Will Zalatoris held his nerve for a clutch par putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, setting up a dramatic three-hole showdown where he defeated Sepp Straka to claim his first career PGA Tour win.
Straka came into Sunday's final round at 12 under – one stroke off leader J.J. Spaun – while Zalatoris was one shot further back at 11 under with Cameron Smith. When Spaun imploded, going on to shoot Sunday's worst round with a 78, and Smith was handed a two-stroke penalty prior to his round for an illegal drop earlier in the tournament, the field fell away and left just Straka and Zalatoris at the top.
Zalatoris continued to shed his reputation as a poor putter, and he did so in the biggest moments, draining a must-make 10-footer on the last hole to finish his tournament at 15 under, where he and Straka were three strokes clear of the pack – and the playoff was anything but boring.
On the first playoff hole – the 18th, which was playing as the toughest hole on the course – both players reached the green in regulation, and while neither were in true birdie range, Zalatoris had a significantly longer distance to cover. But he showed why he was ranked number one for lag putting this week and was able to tap-in from a foot to head to the second hole.
Replaying the 18th, Zalatoris' tee shot hit the cart path, seemingly handing Straka the tournament, but then Straka put his tee shot so close to the water's edge that he opted to take the penalty instead of trying to hack one out with a foot in the water.
Straka pulled off what would usually be a title-winning approach shot, taking an aggressive line and landing six feet from the hole, but due to the penalty stroke it allowed Zalatoris to chip back out into the fairway and bring his approach to just over 10 feet, where he would sink another incredibly gutsy putt to extend things to a third playoff hole.
After losing two playoffs this season, Zalatoris would have felt the trophy slipping out of his hands when his tee shot on the par-three 11th hole found the rock wall on the fringe of the water. He was not in the water, but the shot was unplayable, meaning a par would give Straka the win – and then Straka landed in the water.
The Austrian's next shot sailed over the green into the bunker, while Zalatoris' second try at his approach was perfect, giving himself another seven-footer for the win, and he made no mistakes.
With the win, Zalatoris avoided becoming the player with the most prize money in a season without a victory, raising his season earnings to over $9million in the process with his $2.7m winner's cheque.
American duo Lucas Glover and Brian Harman finished tied for third at 12 under, while Spain's Jon Rahm, England's Matt Fitzpatrick and Australia's Adam Scott were part of the seven-man group tied for fifth at 11 under.
After his two-stroke penalty, Cameron Smith finished at nine under with rising star Joo-hyung 'Tom' Kim, with Viktor Hovland at eight under, and Wyndham Clark snuck into the next round of the playoffs as his seven under finish moved him up to exactly 70th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Pablo Carreno-Busta came back from a set down to mount a superb comeback against Hubert Hurkacz and win the first ATP 1000 event of his career on Sunday.
The Spaniard became the first unseeded player to win the tournament since Guilhermo Canas in 2002 after weathering an early storm to shock the eighth seed 3-6 6-3 6-3 in Montreal.
Having come through a gruelling semi-final encounter with Dan Evans to reach his first ATP 1000 final in singles, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist struggled to deal with his opponent's impressive slew of aces in the first set, and saw his serve broken in the sixth game.
But a ruthless start to the second set saw Carreno-Busta break early, racing out to a 3-0 lead and holding his nerve to keep the gap to his Polish opponent, who was chasing a second ATP 1000 crown.
World number 10 Hurkacz attempted to rally with a fine start to the third set, but another loss of serve effectively stalled his momentum and Carreno-Busta was able to take the victory.
The result marks a much-needed boost for Carreno-Busta, who suffered first-round exits at the French Open and Wimbledon after making the last-16 in Australia, with the U.S. Open set to start later this month.
Serena Williams is "one of the greatest of all time", says fellow tennis legend Rafael Nadal as the 23-time grand slam winner prepares to hang up her racquet.
The 40-year-old, one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport, signalled her intent to "evolve away" from the game in an interview with Vogue Magazine earlier this month, hinting at her retirement following the U.S. Open in September.
With just shy of two-dozen grand slam singles titles, Williams trails only Margaret Court for the all-time record of 24 crowns, and could equal her in her farewell appearance.
