Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — GOLF

Kuchar wins Match Play

Matt Kuchar finally put Hunter Mahan in a hole and then answered every challenge Sunday to win the Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz. Mahan had gone 169 holes over 11 matches without trailing in this wild tournament until Kuchar won the fourth hole of their championship match with a par, and Mahan never caught up. Kuchar took advantage of a series of miscues to build a 4-up lead at the turn, and then held off a noble challenge by the defending champion. There was never a dull moment on the back nine. Only two holes were halved, and those were with birdies. But for all the great shots, the match ended when Mahan went from a tough lie in the bunker to a bush in the desert, and it took him four shots to reach the 17th green. Kuchar wound up winning, 2 and 1, when Mahan removed the stocking cap he used to fight the cold desert air and conceded Kuchar a short birdie putt. It was the first World Golf Championship title for Kuchar, and it follows a year in which he won The Players Championship. Kuchar became the second player in the last three years to win the Match Play Championship without ever playing the 18th hole. Mahan was trying to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners, and he gave it a good shot despite the big deficit halfway through the match. In a strong, cold wind - the wind chill index reached a low of 37 degrees on the final day - Mahan made a long two-putt par to win the 10th, and played a tough chip from the mound of a bunker to about 6 feet for a birdie on the next hole, cutting the lead in half. Mahan followed with a tee shot into about 10 feet on the par-3 12th, the momentum squarely on his side. Kuchar, however, followed with a tee shot to just inside 15 feet and made the birdie putt. On the par-5 13th, Mahan hit a poor approach from the fairway and Kuchar got up-and-down to restore his lead to 3 up. Kuchar came up with one more clutch shot. With a 2-up lead on the 304-yard 15th hole, the breeze at his back, Kuchar chipped about 10 feet past the hole with Mahan only 6 feet away for birdie. Kuchar holed the putt and escaped with a halve. Mahan won the 16th with a two-putt par when Kuchar’s tee shot bounced off the corporate tents behind the green, and it look as though the match would go down the 18th for the first time in nine matches for Kuchar. Both hit into the fairway bunker, but Mahan’s ball was slightly sunk in the sand, and his approach never came close to reaching the green. Instead, rolled through a patch of desert until it lodged in a bush.

Inbee Park of South Korea took advantage of overnight leader Ariya Jutanugarn’s triple bogey on the last hole Sunday to secure a one stroke victory in the LPGA Thailand in Chonburi, Thailand. Jutanugarn blew a two-stroke lead on the 18th when she first had to take a drop and then missed a three-foot putt to force a playoff. The 17-year-old Thai golfer was moved to tears as the putt lipped out, while a surprised Park started celebrating in the clubhouse with her caddie. The fourth-ranked Park finished with a 67 for a 12-under 276 total, with Jutanugarn a shot back after a 72.Top-ranked Yani Tseng of Taiwan shot a final-round 63 to finish another stroke back in joint third with Beatriz Recari of Spain (70) and So Yeon Ryu of South Korea (68). Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a final-round 2-under 70 to finish at 10-under 278 and earned $73,935. Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway) shot a final-round 1-over 73 and finished 4-over 292 and earned $6,299.

Kevin Foley won the Web.com Tour’s season-opening Panama Claro Championship on Sunday for his first tour title, birdieing the final for a 3-under 67 and a one-stroke victory in Panama City, Fla. The 25-year-old former Penn State player finished at 8-under 272 at Panama Golf Club. Australia’s Mathew Goggin was second after a 70. The tournament opened the tour’s 24th season. The Colombia Championship is next week, followed by the Chile Classic. The U.S. schedule begins March 21-24 with the Louisiana Open. Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) shot a final round 71 to finish at 2-over 282 and he earned $2,760.

BASEBALL

Granderson out 10 weeks

New York Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson is expected to be out until May after breaking his right forearm. The slugger was hit by a pitch from Toronto’s J.A. Happ in the bottom of the first inning Sunday, his first at-bat of spring training. The Yankees, who were beat 2-0 by a Toronto Blue Jays’ split-squad, first called it a bruise but X-rays revealed the break. The team said Granderson could be out 10 weeks, which means he’ll miss about a month of the regular season. Granderson led New York with 43 home runs last season.

BASKETBALL Bynum to sit 1 game

Detroit Pistons guard Will Bynum has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for striking Indiana forward Tyler Hansbrough in the stomach during a game against the Pacers. The suspension was announced in a release Sunday night by Stu Jackson, the league’s executive vice president of basketball operations. The incident occurred with 8:39 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Pistons’ 90-72 loss to the Pacers on Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Bynum will serve his suspension Monday when the Pistons host the Atlanta Hawks.

FOOTBALL Miami hires Scott

Miami has hired Larry Scott as tight ends coach, a move that comes with the Hurricanes opening spring practice this coming weekend. Scott has been an offensive assistant at South Florida since 2005, including four seasons as the Bulls’ tight ends coach. Scott also played for the Bulls, and was part of the program’s first recruiting class in 1996. There were indications over the weekend that he would stay with the Bulls, before striking the Miami deal. At Miami, Scott will replace Mario Cristobal, who was to have coached the Hurricanes’ tight ends in 2013 before getting hired to be the offensive line coach at Alabama.

MOTOR SPORTS Schumacher wins in Arizona

Tony Schumacher beat Morgan Lucas in the tire-smoking Top Fuel final at the NHRA Arizona Nationals on Sunday for his 70th career victory and fourth at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz. Schumacher and Lucas lost traction early and both drivers were on and off the throttle as they navigated the drag strip, with Schumacher able to get his 8,000-horsepower dragster under control first. Schumacher had a 4.606-second run at 213.20 mph, while Lucas finished in 4.652 at 258.67.

TENNIS

Nishikori wins third title

Kei Nishikori of Japan won his third career title and second since October, beating Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-3 in the U.S. National Indoor Championships on Sunday. Nishikori needed only 67 minutes to improve to 3-2 in finals. He won his first career title in Delray Beach in 2008 and improved to 11-2 this year. Seeded fifth, Nishikori was the only seed to reach the weekend. He finished the tournament without dropping a set in taking the $291,800 winner’s check.

David Ferrer won his second tournament of the season by defeating Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 on Sunday to successfully defend his Copa Claro title in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The top seeded Ferrer broke his opponent six times - including three in the final set - to clinch the 20th title of his career. He won the Heineken Open last month in Auckland, New Zealand.

HORSE RACING Violence hurt, off Derby trail Top 3-year-old Violence is off the Kentucky Derby trail after fracturing a bone in his right front leg.

The injury was detected after his second-place finish in Saturday’s Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Violence was resting comfortably Sunday, and the colt will ship to owner Steven Marshall’s Black Rock Stable’s Farm in Versailles, Ky., this week for further evaluation and recuperation.

The heavily favored Violence lost Saturday for the first time in four starts, defeated by half a length by Orb.