The Kansas City Chiefs edged past the Buffalo Bills 27-24 to reach the AFC Championship.

Bills kicker Tyler Bass had an opportunity to level the scores in the final two minutes, but his 44-yard field goal attempt missed to the right.

Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco grabbed the crucial score at the start of the fourth quarter, going in from four yards.

Travis Kelce had earlier caught two touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes as the lead changed hands five times.

Quarterback Josh Allen ran for two touchdowns for the Bills, as well as connecting with Khalil Shakir from 13 yards.

The Chiefs will now head to the Baltimore Ravens to play in their sixth straight AFC title game.

The Detroit Lions advanced to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1991 with a 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Jared Goff threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns and Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 74 yards and a score as the Lions, who have never played in a Super Bowl, set up an NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers next weekend.

Ford Field was fired up before kick-off and the atmosphere went up another notch when the first Bucs drive ended with Baker Mayfield throwing an interception into the arms of CJ Gardner-Johnson.

The two teams traded field goals before Detroit got rolling behind rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, who had three straight catches of 13, two and 15 yards to get them upfield before Goff threw a nine-yard touchdown to Josh Reynolds.

Tampa Bay responded late in the half, with Mayfield hitting Mike Evans from 29 yards to get the Bucs to the two-yard line before throwing a touchdown pass to Cade Otton.

Detroit were back on top with 3:51 left in the third quarter when they went for it fourth down from a yard out, with Craig Reynolds powering through, but Tampa Bay again found a response at the end of the quarter as an off-balance Mayfield found Rachaad White with a 12-yard touchdown.

The see-saw continued as Gibbs ran in from 31 yards to put Detroit back on top and they finally broke the pattern when Tampa Bay were forced to punt and Goff hit Amon-Ra St Brown with a perfect nine-yard touchdown pass.

The Bucs were not done yet as Evans reeled in a 16-yard touchdown pass and they had the ball back inside the final two minutes, only for Mayfield to be picked off by Derrick Barnes to spark huge celebrations in Detroit.

US golfer Nick Dunlap won The American Express tournament by one shot to become the first amateur to take home PGA glory in 33 years.

The victory makes Dunlap the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson back in 1991.

The 20-year-old University of Alabama student sank a birdie putt at the par-five 16th to equal the lead of fellow US player Sam Burns at the Pete Dye Stadium Course in La Quinta, California.

Burns then stumbled on the day’s toughest hole, finding water off the tee at the par-three 17th.

At that time, Dunlap was on the green 35 feet from the hole.

He went on to make a routine par, while Burns came out with a double bogey.

The amateur took the lead with the par-four 18th remaining, while on the 18th green, South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout birdied to pull within one.

Dunlap pulled his tee shot into the right rough, but recovered with his approach to tap in for par and claim victory with a 72-hole record low winning score of 29 under 259.

He broke the benchmark of 28 under set by US golfer Patrick Reed in 2014.

Dunlap is the youngest amateur to win on the PGA Tour since 1910.

While he will not collect the 1.5million dollars (£1.18million) prize money, he has secured his PGA Tour card for two years.

Last year, Dunlap became the only player other than Tiger Woods to claim both titles of US Junior Amateur and US Amateur.

The Detroit Lions advanced to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1991 with a 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Jared Goff threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns and Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 74 yards and a score as the Lions, who have never played in a Super Bowl, set up an NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers next weekend.

Ford Field was fired up before kick-off and the atmosphere went up another notch when the first Bucs drive ended with Baker Mayfield throwing an interception into the arms of CJ Gardner-Johnson.

The two teams traded field goals before Detroit got rolling behind rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, who had three straight catches of 13, two and 15 yards to get them upfield before Goff threw a nine-yard touchdown to Josh Reynolds.

Tampa Bay responded late in the half, with Mayfield hitting Mike Evans from 29 yards to get the Bucs to the two-yard line before throwing a touchdown pass to Cade Otton.

Detroit were back on top with 3:51 left in the third quarter when they went for it fourth down from a yard out, with Craig Reynolds powering through, but Tampa Bay again found a response at the end of the quarter as an off-balance Mayfield found Rachaad White with a 12-yard touchdown.