Nadal, meanwhile, lies one behind her after victory in the Australian Open and French Open this year took him clear of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to 22, though the former's win at Wimbledon has seen him close the gap again.
The duo are set to feature at this week's Western and Southern Open, where Williams will face incumbent U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu, and the Spaniard - who will mark his return from injury - has nothing but praise for his fellow giant of the game.
"She is one of the greatest sports [people] of all time," he stated. "I feel lucky to share a tour for a long period of time with her.
"Of course, from a selfish point of view, it's sad that she's leaving the tour but, on the other hand, we can't thank her enough for all the things that she did for our sport.
"I think she's an amazing inspiration for a lot of people around the world and I think she deserves to choose whatever works for her better at this stage of her life.
"So I wish her all the best. Hopefully, we can keep seeing her around the tour because I always believe that our sport, or the sport in general, is bigger and better when legends are around and she is a legend.
"Hopefully, we can enjoy her in a different way around the tour."
Nadal was forced to withdraw ahead of the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this year with an abdominal tear, and now faces a potentially nervy run through to the U.S. Open in terms of fitness.
But the 36-year-old is cautiously optimistic, adding: "I hope to be ready. That's what I'm trying to do. Try to be a little more conservative, but I hope I can be ready to play.
"Of course, I need some more days to analyse how things are going in terms of abdominal feeling.
"But things are going well for the moment, so hopefully I can manage to be ready. I'm excited. I want to play tennis again on the tour. I'm having a good season, I'm enjoying it, so I want to enjoy this week in Cincinnati."
Simona Halep secured victory against Beatriz Haddad Maia in the Canada Open final on Sunday, though was given a tougher test than she had otherwise experienced throughout the tournament.
The Romanian was a 6-3 2-6 6-3 victor, dropping a set for only the second time in the week, but standing firm in the clash that clocked in at over two hours.
That meant records for Haddad Maia, who has played the most WTA-level matches with three sets in 2022 (20) and spent over 12-and-a-half hours on the court at the Canada Open in 2022, more than any other player in a single WTA tournament this year.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Halep proved to be a step too far for the Brazilian, however, with the win marking her most significant honour since winning in Rome in 2020.
It was far from a vintage performance from the 30-year-old, who had nine double-faults in the match compared to Haddad Maia's two and left the door open for the South American - who was vying for victory in her first ever WTA 1000 event.
Halep had already clinched a return to the world top 10 by reaching the final in Toronto, the first time since her 373-week stint ended just over a week ago - which led to admissions that she considered calling it quits amid her decline.
A valiant comeback in 2022 has been one of the major stories of the calendar year though and, on the back of victory in Canada and a semi-final march at Wimbledon, will have high hopes for the U.S. Open.
Four weeks to the day before the Cincinnati Bengals open their 2022 season, Joe Burrow was back on the practice field for the first time since undergoing surgery to remove his appendix 2 and a half weeks ago.
It's uncertain how much work Burrow did during Sunday morning's walkthrough, though the 25-year-old quarterback returned from the practice field in his jersey while carrying his helmet.
Prior to the Bengals' Sunday afternoon practice, the team tweeted out a short video of Burrow in shoulder pads and a practice jersey to tease fans of his return.
A return to the practice field appeared imminent after he took part in some pre-game sprints ahead of the Bengals' preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Friday night.
Sidelined since his appendectomy on July 26, Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor had just said last week Burrow was feeling better but didn’t want to put a timetable on when he would return.
The Bengals open the season on September 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the team has always indicated Burrow would be healthy enough to start the opener.
After a knee injury cut short his 2020 rookie season, Burrow is coming off a sensational 2021, in which he led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1988 season, while ranking second in passer rating (108.3), sixth in passing yards (4,611) and eighth in touchdown passes (34).
He's baaaaack pic.twitter.com/vAGuTxEU4z
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) August 14, 2022Frank Warren has revealed his surprise following Tyson Fury's latest retirement announcement, but insists his wishes must be supported.
The Gypsy King has not fought since successfully defending his belts against Dillian Whyte at Wembley in April, where he immediately expressed his intention to retire.
However, Fury excited fans last week when he announced his intention to return to the ring with a fight against Derek Chisora, while the winner of Anthony Joshua's rematch against Oleksandr Usyk was also touted as a likely opponent.
