Weekend Sports In Brief

GOLF

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) - Eight times this season, Sam Burns has been atop the leaderboard after every round except the one that mattered. That changed, finally, at the Valspar Championship.

Burns got some help from Keegan Bradley hitting into the water on the 13th hole, and then the 24-year-old from Louisiana took it from there with two big birdies that led to a 3-under 68 and a three-shot victory Sunday.

Burns won for the first time on the PGA Tour after twice failing to convert 54-hole leads in the Houston Open last fall and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in February. The victory moves him into the top 50 in the world and all but assures a spot in the U.S. Open, along with his first trip to the Masters next spring.

Bradley and Burns were tied through 36 holes and 54 holes, and they stayed that way through 12 holes on another blistering day at the Copperhead course. That changed with one swing. Bradley came up well short on the par-3 13th and went into the water, leading to double bogey. Burns saved par with an 8-foot putt for a two-shot lead.

Cameron Tringale was lurking but never seriously challenged. He shot 68 and shared third with Viktor Hovland, whose had a 65 but started too far back at the start of the day.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) - Former Masters champion Mike Weir won his first PGA Tour Champions event when he held steady with pars down the stretch for a 4-under 68 and let John Daly made the last mistake in the Insperity Invitational.

Weir and Daly were tied going down the stretch at The Woodlands, which was reduced to 36 holes because of heavy rain earlier in the week.

SINGAPORE (AP) - Hyo Joo Kim closed with an 8-under 64 and then watched from the clubhouse as Hannah Green bogeyed her final two holes to hand Kim a one-stroke victory in the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

Kim finished at 17-under 271 at Sentosa Golf Club. She watched as Green, the former Women’s PGA champion, took a one-shot lead to the 17th hole. But the Australian three-putted for bogey to fall into a tie for the lead, and then she missed the green on the 18th and missed a par putt. Green shot 69.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - Paul Barjon of France birdied the 17th hole and closed with a 1-under 69, and then won a three-way playoff with an eagle on the third extra hole to capture his first Korn Ferry Tour title at the Huntsville Championship.

Barjon has won three times on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada. The victory Sunday over Billy Kennerly and Mito Pereira moved him to No. 6 on the points list and all but assures him of a PGA Tour card next season.

AUTO RACING

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - Kyle Busch celebrated his 36th birthday Sunday by winning a two-lap sprint to the finish at Kansas Speedway, becoming the 10th different winner through the first 11 races of the NASCAR Cup Series season.

Busch had stalked Kyle Larson all day before beating him on a late restart to take the lead. Then, after another caution in the closing laps, Busch followed up his Truck Series win Saturday night with another trip to victory lane.

Kevin Harvick overcame a tire mishap on a late pit stop and took advantage of some chaos on the final restart to finish second. Brad Keselowski dominated the early laps before following his win at Talladega last weekend by finishing third, and Matt DiBenedetto and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.

Kyle Larson led a race-high 132 laps before his day ended in 19th place - and bitter disappointment.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Pato O’Ward passed Josef Newgarden with 23 laps to go Sunday at Texas, and the Mexican-born driver stayed in front for his first IndyCar victory at what he considers his home track.

O’Ward celebrated four days before his 22nd birthday while driving for Arrow McLaren SP, and the organization will follow through with a promise to let him test a Formula One car at the end of the year.

The race was the second in as many days at Texas, and was marred by the IndyCar’s second first-lap crash of the season.

Six cars were done before they reached the green flag, when Pietro Fittipaldi hit Sebastien Bourdais from behind, knocking the four-time open-wheel champion into Alexander Rossi. The cars of Ed Jones, Dalton Kellett and Conor Daly also were destroyed in the crash that happened as they approached the start-finish line for first time.

HORSE RACING

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - John Velazquez was in a familiar place, in the lead aboard Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby and holding off the stretch bid of three challengers. This time, Bob Baffert couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Medina Spirit won by a half-length on Saturday, giving Baffert his seventh victory, the most of any trainer in the race’s 147-year history.

The jockey and trainer - both Hall of Famers - teamed up eight months ago to win a pandemic-delayed Derby in September with Authentic, who raced to an early lead and hung on. That wasn’t so surprising. This one was.

Sent off at 12-1 - astronomical odds for a colt trained by the white-haired, two-time Triple Crown winner - Medina Spirit was in a street fight thundering down the stretch.

Medina Spirit led all the way and ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.02. He paid $26.20, $12 and $7.60. The victory was worth $1.86 million.

SOCCER

MANCHESTER, England (AP) - Anti-ownership protests by Manchester United fans forced the postponement of a Premier League game on Sunday against Liverpool after the stadium was stormed and thousands more supporters blocked access into Old Trafford as they demanded the Glazer family sell the club.

The unprecedented cancelation of a game in the world’s richest soccer league due to fan protests is the culmination of long-running anger against the American owners that began with a 2005 leveraged takeover that loaded debt onto the club. But the wrath of supporters has boiled over in the two weeks since the New York Stock Exchange listed club was part of the failed European Super League breakaway that collapsed amid a groundswell of condemnation.

Supporters gaining access to the pitch - before the two teams even traveled to Old Trafford - was even more startling given the strict coronavirus measures in place around the stadium that keep games closed to any spectators. One of the flares set off by fans was launched into the stands where the Sky Sports television team was already broadcasting more than two hours ahead of the scheduled kickoff.

Although the protest had been announced in advance, the stadium forecourt on Sir Matt Busby Way was still able to be accessed by thousands of fans - many chanting “We want Glazers out” as flares were set off. The crowd was only dispersed after baton-wielding police and officers on horseback charged fans as clashes erupted under a shower of flying glass bottles about 20 minutes before the game was due to have started.

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