The see-saw continued as Gibbs ran in from 31 yards to put Detroit back on top and they finally broke the pattern when Tampa Bay were forced to punt and Goff hit Amon-Ra St Brown with a perfect nine-yard touchdown pass.

The Bucs were not done yet as Evans reeled in a 16-yard touchdown pass and they had the ball back inside the final two minutes, only for Mayfield to be picked off by Derrick Barnes to spark huge celebrations in Detroit.

Immanuel Quickley said patience is required as he and RJ Barrett adapt to the Toronto Raptors, after the former New York Knicks were beaten on their return to Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Quickley and Barrett were traded to Toronto last month as the Knicks moved for forward O.G. Anunoby, with New York also receiving Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn in the deal. 

The duo, who helped the Knicks reach the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, returned to their former home court for the first time on Saturday, receiving standing ovations from the Knicks fans and featuring in a tribute video shown during the first media timeout.

Barrett finished with 20 points and Quickley added 12, but that was not enough to prevent the Raptors from slipping to 16-27 with a sixth loss in their last seven games.

Despite the result, both players were appreciate of the welcome they received from their former team, with Quickley saying: "It was great, just to come back. 

"Obviously we didn't get the outcome we wanted, [but] just to see everybody where I started my professional career was pretty cool."

Barrett added: "It was amazing. Thank you to the fans, for sure. We got a tribute video, I didn't think we were going to get that. That was cool.

"I'm very appreciative of my time here. To come back brought up a lot of emotions, for sure. But it was fun to come back and play basketball again."

Toronto have only won four of their 12 games since the trade went through on December 30, but Quickley accepts it will take time for the duo to build relationships with their new team-mates. 

"It definitely takes time," he said. "It's like meeting a new girl. You've got to take time to get to know her. You've got to take her out to eat, stuff like that.

"You aren't going to just walk up to her and say, 'let's get married.' That's not going to work. No, it'll come together.

"Rome wasn't built in a day. We have to keep working, individually and as a team we have to continue to try to take steps, and if we keep chopping wood and carrying water we'll get there."

The Raptors face the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers in back-to-back home games next week, while the 26-17 Knicks make the short trip to Brooklyn to face the Nets in their next game on Tuesday. 

Age proved no barrier for First Flow, who showed he still retains plenty of his old zest with a brilliant all-the-way success at Lingfield.

Carrying top-weight of 12 stone and conceding heaps to his younger rivals, Kim Bailey’s 12-year-old was bounced out by usual pilot David Bass and never missed a beat as he landed the Download The Racing App Now Godstone Handicap Chase spoils at 15-2.

It was somewhat fitting that the veteran registered the 12th victory of his decorated career at the venue he first tasted success back in 2017, much to the delight of his handler.

“He’s unreal isn’t he, I adore this horse,” said Bailey.

“He’s a 12-year-old and carrying top-weight. He needed to start today and we have someone down at the start with him every time he runs – he’s been like that as long as I’ve had him.

“He goes round the farm everyday and I get a phone call after half an hour from the girl riding him saying I can’t get him to move. He’s a real character and a real superstar.

“Everyone says to me ‘when are you retiring him?, but you can’t retire him, the horse is enjoying himself. He’s 12, still got the enthusiasm and just won a race off 158.

“It’s a real treat to have a horse like him and he won his first hurdle race here. He’s been a superstar, he’s got no right to be any good he has no pedigree, but’s he’s been what he has, I love him.”

Nurse Susan has “all the tickets” for the big races in the spring after following up a recent Cheltenham success when upped to three miles for the Weatherbys Hamilton Handicap Hurdle.

The seven-year-old had to show plenty of resolve to see off the persistent presence of Venetia Williams’ Ramo, but pulled out extra to oblige backers who had sent Dan Skelton’s charge off the 6-4 favourite.

“She just dosses, she dossed in the mares race at Cheltenham over two-and-a-half and she’s dossed again today,” said Skelton.

“She’s talented and the Love Envoi form is there for all to see. She’s just a good mare. We tried her over fences and I suppose her intelligence lead her to perhaps not like them. Back over hurdles she is a more committed horse.