Nevertheless, he again reiterated his desire to retire on Friday - his 34th birthday - and vacated his Ring Magazine heavyweight title belt.
Although this is not the first time that Fury has announced his intention to hang up his gloves, he has not previously relinquished a belt.
And his decision came as a surprise to co-promoter Warren, who told Fight Night on talkSPORT: "At the end of the day, if that's what he wants to do, that's his right to do it.
"He was actually looking forward to fighting last week; he was actually talking about fighting, but that's how he feels at the moment.
"If that's how he feels, that's how it is; we've all got to support what he's doing.
"I spoke to him a few times last week, and he told me he's weighing exactly what he was weighing for his last fight against Dillian Whyte – that's how hard he's training."
But Warren is hopeful that Fury will perform another U-turn for a crack at the winner of the eagerly anticipated bout between Joshua and Usyk on August 20.
"I know he's frustrated and next week - the 20th - it's a big, big fight, and all eyes will be on it," he added.
"Whoever wins that fight, everyone will want to see him fight Tyson. If Tyson wants to do it, he will. If he doesn't, he won't."
Scotsman Ewen Ferguson held onto the lead across the last day of the ISPS Handa World Invitational to clinch victory and his second tour win of the season, despite posting a disappointing score in the final round.
Ferguson's score of 69 was the joint-highest among those to have finished in the top four, but he remained ahead courtesy of a stunning day-one score, where he finished nine under par.
Borja Virto and Connor Syme, finishing joint-second, could only cut their deficit by a single stroke as they finished three behind Ferguson, while Italian Renato Paratore surged up the standings to finish joint-fourth with a final round score of six under par.
Paratore's 64 was tied as the best score in the final round with Jordan Smith, with the 12th-ranked Brit rising 14 places on the final day to finish joint-seventh.
In the women's tournament, Maja Stark won her first LPGA event with a final round score of 63 - shattering the course record to finish five strokes ahead of second-placed Allisen Corpuz.
The Swede entered the final day tied for fourth place but a stunning performance to finish 10 under par in the fourth round propelled her to the top of the standings.
The team of Dr Mark Newnham and Michael Gleichman stood atop the leaderboard at the end of the second day of the CAGC Four-Ball Championship trials at the Caymanas Golf Club on Saturday.
Of the five teams attempting to qualify to represent the country in the Francis & Steele Perkins Trophy, the leading pair scored that scored a one-under-par 71 during Friday’s first round play shot a five-under-par 65 on Saturday for a two-day total of 136.
The team of Owen Samuda and Philip Prendergast, who carded a 73 on Saturday for a total of 146, trail the lead pair. Seven strokes further behind were William Lee and Philip Gooden, whose 75 on Saturday for an overall score of 157.
Meanwhile, the pair of Sean Morris and Delroy Johnson seeking to qualify for Ramon Baez Cup, shot a 69 on Saturday to improve on their opening round score of 75.
Eight teams turned up to the trials for the qualifying spot in the Higgs & Higgs Cup. At the end of play on Saturday, three teams were locked on identical scores of 145.
Michael Boyd and Bert Tomlinson, the early leaders at the end of play Friday with 69 followed up with a 74. The tight competition continued with former JGA president Wayne Chai-Chong and Rory Jardine joining forces to post scores of 71 and 74 to share the lead.
Team Dorrel Allen and Robert Chin scored 72 and 73 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, totalling 145 over the two days.
According to the USGA’s (US Golf Association) Rules of Golf, four-ball stroke play is a competition in which two competitors play as partners, each playing his own ball. The lower score of the partners is the score for the hole.
Sunday's third and final day of competition teed off at 7:30 am.
The trials will be used to select the team for Jamaica's defence of the Ambrose Gouthro Trophy which it first won in 2019 in Florida. There was no competition in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The clock is ticking on the amount of time Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens have to work out a contract extension for the former league MVP.
The sides have four weeks to come to an agreement after the star quarterback set Week 1 as a deadline to get an extension in place.
Jackson, who is representing himself without an agent, is entering the final year of his rookie contract and set to make just over $23million guaranteed on his fifth-year option in 2022.
