HOCKEY
Tyler Hinman scored 1:11 into the game and the Maine Mariners beat the Newfoundland Growlers 2-0 to end a six-game losing streak Saturday evening in St. John’s Newfoundland.
Patrick Shea added an empty-net goal. Tim Doherty and Mathew Santos each had an assist.
Josh Boyko stopped 33 shots for Maine, while Dryden McKay made 33 saves for Newfoundland, which lost in regulation for the first time this season.
GOLF
PGA TOUR: Patrick Rodgers ran off four straight birdies late in his round Saturday and finished with a par save for a 6-under 64, giving him a share of the lead with Ben Martin in the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia and another chance at his first PGA Tour title.
Martin was poised to match that score until he came up short on the 18th green, chipped to just inside 5 feet and missed the par putt. He had a 65.
They were at 14-under 198 in the final PGA Tour event of the year, and it was far from a two-man race.
Ten players were within two shots of the lead, a group that included Sahith Theegala (68), Brian Harman (64) and even Harry Higgs, who was atop the leaderboard at the start of the day and had a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 70.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Rory McIlroy is well-placed for another Race to Dubai title after his 7-under 65 on Saturday left him three shots off the lead heading into the final round in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Jon Rahm holds a one-stroke lead after a bogey-free 65 put the Spaniard at 15-under 201 overall at Jumeirah Golf Estates as he seeks to win the event for a third time.
The top-ranked McIlroy will battle U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick on Sunday for the Harry Vardon Trophy.
LPGA TOUR: Leona Maguire of Ireland had four straight birdies around the turn and added a pair of birdies late for a 9-under 63, allowing her to catch Lydia Ko in the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, and set up a duel for the richest prize in women’s golf.
At stake on Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club is $2 million to the winner.
Maguire, one of 11 first-time winners on the LPGA Tour this year, is too far back in the points race to win LPGA player of the year, though $2 million in a single day would make up for that. That would be nearly twice what Maguire has made in 23 previous events.
Ko had a five-shot lead to start the third round – seven shots ahead of Maguire – and made a mixture of birdies and bogeys that stalled her round. She fell one shot behind Maguire until chipping to tap-in range on the par-5 17th. She finished with a 70.
They were at 15-under 201 in what shaped up as a two-player race for the $2 million.
SKIING
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Mikaela Shiffrin claimed the season-opening race in Levi, Finald, her 48th slalom victory.
No other skier has won more titles in a single competition.
She reached her 67th slalom podium, also a record in women’s single competition, one more than compatriot Lindsey Vonn in downhill races.
Shiffrin moved to the top with the fastest second run after placing third in the opening run in foggy conditions in Finnish Lapland to beat Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden by .16 of a second.
TENNIS
ATP FINALS: Novak Djokovic kept his bid for a record-equaling sixth ATP Finals title alive by beating Taylor Fritz of the United States in Turin, Italy, to reach the final of the prestigious season-ending tournament.
Djokovic, who went unbeaten through the group stage, won 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) in just under two hours in Turin, securing the win on his second match point.
He has now won all six of his encounters against the 25-year-old Fritz.
The Serb will face the third-seeded Casper Ruud in Sunday’s final as he attempts to win his first title at the event since 2015 and match Roger Federer’s record.
SOCCER
WORLD CUP: Defending champion France’s World Cup hopes took a huge blow with the news that star striker Karim Benzema is out of the tournament after tearing a muscle in his left thigh during training on Saturday.
“Karim Benzema is out of the World Cup,” the French soccer federation (FFF) said. “After hurting the quadriceps on his left thigh the Real Madrid striker is forced to give up on taking part in the World Cup.”
Benzema was participating in his first full training session with Les Bleus when he had to come off after feeling some pain in his left thigh, the FFF said.
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