“Colm (Donlon, owner) likes to have all the tickets, so she’s entered in everything and if there was a charity race (at Cheltenham) I’m sure she would have an entry for that as well.

“She’s just a very good horse and we might go somewhere else en route (to Cheltenham), she’s just a good horse and we’re very happy with her.”

Meanwhile, Tripoli Flyer booked his ticket to Aintree’s Grand National Festival in the spring with an impressive display in the opening Winter Million Open National Hunt Flat Race.

A keeping-on fifth on his rules debut at Chepstow in October, Fergal O’Brien’s five-year-old was a 15-2 shot and showed plenty of speed and class to down the well-regarded Nicky Henderson-trained 8-11 favourite Kingston Pride in the hands of Paddy Brennan.

“We’ve got some lovely bumper horses, but I thought he was very good, he was very impressive,” said O’Brien.

“I thought the Henderson horse had solid point-to-point form and the horse who was second to him (The Enabler) has won a Listed race.

“We thought he would appreciate the surface and the good thing about this horse is his owner as he gave him time after his first race at Chepstow because he had a hard race.

“He was only a four-year-old then and we put him away, I think he went to Paddy’s for a bit and then to an event rider down the road who did a lot of work with him. He came back to us and we just had to put the finishing touches to him ready for today.

“Today was always a plan because we thought he would appreciate the better ground.

“The plan, please God, is to go straight to Aintree. We think he will love the flat track and Paddy said the ground, although he got through it at Chepstow, will be important to him.

“I thought he was impressive but he will have to do it on grass now. Going forward he’s a beautiful jumper, so we will look forward to him.”

Caoilin Quinn proved he is once again the man for marathon events when he guided Gary Moore’s Movethechains (15-2) to victory in the Fitzdares Surrey National Handicap Chase, while there was a shock in the Weatherbys Digital Solutions Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle as Ben Clarke’ 40-1 shot Ooh Betty landed the spoils with the assistance of the stewards.

It was Henderson’s Aston Martini that was first past the post following a ding-dong battle after the last, but the placings were reversed after an inquiry.

“She is battle-hardened and she’s not the sexy option in the race, but I think running in handicaps has served her well as she had to battle hard there and be brave,” said Clarke.

“She got bumped a couple of times coming up the home straight and Ben Jones (jockey) felt it cost him, but saying that, it is not the way we want to win a horse race – Nicky was incredibly gracious so I will drop him a bottle of wine.

“At the back of my mind, I’ve always thought if we get half-decent ground at Cheltenham, she could go there for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. We’ll sit tight and she doesn’t want a bog – she can’t run in proper, proper soft ground – so we will plot our way there.

“Endless Escape was beaten just over 10 lengths in the Cheltenham race last year and this mare would be a much speedier type, so we have half an idea what it takes – not as much as Nicky does – so we’ll see, it could be an option.”

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls got on the scoresheet in the final race on the card as 4-1 favourite Inthewaterside made every yard to claim the Winter Million Novices’ Handicap Hurdle in the hands of Harry Cobden.

High Class Hero looks likely to be part of Willie Mullins’ Cheltenham Festival squad after making it five from five under Rules in the W.T. O’Grady Memorial Irish EBF Novice Hurdle at Thurles.

This race has been won by some smart performers in the past, with Gerri Colombe, Monkfish and The Storyteller on the roll of honour.

High Class Hero was a red-hot 2-7 favourite to join them after following up a Listowel bumper win with three victories over timber between early August and late October.

A break of 92 days since his last success at Limerick was a minor concern, but the son of Sulamani made light of that lay-off by tracking What Path and Easy Fella before easing smoothly between the pair after the second last, going on to oblige by a comfortable length and three-quarters from the latter.

Winning jockey Paul Townend said: “He settled relatively well, it turned into a dash off the final bend and he made up a lot of ground when we quickened. The conditions are testing, we didn’t go quick early and it was like what he did at Limerick.

“He hadn’t gone anywhere (from Mullins’ yard) since his last run but just hadn’t run in a while, so on the whole I’m very happy and he is progressing.

“I think he has enough runs, which is a help going for the Albert Bartlett (Novices’ Hurdle) and he has the right attitude as well.”