"Yeah, we coming up to it. It's coming up. Season's coming up," Jackson said on Saturday. "We're going to be good for the season."
When asked if that meant Week 1 is the deadline, Jackson replied: "Yeah, for sure."
The Ravens open the season September 11 at the New York Jets.
If a deal cannot be reached by the season opener, Jackson would become a free agent in March, though it is still possible the Ravens and 2019 league MVP can confirm a deal after the completion of this season.
Jackson added he had "no updates" on current contract negotiations.
The 32nd overall pick of the 2018 draft, Jackson is coming off an injury-marred 2021 season, averaging 240.2 passing yards and 63.9 yards rushing in 12 games.
He finished with 16 passing touchdowns, a career-high 13 interceptions and an 87.0 QB rating – eighth lowest among the 30 quarterbacks with at least 350 passing attempts last season.
The Ravens lost four of the five games Jackson missed last season and finished 8-9 to miss the playoffs for the first time in his career.
Michael Cheika revealed he was in tears as his Argentina side put Australia to the sword in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The Pumas secured their biggest win over the Wallabies and their most emphatic in the Rugby Championship, winning 48-17 at Estadio Bicentenario.
Australian Cheika coached his country for five years before his reign came to an end in 2019 and the 55-year-old had mixed emotions during a record victory for Argentina in San Juan.
The Argentina head coach told reporters: "I love these guys, they're my crew now. I was up on the last try, cheering. But then I started crying because I know I probably shouldn't be doing this. It was a bit confusing for me, personally.
"But they're my boys now. That's my team. I will do everything I can to help them get success and enjoy rugby.
"They are paying me a lot of respect here and people are believing in the things that we are doing. I have to do everything I can to help them."
Cheika is relishing a short break in his homeland before Argentina take on New Zealand.
"It's good to be going to Australia and have a few days off, seeing my mum and my brothers and sisters and take the boys for a Leb (Lebanese) feed at my mum's place," Cheika said.
"But I am looking forward to going to New Zealand because it is a great place to go and play rugby."
It was a packed house at the National Arena in Kingston for the start of the P.H.A.S.E 1 Elite 1 Caribbean Basketball League on Saturday.
The day started with the Elite 1 Horizon recording a blowout 110-64 victory over Elite 1 Rivers thanks to a man-of-the-match performance from guard Bobby Gray, who dominated with 23 points and eight assists.
The game was close after the first quarter with the Horizon holding a 20-19 lead before they stretched the lead to 18 at the half, leading 49-31. Things got uglier after three quarters with the Horizon swelling the lead to 25, leading 84-49, before completing a dominant victory.
The second game saw Elite 1 Storm complete a 79-64 victory over Elite 1 Waves.
In a much closer encounter, the two teams battled throughout the first three quarters and were only separated by two points by the time the fourth quarter came around, with the Storm holding a 53-51 lead.
That fourth quarter, however, saw the Storm play very smart basketball to come away with the victory.
Guard Joel Bailey was voted man-of-the-match thanks to his 17 points, five rebounds and three steals. Teammate Drelan Tripplett also chipped in with 18 points and six assists.
The action continues Sunday when Elite 1 Horizon battle Elite 1 Waves in the first game and Elite 1 Storm face Elite 1 Rivers in the second.
Ardie Savea says he backs "my coach" Ian Foster "100 per cent" after New Zealand lifted the gloom with a magnificent 35-23 win over South Africa on Saturday.
Foster may still lose his job as All Blacks head coach despite a thrilling Rugby Championship victory at Ellis Park.
New Zealand opened up a 15-0 lead in the first half, but the world champions came storming back and were in front for the first time with 12 minutes to play.
With Beauden Barrett in the sin bin it looked like the Springboks would extend the All Blacks' losing streak to four matches, but late tries from David Havili and Scott Barrett ensured they stopped the rot and lifted the Freedom Cup.
Foster said he has no idea if he will remain in his role despite the much-needed win, but Savea - who was immense in Johannesburg - is fully behind his embattled head coach.
"This performance was for all of us, but for me, that's my coach, I back him 100 per cent, side by side," said the number eight, who made 13 carries for 58 metres.
