was on his way. He hit 5-wood to 5 feet for eagle on the 15th, wedge to 4 feet for birdie on the next and had a chance to tie Hoge until he didn’t catch all of his 3-wood on the downhill 18th and failed to get up-and-down for birdie.

The new season starts without Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who punctured his hand on broken glass preparing Christmas dinner.

It also is the start of a new structure when only the top 100 players in the FedEx Cup — down from 125 players — keep full cards for next year.


Motor racing-Norris wins wet Miami sprint to trim Piastri’s lead by a point

Updated 10 sec ago
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Motor racing-Norris wins wet Miami sprint to trim Piastri’s lead by a point

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, winner of the season’s first sprint in China, finished third

MIAMI: Lando Norris won a crash-strewn and wet-to-dry Miami Grand Prix sprint race in a McLaren one-two on Saturday to cut teammate Oscar Piastri’s Formula One lead to nine points.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, winner of the season’s first sprint in China, finished third with the safety car leading the closing laps before peeling off at the end.

Atletico held at Alaves in dry Liga draw

Updated 22 min 38 sec ago
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Atletico held at Alaves in dry Liga draw

  • Diego Simeone’s side have little to play for in the final weeks of the season
  • Alaves, however, moved provisionally 16th, three points clear of the relegation zone

VITORIA, Spain: Atletico Madrid were held to a dull 0-0 draw at relegation-battling Alaves on Saturday in La Liga.
Diego Simeone’s side have little to play for in the final weeks of the season, sitting third with Champions League qualification virtually assured and leaders Barcelona nine points ahead of them.
Alaves, however, moved provisionally 16th, three points clear of the relegation zone with an important point against their illustrious visitors.
Julian Alvarez was sent off in the only moment to get pulses racing in the first half when he connected high on Argentine compatriot Facundo Garces’ leg, but the referee downgraded his red card to yellow after a VAR review.
Simeone took off his son Giuliano and Antoine Griezmann as he looked for more energy, bringing on Samuel Lino and regular super-sub Alexander Sorloth.
Antonio Sivera saved a Lino long-range effort, Atletico’s first shot on target, with around 20 minutes remaining as what had been a soporific battle burst belatedly into life.
Jan Oblak made a superb low stop to thwart Kike Garcia from close range as Eduardo Caudet’s hosts almost found a way through.
Sivera clawed out a Clement Lenglet effort and Angel Correa could not convert at the end of a swift counter-attack as Atletico threatened but could not find a winner.
“Neither side could get the upper hand, either in possession or in attack, there were no shots in the first half — the game was played in the middle of the pitch without any danger,” admitted Simeone, who turned his attention to the Club World Cup this summer.
“We’ve earned (qualification) on our merit... the Club World Cup, a significant milestone for the last four years of work.”
Ayoze Perez struck twice for Villarreal as they beat Osasuna 4-2 to close in on Champions League qualification for next season.
The top five La Liga teams qualify and the Yellow Submarine are currently fifth, four points clear of Real Betis who visit Espanyol on Sunday.


Villa boost top five bid, Southampton beaten at Leicester

Updated 46 min 52 sec ago
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Villa boost top five bid, Southampton beaten at Leicester

  • Seventh-placed Villa extended their unbeaten run on home turf to 20 games in all competitions
  • Emery said: “Today, we got more or less to be close to Europe. Wow, fantastic, brilliant”

LONDON: Unai Emery vowed Aston Villa will fight until the end for a place in the Champions League after boosting their bid with a 1-0 win against Fulham on Saturday.
Emery’s side are back in the hunt to finish in the Premier League’s top five thanks to Youri Tielemans’ 12th-minute header at Villa Park.
Seventh-placed Villa extended their unbeaten run on home turf to 20 games in all competitions, lifting them level with sixth-placed Nottingham Forest and fifth-placed Chelsea on 60 points.
After bouncing back from their dismal FA Cup semifinal loss to Crystal Palace last weekend, Villa will hope their rivals falter over the weekend as the top five race heads for a dramatic climax.
“If we weren’t winning today, forget it completely,” Emery said.
“Today, we got more or less to be close to Europe. Wow, fantastic, brilliant. The best gift we can achieve after it is the Europa League or Champions League.
“Champions League, okay. We are not favorites to get it because there is Nottingham Forest in front of us, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle.
“But we will fight for it, Europe, and hopefully we can fight for the Champions League.”
Southampton wasted a chance to avoid a share of the lowest points total in Premier League history as Jamie Vardy’s 199th Leicester goal inspired a 2-0 win at the King Power Stadium.
Simon Rusk’s bottom of the table team are trying to avoid finishing with just 11 points — which would match Derby’s low mark set in 2007-08.
But Southampton’s hopes of getting a 12th point quickly faded against fellow relegated side Leicester.
After announcing last week that he will leave the club at the end of the season, the 38-year-old Vardy bagged a farewell goal as he put second-bottom Leicester ahead in the 17th minute.
The game was delayed for 11 minutes when referee David Webb was forced off with a head injury after colliding with Leicester’s Jordan Ayew.