Betfair cut High Class Hero from 9-1 to 7-1 for that Cheltenham Festival contest.

David Christie’s Ferns Lock cruised to victory in the Carey Glass Hunters Chase, having hacked up by 20 lengths in the same race 12 months ago.

This year, he had eight lengths in hand over Romeo Magico at the finish, but Barry O’Neill enjoyed another armchair ride and could easily have extended that advantage on the 8-15 favourite.

Coral reacted by cutting Ferns Lock to 10-3 from 4-1 for the St James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase at Cheltenham.

“He had to give away 7lb and 10lb and in that ground that is very tough. The only time he has ran on nice ground was here last year and while everyone thinks he is a big, strong horse who likes soft, he is a beautiful mover who wants better ground,” said Christie.

“After finishing races on heavy ground last year, he would make a palate noise but it was nothing major so we put on a tongue-tie as a safeguard. On nicer ground he wouldn’t really need it but I’ll leave it on as he is happy and relaxed with it.

“Cheltenham is his goal, he is coming on all the time and I’m hoping he’d step up from that again now.

“He has an awful size of an engine but is very immature, although is learning in every race. We’ll build for Cheltenham now.”

Purse Price (7-4) showed a smart turn of foot to land the Connolly’s Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Maiden Hurdle in emphatic fashion for Gordon Elliott and Jack Kennedy.

Kennedy said: “It was a weak maiden hurdle but she had been consistent and did it well today. It looked a nice opportunity, so it was good to get her head in front.

“She travelled, jumped well and put the race to bed – it all went to plan. Hopefully there will be another race or two to be won with her and she can also get confidence from today.”

Falco Blitz (16-1) came with a smooth, late surge to land the Duggan Veterinary 4Cyte Handicap Chase under a confident ride by Conor McNamara for his father Eric.

The latter said: “I’m delighted for (owner) Shane Carmody, who is a great supporter of ours, so that winner means an awful lot to me. I’m really delighted to win for him.

“The horse had been a solid, consistent horse who deserved his day and thankfully it came. He was bought the same day as Real Steel (Paddy Power Chase winner) but unfortunately took longer to win. He has been a solid and sound horse, though.

“If he hadn’t won today, we were thinking of the veterans’ chase at Limerick in a month’s time but he is entered in the Leopardstown Chase, so we can think bigger now – if you’re not in, you can’t win.”

Little Mixup (12-1) was another to come through in the latter stages when securing his fourth career victory in the Horse & Jockey Handicap Hurdle under Mark McDonagh, giving trainer Denis Hogan a welcome boost following a recent suspension.

“I thought the handicapper had this lad and I asked him to drop the horse a pound to get him into a 0-116, but it looks like he was right,” said Hogan. “The race cut up though – the favourite tipped up and it probably wasn’t the strongest race.”

He added: “I have to thank all the owners who all stood by me (during the suspension), as it was a tough end to the year. It was messy and I advised owners to send horses here and there, and thankfully I got them back.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan clawed his way back into contention after a torrid opening session of the World Grand Prix final against Judd Trump in Leicester.

The world number one had swept into the final on the back of a dazzling semi-final win over Ding Junhui, but his touch looked to have deserted him as he slumped to a 4-0 deficit by the mid-session interval.

But O’Sullivan, looking to build on his recent UK Championship and Masters titles, recovered to narrow the gap to two frames at 5-3 ahead of Sunday evening’s resumption in their best-of-19 clash.

Despite questioning his future in the sport during much of his run to the final, O’Sullivan conceded he had barely played better than in his last-four win over Ding, when he rifled four centuries to triumph 6-1.

But it was Trump who seized the initiative on Sunday with a break of 74 giving him the first frame, before O’Sullivan uncharacteristically spurned a chance to steal the second as he fell two behind.

O’Sullivan once again failed to punish his opponent for a pair of misses in the third frame, going in-off during an attempted safety which enabled Trump to chisel out the points required to extend his lead.

A nightmare mini-session was complete as Trump made 69 to move further in front, but O’Sullivan finally stirred upon the resumption to take the fifth frame in two visits.

Trump failed to punish O’Sullivan for more misses in frame six, but he got the better of frame seven in what was proving an increasingly scrappy encounter to restore his three-frame lead.