"He has been under a lot of pressure, and I know Foz [Foster] doesn't want to make it about himself, but I just want everyone to know that all the players have got his back.
"He's a great coach, he's got great coaches beside him, and we back him 100 per cent. I hope everyone that reads this backs us because we are going to get it."
Asked if Foster deserves to stay on, Savea replied: "Like I said, he's my coach. That's it."
Captain Sam Cane and Samisoni Taukei'aho crossed in the first half, while Richie Mo'unga scored 15 points with the boot for the holders
Savea expressed his pride following another almighty battle at the end of a challenging week.
"The last couple of weeks this team has been through adversity, and in life and sport when you go through adversity it brings the best out of people," he said.
"I saw something saying belief only takes us so far … it took us pretty far this week. I'm just proud of everyone in this team stepping up, especially at Ellis Park. It's bloody hard, I'm knackered, and can't wait to hit the sack and go see the family next week."
He added: "There are always doubters, always negativity, but that's okay, because that makes everyone better, and people care. Our fans care, the media care, which is fair, but also we had to step up and do our job.
"When people go through adversity, when they're stuck in the trenches, some things come out that make us special. Today that was it, but it's only a start. We've won one out of two in the Rugby Championship, and we’ve got to keep going."
Dave Rennie pulled no punches as he labelled Australia's 48-17 Rugby Championship hammering at the hands of Argentina as a "massive disappointment" and "not good enough".
The depleted Wallabies were without a host of players including fly-half Quade Cooper, who damaged his Achilles in the opening-round win over the Pumas last weekend.
Even accounting for the absentees, Australia were still pre-match favourites but were completely outclassed in San Juan as Argentina ran in seven tries.
It represented the Pumas' biggest ever win over Australia and moved them top of the standings after two games.
Speaking to Stan Sports after the game, New Zealander Rennie made no excuses for his side's poor performance.
"Massive disappointment. That's not good enough," Rennie said.
"We would [like to have a consistent team list] but we had a good enough side to do the job
"We gave them a few soft points early on and fought our way back into it. We have to do better and we'll get a few players back. Whoever puts the jersey on has to front up but we weren't good enough.
"We conceded four tries with kicks in between us and got dominated in the collision area. We created plenty of opportunities but we have to be patient and our rucks not a disaster.
"We just weren't clinical enough. We definitely lacked cohesion with a few changes. We'll look at the footage but we're better than that."
Australia will look to rebound when they host South Africa in Adelaide on August 27.
Hubert Hurkacz will contest the second ATP 1000 final of his career after coming from a set behind to defeat world number five Casper Ruud 5-7 6-3 6-2 in the semi-final of the Canadian Open on Saturday.
It was an interesting clash of styles going into the contest, with Hurkacz expected to rely on his dominant serve, while Ruud is one of the game's top returners, so when Ruud responded to an early break and was the one serving up a storm, it spelled trouble for the world number 10.
Ruud landed 78 per cent of his first serves in the opening set, compared to 60 per cent for Hurkacz, and the Norwegian won 95 per cent of those points (20-of-21) to allow just one break point in the frame while creating four for himself.
As Ruud's serve began to falter – with his first serve accuracy and effectiveness both cratering in the second and third set – his game began to struggle to hold up to the metronomic consistency of Hurkacz, who won the ace count 18-to-eight.
After pulling the match even at one set each, Hurkacz took the contest by the scruff of the neck and won the first four games of the deciding frame to pull away.
Poland's Hurkacz – who won his only previous ATP 1000 final against Jannik Sinner at the 2021 Miami Open – will now face Pablo Carreno-Busta in the decider after the Spaniard prevailed in a three-hour war of attrition against Daniel Evans 7-5 6-7 (7-9) 6-2.
In a match that was close in every area, Carreno-Busta was slightly better, winning 68 per cent (68-of-100) of his service points compared to 60 per cent (66-of-110) for Evans, while committing just one double fault compared to the Englishman's six.
It will be Carreno-Busta's first ATP 1000 final appearance, with the 2021 Hamburg Open – an ATP 500 event – the only career title for the 31-year-old above the ATP 250 level.
All three Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks threw at least one touchdown pass in Saturday’s preseason opener, but rookie Kenny Pickett had the most impressive performance.