Vardy cheekily blew the referee’s whistle while he was being treated.
Leicester finally won for the first time since January as Ayew grabbed the second goal in the 44th minute.
Southampton have now lost 28 of their 35 league games and have three matches left to avoid sharing the low points record with Derby.
Relegated Ipswich fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 in Everton’s penultimate match at Goodison Park.
Kieran McKenna’s third-bottom side trailed to Beto’s 26th minute goal and Dwight McNeil’s effort nine minutes later.
But Julio Enciso ‘s 30-yard rocket reduced the deficit in the 41st minute and George Hirst equalized with 11 minutes left.
Everton’s emotional last match at Goodison before moving to their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium next season comes against Southampton on May 18.
Second-placed Arsenal host Bournemouth in Saturday’s late game as the Gunners warm up for their Champions League semifinal showdown with Paris Saint-Germain.
Mikel Arteta’s side lost 1-0 in the first leg on Tuesday and head to France for the second leg on Wednesday as they look to reach the final for the first time since 2006.


Leipzig put Bayern and Kane’s title party on ice

Updated 03 May 2025
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Leipzig put Bayern and Kane’s title party on ice

  • Leroy Sane looked to have completed the comeback and clinch the title
  • The result keeps Bayer Leverkusen’s slim chances of defending their Bundesliga title alive

MUNICH: Bayern Munich and Harry Kane’s German Bundesliga title party was delayed by at least a day after RB Leipzig’s Yussuf Poulsen scored a stoppage-time equalizer in a 3-3 home draw on Saturday.
With Kane sitting in the stands due to a yellow card suspension, Bayern fell two down by half-time, Leipzig scoring twice in teaming rain in Saxony through Benjamin Sesko and Lucas Klostermann.
Bayern then scored twice in 46 seconds through Eric Dier and Michael Olize to level things up with just under 30 minutes remaining.
Leroy Sane looked to have completed the comeback and clinch the title, hitting an unstoppable shot from the right of goal on the 83rd-minute mark.
But Poulsen, subbed on with 30 minutes to go, chipped the ball over Urbig in the fifth minute of stoppage time to snatch a draw.
The result keeps Bayer Leverkusen’s slim chances of defending their Bundesliga title alive.
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen play at Freiburg on Sunday and need to win their three remaining games, with Bayern, who have a significant goal difference advantage, needing just a point to lift the title.
Leipzig grabbed the lead 11 minutes in when Sesko pounced on a mistake from visiting ‘keeper Jonas Urbig, who was slipped while well outside of his penalty box, allowing the Slovenian to hit a long-range shot home.
Klostermann doubled Leipzig’s lead shortly before half-time, heading in from a David Raum header.
Leipzig, who needed a win to boost their hopes of Champions League football next season, were in control and looked on track for victory until Bayern shocked the hosts with two goals in 46 seconds.
Dier headed in from a corner, his third goal in his past four games, before Olize made the most of a Leipzig defensive mistake to level the scores.
Sane’s late goal sent Bayern’s bench wild.
As the clock wound down, a beaming Kane made his way down from the stands to the sidelines, ready to collect the title of his career.
Poulsen was however sent through on goal by Xavi Simons and cooly chipped the ‘keeper to delay Bayern’s party by at least a day.
Later on Sunday, Borussia Dortmund can keep their top-four hopes alive with a win at home against Wolfsburg.
Champions League finalists last season, Dortmund were as low as 11th this year but have won four of their past five.


Chile footballer Vidal cleared of suspicion in sexual assault case

Updated 03 May 2025
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Chile footballer Vidal cleared of suspicion in sexual assault case

  • The woman accused Vidal and other Colo Colo players of sexual assault
  • Other unnamed members of Vidal’s team remain under investigation

SANTIAGO: Chilean football star Arturo Vidal has been cleared of suspicion of sexual assault, prosecutors said Saturday, adding that the complaint made by a woman over a party at a Santiago night club had been dismissed.
The woman accused Vidal, 37, and other players from his first-division Colo Colo side of sexual assault at a club, where the footballers were celebrating a birthday on November 4.
“We were able to reconstitute the events of that day and, ultimately, there is no evidence to support charges,” prosecutor Felipe Cembrano said in a video sent to the media.
Other unnamed members of Vidal’s team remain under investigation, however.
Former Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Inter Milan midfielder Vidal returned last year to Colo Colo, where he started his career at 17.
He was part of the so-called “Golden Generation” that led Chile to victory in the 2015 Copa America.