Trump again spurned a fine chance to wrap up the afternoon session four frames in front when he missed a black on a break of 33, and O’Sullivan finally showed a glimpse of his earlier form with an excellent response of 63, enough to leave it with all to play for on Sunday evening.

Damian Lillard said he had rediscovered his rhythm after his season-high 45 points helped the Milwaukee Bucks past the struggling Detroit Pistons on Saturday.

Lillard became the first player in Milwaukee history to finish a game with at least 40 points, 10 assists and five three-pointers as they opened their double-header in Detroit with a 141-135 success.

The guard's dominant performance came after he went seven of 20 shooting in a blowout defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, and coach Adrian Griffin was delighted with his response. 

"Dame was so great tonight, and he was competing on both sides of the ball," Griffin said after Saturday's win.

"I had no idea he had 45, but he's a rhythm player and he definitely got into a rhythm out there. He made big shots, and that's why he's on this team."

Lillard echoed his coach's sentiments, saying: "I knew it was an important game. I picked my spots. I moved the ball when I needed to move it. I attacked when I needed to attack.

"I've been slowly getting back to how I play more naturally and tonight was one of those nights."

Milwaukee were boosted by the return of two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who added 31 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists after missing the Cleveland game with a shoulder issue.

Antetokounmpo had chances to boost that tally, missing with 11 of 22 free-throw attempts, but Griffin was pleased with his overall contribution. 

"Giannis was big on both ends," Griffin said. "He got us some stops at the start of the second half and he was aggressive with the ball and getting to the rim. 

"When he draws fouls, he gets us to the bonus faster than a lot of teams, and that's invaluable."

The Bucks are now up to 29-13 after winning four of their last five games, ahead of another meeting with the Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on Monday. 

All roads lead to the Cheltenham Gold Cup for L’Homme Presse following a triumphant comeback in the Fitzdares Fleur De Lys Chase at Lingfield.

The nine-year-old claimed Cheltenham’s Brown Advisory as one of two Grade One novice wins two seasons ago and kicked off last term with a fine weight-carrying victory in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle.

However, he subsequently unseated Charlie Deutsch when seemingly booked for second behind Bravemansgame in the King George VI Chase at Kempton and missed the rest of the campaign through injury.

Despite an absence totalling 391 days, L’Homme Presse was the 8-11 favourite to make a successful return in Lingfield’s £165,000 Winter Million feature and proved his ability remains very much intact with a two-and-a-quarter-length win over a race-fit dual Grade One winner in Protektorat.

Venetia Williams said: “It’s been a long time coming and I’m thrilled for Andy, Pat and Peter (owners) to have been as patient as they have been.

“There were proper stayers in there today who were going to eke out any weakness and he’s a stayer of course, but you can’t expect them to plumb the depths of their stamina first time out after a long time off.

“It (injury) was enough to keep him off for a good few months and then the season was coming to an end and we wanted to give him a long, steady preparation this autumn. It’s taken a while.

“In fairness, he hasn’t had much schooling and I was going to school him this week, but wasn’t able to because of the weather. He’s an intelligent horse, though.

“We brought him here and he could possibly have run a bit earlier but the races weren’t there. We wanted him to run somewhere where it was an appropriate race and we also had enough time to get him fit. I’m sure he will improve a bit, but don’t expect masses of improvement.”

The two-and-three-quarter-mile contest was an intriguing watch, with Harry Skelton seemingly keen to make the most of Protektorat’s fitness edge with an aggressive front-running ride.

The nine-year-old looked to have L’Homme Presse in trouble at one stage, but the latter’s jumping kept him in the fight as the pace increased and he was the one travelling the better as the big two straightened up for home.

Protektorat did not go down without a fight and it was still all to play for between the final two fences, but L’Homme Presse stamped his class on the run-in to take top honours with something to spare.

Coral trimmed the winner’s Gold Cup odds to 12-1 from 16-1, while Paddy Power were clearly more impressed and offered 9-1 from 14-1.

Williams did, however, raise the prospect of L’Homme Presse running again between now and March, with next month’s Ascot Chase on her radar.