Pickett threw for a pair of touchdowns, including a 24-yarder to Tyler Vaughns with three seconds remaining to lift the Steelers to a 32-25 victory over the visiting Seattle Seahawks.
Pickett, the 20th overall selection in this year’s draft out of Pittsburgh, is competing with Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to replace retired two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback. He certainly did nothing to hurt his chances on Saturday.
He played the entire second half and led a seven-play, 75-yard drive on his opening possession, completing all five of his passes, culminating in a three-yard TD pass to Jaylen Warren.
His winning throw in the waning seconds capped a five-play, 43-yard drive. Pickett finished 13-of-15 for 95 yards with two scores, and completed 10 consecutive passes at one point.
Trubisky, who spent last season as Josh Allen’s backup in Buffalo, led the Steelers to a TD on the opening possession with a 90-yard drive. He was four-of-seven for 63 yards, connecting with Gunner Olszewski on a 13-yard scoring strike.
Rudolph, Roethlisberger’s backup the past four seasons, led touchdown and field goal drives on the first two of his three possessions. His 26-yard TD pass to exciting rookie George Pickens gave the Steelers a 14-0 lead. Rudolph was nine-of-15 for 93 yards.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the first National League team in 100 years to win 12 consecutive games by multiple runs after they hammered the Kansas City Royals 13-3 away from home on Saturday.
Fans were still finding their seats when Dodgers lead-off hitter Mookie Betts opened the scoring from the fifth pitch of the game, connecting on a 421-foot home run.
It was the first of five runs from the Los Angeles side in the opening frame, with Max Muncy, Justin Turner and Gavin Lux also driving in runs.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith added another couple of tallies with a two-run homer an inning later to establish a 7-0 lead early, and after the Royals snatched two runs back through a Michael Massey triple later in the second, Lux homered in the third and Muncy homered in the fourth to open up a 10-2 buffer.
Cody Bellinger and Joey Gallo gave Dodgers fans who stuck around for the ninth inning a treat, with another two home runs putting the icing on the cake.
Muncy finished with four hits and four RBIs, while Betts went three-for-four at the plate and both Smith and Lux picked up a pair of hits.
Starting on the mound for Los Angeles, Andrew Heaney made it through three innings before he was forced to leave the game early, suffering a contusion in his throwing forearm.
The last National League team to match the Dodgers' feat were the 1922 Pittsburgh Pirates, who had their 13-game multi-run winning streak snapped exactly 100 years ago to the day.
DeGrom dominates the Phillies
New York Mets ace and arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball Jacob deGrom looked at the peak of his powers in his third start of the season, holding the Philadelphia Phillies scoreless through six innings in a 1-0 win.
DeGrom retired 18 of the 20 batters he faced, striking out 10 and making it through his six innings in an efficient 76 pitches.
The game's only run came in the first inning, with Pete Alonso's base hit scoring Starling Marte, as Phillies starter Aaron Nola also pitched beautifully, going eight full innings with eight strikeouts, allowing one run from four hits and a walk.
Kiner-Falefa the unlikely Yankees hero
The New York Yankees will have a chance to win their three-game series away from home against the Boston Red Sox tomorrow after coming back to win 3-2.
After dropping the first game of their slate 3-2 in extra innings yesterday, the Yankees were in danger of losing their fourth series in a row when they trailed 2-0, before Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning for his first home run of the season.
With the scores still tied at 2-2 in the last frame, Kiner-Falefa came through again as he was able to bunt for a hit while bringing home Andrew Benintendi from third base. From his 103 games this season, it is only the second time he has collected three RBIs.
Simona Halep came from a set behind to defeat seventh seed Jessica Pegula 2-6 6-3 6-4 in the semi-final of the Canadian Open on Saturday, booking her place in the final against Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Romania's Halep, the 15th seed, struggled to return Pegula's serve in the opening set, winning just 32 per cent (nine-of-28) of her return points while compounding her early issues with four double faults.
Whether Pegula began to run out of steam, or Halep figured something out, she had significantly more success against the American's serve the rest of the way, winning 55 per cent (12-of-22) of her return points in the second set, and 57 per cent (20-of-35) in the decider.
