Hovland wins Memorial in playoff

DUBLIN, Ohio — Viktor Hovland handled the toughest stretch at Muirfield Village and delivered three clutch putts at the end to win the Memorial in a playoff over hard-luck Denny McCarthy on Sunday.

Hovland closed with a 2-under 70 on another brutal test on a course baked all week by sun, forcing the playoff with a 30-foot birdie on the 17th — the only one on that hole in the final round — and saving par from behind the 18th green.

Back to the 18th in the playoff, Hovland barely got onto the front of the green, some 60 feet away from the back pin, and two-putted by holing a 7-foot par putt.

It was his fourth PGA Tour victory and first on American soil, this one with a $3.6 million winner’s check and a handshake from host Jack Nicklaus. The Norwegian’s previous wins were in Mexico twice and Puerto Rico.

It was a crushing loss for McCarthy, one of the purest putters on the PGA Tour. He showed his touch by saving crucial pars and playing bogey-free on a day when the average score was just under 75. His only bogey came on the 18th hole — twice.

Rory McIlroy chipped in from below the fourth green for birdie and had the lead on the front nine,

but he gave away far too many shots on the back — three bogeys in a row — for a 75 that took him out of the picture.

Scottie Scheffler closed with a 67 and finished third and missed the playoff by one shot, remarkable considering he made the cut on the number. The No. 1 player in the world has not finished worse than 12th in his 13 starts this year.

Nneka Ogwumike has 27 points, leads Sparks over Storm

LOS ANGELES — Nneka Ogwumike had 27 points and 14 rebounds, Layshia Clarendon had 16 points, six assists and three steals and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Seattle Storm 92-85 Saturday night.

Seattle (0-4) is off to its worst start since it lost four in a row in its inaugural season in 2000.

Jewell Loyd hit a 3-pointer that gave Seattle a two-point lead with 3:36 left in the third quarter but the Sparks scored 17 of the next 23 points to make it 72-61 — L.A.’s biggest lead of the game. Brown capped the spurt with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.

Loyd scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and Jade Melbourne’s 3-pointer — which Loyd assisted on — trimmed Seattle’s deficit to 86-82 with 1:42 remaining but the Storm got no closer.

Chiney Ogwumike added 15 points and Lexie Brown scored 14 for Los Angeles (3-2), Jordin Canada had nine points, seven assists and four steals.

Loyd tied her career high with eight 3-pointers and finished with 37 points for Seattle, one shy of her career best. Ezi Magbegor added 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Seattle hit 13 3-pointers but committed 16 turnovers, which the Sparks converted into 17 points. Los Angeles outscored the Storm 23-12 from the free-throw line on 11 more (27) attempts.

Coroner rules natural causes in heart-ailment death of UNLV football player

LAS VEGAS — Authorities in Las Vegas said Monday that the death of a 20-year-old UNLV football player who was found unresponsive in his studio apartment in February was caused by a heart ailment.

An autopsy found that Ryan Keeler had a disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that causes thickening of the heart muscle, and died Feb. 20 of a fatal irregular heartbeat, the Clark County coroner’s office said in a statement. His death was ruled natural.

Las Vegas police initially investigated Keeler’s unexpected death, pending the medical examiner’s report. Officer Robert Wicks said Monday the inquiry was closed.

UNLV head coach Barry Odom had announced Keeler’s death, calling the 6-foot-6, 275-pound defensive lineman a standout student and athlete. He was from Chicago and arrived at UNLV by transfer from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Keeler played in seven games as a redshirt freshman for the Rebels and made the academic All-Mountain West team with a 3.8 grade-point average, Odom said.

The university released a statement Monday calling Keeler’s death “tragic and untimely” and expressing sympathy with his loved ones, teammates and friends.

Ibrahimović: It’s time to say goodbye to soccer

MILAN — Veteran AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimović announced his immediate retirement from soccer at the end of an emotional night at San Siro on Sunday.

Ibrahimović was out of contract with the Serie A club at the end of the season and Milan had already announced there would be a special ceremony after its match against Hellas Verona to bid farewell to the 41-year-old Swede.

But Ibrahimović later revealed in a news conference that no one knew the big news he was about to drop.

“Even my family didn’t know, because I wanted that when I announced it everyone heard it at the same time,” he said.

Ibrahimović was given a guard of honor by his teammates as he walked out after the match at San Siro. He struggled to hold back the tears as he took the microphone and said: “The time has come to say goodbye to soccer but not to you.”