“That’s been on our mind and we want to see how he comes out of this, but there is a possibility of that. Maybe it will be (Ascot), that is one of the races on the shortlist,” she added.

The trainer houses another potential Gold Cup contender in Royale Pagaille, who having been denied a run in Saturday’s Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock after the meeting was abandoned, will be rerouted to next weekend’s Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham.

Which horse Deutsch will be on board come the big day remains to be seen, with Williams saying: “It’s far too early for questions like that. Hopefully we will run Royale Pagaille in the Cotswold Chase next Saturday and Ruby (Walsh) never used to make his mind up until final declarations did he?”

Jeriko Du Reponet remains likely to head for the M1 Agency Sidney Banks Memorial Novices’ Hurdle at Huntingdon, despite the Rossington Main Novices’ Hurdle being rearranged for Doncaster next Saturday.

The two-mile Grade Two event was lost from Haydock’s abandoned Saturday card, but was swiftly added to Town Moor’s fixture on January 27.

However, despite discussing a trip to Yorkshire with owner JP McManus, trainer Nicky Henderson is content to follow the ‘Shishkin route’ to the Cheltenham Festival and visit Huntingdon on February 8 with his unbeaten Supreme Novices’ Hurdle contender, who has done nothing but impress in two facile Newbury victories.

“It will probably still be Huntingdon, although I did talk to JP about it (Doncaster),” said Henderson.

“If JP wants him in there (then he will be entered for Doncaster), but he did say he did have the other horse (Jonjo O’Neill’s Fortunate Man) who was going to Haydock anyway. We weren’t going to Haydock because we don’t like the track in bad ground.

“The race goes to Doncaster and my first reaction was ‘goody-goody, we can go there with Jeriko’, but he did say the other horse was due to go to Haydock and he’s entitled to have first pick – and I’m perfectly happy with the Sidney Banks.”

Rory McIlroy completed the best weekend comeback of his career to successfully defend his title and win a record fourth Dubai Desert Classic.

The Northern Irishman’s previous biggest recovery with two rounds to go was from five shots back at the 2015 BMW PGA Championship but having begun round three 10 adrift he closed out a one-stroke victory at the Emirates Golf Club.

Saturday’s 63 catapulted him into contention but there were far fewer fireworks in his final round and, while McIlroy escaped with some loose shots, rivals Cameron Young and Adrian Meronk were unable to exert any meaningful pressure.

“If the scores on the weekend had been flipped and I shot 70, 63, I’d probably be like ‘Yeah, that was amazing’,” said McIlroy, who finished 14 under.

“The course definitely played a little trickier at the weekend. After I finished on Friday I thought if I shot two 67s over the weekend I would have a decent chance to win, and if that had been the case I would have tied on 13 under.

“I wasn’t too far away with the prediction and I went one better than that and ended up winning the tournament.”

McIlroy, who now has a victory and a second place in his first two starts of the season, added: “I played that front nine so well that I didn’t really have to do anything that special on the back nine just to get the thing won.

“I got away with a couple of things: I didn’t make birdie on 10 and then I made the bogey on 13. Luckily for me the guys around me didn’t make a ton of birdies on the way in.

“I knew I always had one or two shots to play with so I think that gave me a certain level of comfort.”

McIlroy began the day two shots behind leader Young but his birdie after driving the 351-yard second, combined with the American’s bogeys at four and six, saw the advantage swing a stroke in the Northern Irishman’s favour.

And with Young not recording his first birdie until the 10th, Meronk emerged as his chief challenger – briefly sharing the lead before chipping across the seventh green and into the water for a double-bogey five.

McIlroy extended his lead to three at the turn with successive birdies including from 31 feet on the eighth.

His only real moment of concern came with a first bogey in 38 holes at the 13th, where he could not escape from the waste area at the first attempt after taking an aggressive line and going too far left.

Meronk’s third birdie since the turn put him within one but then he bogeyed the 16th while McIlroy brilliantly salvaged par from the left waste area, meaning two closing pars were enough to secure his landmark win.

McIlroy’s positive start to 2024 will give him renewed optimism he can break his nine-year major drought, with the chance to complete a career Grand Slam first up at the Masters in April.