Halep has now won 11 of her past 13 matches, and Pegula is her third consecutive win against a top-25 opponent after defeating both world number 21 Jil Teichmann and world number 13 Coco Gauff in straight sets.
While this will be Halep's 18th career WTA 1000 final, it will be Haddad Maia's first, after she emerged triumphant 6-4 7-6 (9-7) against 14th seed Karolina Pliskova.
She did not have a serving advantage against Pliskova, who won the ace count nine-to-one, but she was gritty, saving four of the six break points she faced, and refused to concede the second set after dropping the first three games.
Haddad Maia – the only Brazilian ranked inside the top-100 – has now beaten five consecutive top-25 opponents on her way to the final, including world number one Iga Swiatek, Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic and Canadian hometown hero Leylah Fernandez.
American J.J. Spaun is 18 holes away from a wire-to-wire victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship after finishing Saturday one stroke clear of the chasing field, shooting a two-under 68 to head in at 13 under.
After rounds of 62 and 67 had Spaun leading at the conclusion of each of the first two rounds, he opened his round on Saturday with nine consecutive pars, but after bogeying the 10th, he responded with birdies on 11, 16 and 17.
Austria's Sepp Straka was all set to finish tied with Spaun at 13 under before he bogeyed the 18th, leaving him in outright second-place at 12 under.
A pair of serious challengers are part of the three-man group tied for third at 11 under, with Trey Mullinax being joined by potential PGA Tour Player of the Year Cameron Smith and consistent major contender Will Zalatoris.
Zalatoris, specifically, has been in sparkling form after struggling to a one-over opening round, shooting Friday's round of the day with a 63, and only Im Sung-jae posted a better Saturday score than his 65.
In classic Zalatoris fashion, his work with the putter was not pretty – dropping 0.38 shots on the greens according to Data Golf's strokes gained stats – but he thrived from tee-to-green, finishing with the most strokes gained from approach shots (2.90) while coming in third in the off-the-tee category (1.78).
American duo Tyler Duncan and Troy Merritt are tied for sixth at 10 under, while Saturday's top performer Im rode his terrific round to join the logjam at nine under, which features the red-hot Tony Finau and U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
Last week's winner Joo-hyung 'Tom' Kim is a further shot back at eight under along with South Korean compatriot Lee Kyoung-hoon, America's Collin Morikawa and Chile's Joaquin Niemann, with Spain's Jon Rahm and Australia's Adam Scott part of the small group at seven under.
After shooting a 62 on Thursday to be the early joint-leader, Kim Si-woo's week has taken a turn for the worst as he followed it with a 73 on Friday and a 72 on his third trip around TPC Southwind.
Ian Foster has "no idea" if New Zealand's 35-23 Rugby Championship win over South Africa on Saturday will be enough to save his job.
Foster has faced huge pressure as head coach of the All Blacks after a dismal run of five defeats in six Tests, but his team put in an impressive performance in Johannesburg.
Tries from captain Sam Cane and Samisoni Taukei'aho gave them a strong start, only for the world champions to fight back and take the lead with 12 minutes to go courtesy of scores from Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi, as well as 15 points from the boot of Handre Pollard.
Beauden Barrett had been sent to the sin bin for New Zealand, but late tries from David Havili and Scott Barrett turned things around for the All Blacks and secured a defiant win.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Foster was asked if he thought the victory might allow him a stay of execution, to which he said: "I have no idea, I am just going to enjoy tonight.
"It's never easy when you are coming off a couple of losses, but [I am] so proud. Just so proud of the effort... they hung in and finished strong."
Three consecutive defeats saw New Zealand plummet to fifth in the world rankings after losing their Rugby Championship opener last weekend, their lowest point in history.
Foster said after that defeat in Mbombela that it had been his team's best performance of the year, despite being beaten by South Africa.
"I know I got a little bit mocked for saying that last week, after the loss, but we made a big shift last week through our forward pack," he added.
"The work [forwards coach] Jason Ryan has done out there was strong, and I really felt we were creating a few opportunities. We wanted it so much we were rushing things. Whereas today [Saturday], we were just more patient."
The All Blacks' next game is against Argentina in Christchurch, and it remains to be seen if Foster will still be at the helm when that takes place on August 27.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