“Augusta is still a long way away in golfing terms. A lot can change in two and a half months,” he said.

“But it’s always nice nice to feel like you’re playing well going into it.

“I’ve still got some big events to come but until that first or second week in April at least a part of my mind is going to be towards getting myself absolutely ready for there.”

Luke Littler intended to celebrate turning 17 by taking his family out for a meal.

The teenager, who took the world by storm with his run to the World Championship final at Alexandra Palace earlier this month, is back in the country after winning the Bahrain Masters on Friday.

It was a whirlwind visit to the Middle East as he hit a nine-dart finish on his way to winning a first senior PDC title, earning him a £20,000 payday.

He then attended the Misfits Boxing on Saturday night and was pictured with celebrity KSI before planning some family time on Sunday.

Littler, who is now old enough to drive, revealed after his win in Bahrain that he would treat his family on his special day, saying: “On Sunday, we’ll all go out as a family for a meal, and even though it’s my birthday, I’ll treat them.”

He will not need to splash out on dessert, though, as his local bakery in Warrington provided him with a lavish cake to mark his special day.

There will not be much time for rest as the teenager heads out to the Netherlands for the Dutch Darts Masters this week before the Premier League kicks-off in Cardiff on February 1.

It will be the start of a gruelling schedule for Littler, who is determined to make the most of every opportunity he gets on what will be a breakout year on the PDC Tour.

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He is also in high demand on the celebrity circuit, having met a host of footballers and reality stars over the past few weeks.

And Michael van Gerwen, who was beaten by Littler in the final in Bahrain, had warned about exploiting the teenager too much.

“Everyone says he’s the new kid, but everyone knows what he is capable of,” the Dutchman said after the Bahrain final. “The crowd, the television, everyone wants to make him bigger, but he’s already a good player.

“I know we all want to push him, but let him grow, let him do other things. You have to learn, the crowd has to learn and everyone who is involved in television has to learn. Don’t push him too much.

“Of course we know he’s a good player, but give him his time and after, he will come, no problems.”

Allaho returned to winning ways when claiming victory in the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles for a third time.

The Willie Mullins-trained 10-year-old was successful in the two-and-a-half-mile Grade Two event in 2021 and 2022, but missed the entirity of last season through injury.

Having returned to action this term with a smooth triumph at Clonmel, he was beaten into third behind Hewick when favourite for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

However, Allaho made all the running under Paul Townend to enjoy a straightforward 8-13 triumph here, seeing off stablemate Stattler by 13 lengths.

Assistant trainer Patrick Mullins said: “Allaho looked back to himself, having not quite got home in the King George.

“He isn’t getting any younger, it took him a while to warm up into his jumping (at Kempton) and he is better going left-handed.

“Paul was a little worried that he got a hard race in the King George and was coming back quite quickly but the further he went, the better he travelled and jumped.

“He is a big big horse who likes better ground and going left-handed at Cheltenham suits him down to the ground. I’d imagine it is all roads back to the Ryanair (Chase) now.

“Today’s race was a Grade One in all but name, with all being Grade One winners, so it is great for Thurles and it is a brilliant race to target every year.”

Allaho’s task was made all the more easier by the defection of Henry de Bromhead’s Envoi Allen and Capodanno.

Their absence left just four runners, with Appreciate It rated the main danger at 11-4 and 6-1 chance French Dynamite making up the numbers for Mouse Morris.

Allaho did all that was asked of him, though, travelling strongly throughout and only having to be nudged out to draw clear of 20-1 longshot Stattler up the home straight, with Appreciate It a further 11 lengths back in third.

Mullins added: “It is brilliant run out of Stattler, he had just started to sparkle in the last month, so it is great he is getting back to form. He had lost his form completely after the Gold Cup, so now we can aim big with him again.

“Danny (Mullins, on Appreciate It) said he had a good position, travelled great but once they quickened he found nothing. It is disappointing, as I thought he’d be challenging Allaho. He wears a tongue-strap, so maybe nicer ground will help him.”

Allaho was cut to 5-2 from 3-1 to win a third Ryanair Chase by both Betfair and Paddy Power, while Coral were even more impressed, promoting him to 2-1 favourite.