McIlroy Wins Masters, Completes Career Grand Slam

Rory McIlroy birdied the 18th hole at Augusta, the first hole of a sudden death playoff with Justin Rose, to win the Masters and become the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tiger Woods as the only professional players to win all four major events, the U.S. Open, British Open, Masters, and PGA Championship.

McIlroy lost his 2-stroke lead early in the final round to Bryson Dechambeau, but rallied to regain it and lead by three strokes, but struggled on the back nine with bogeys on 11, 14, and 18, and a near-disastrous double bogey 7 on the 13th. He parred both par threes - the 12th and 16th - and birdied 10, 15, and 17 in an up-and-down 1-over par performance in the final round.

Rose shot a stunning 66 with 10 birdies, including the 15th, 16th, and 18th to tie McIlroy in regulation at -11 (277).

Dechambeau, who was paired with McIlroy for the final round, faded to -7, tied for fifth with Sungjae Im. Patrick Reed was third at -9, and Scottie Scheffler fourth, at -8.

Match Play at the Masters

Sunday's final round of the Masters has the potential to be an instant classic, with Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau in the final pairing, set to tee off at 2:30 pm ET.

McIlroy carded a 66 on Saturday to take command at -12. His round began with six straight 3s, including a birdie on the opening hole, a chip-in eagle on the par 5 second, another birdie on #3, a par on the par-three 4th, another birdie on #5, and par on the par-three sixth. McIlroy finished the front nine with pars on #7 and #9, sandwiching a bogey-6 on the 8th hole for 31 going out.

DeChambeau kept close, with six birdies on the day, including birds on 15, 16, and a masterful 60-foot putt on 18 to finish with a 69 at -10 for the tourney.

The two have distanced themselves from the field, the closest pursuer being Canadian Corey Conners, at -8. Patrick Reed and Ludvig Aberg are at -6, with Sungjae Im, Jason Day, Scottie Scheffler, Shane Lowry, and Justin Rose all chasing at -5.

The Masters begins on Thursday, April 10 and runs through the final round on Sunday, April 13.

Here are odds to win for all players at less than +10000

1. Scottie Scheffler +460
2. Rory McIlroy +675
3. Jon Rahm +1700
4. Ludvig Aberg +1700
5. Collin Morikawa +1700
6. Bryson DeChambeau +1900
7. Xander Schauffele +2200
8. Justin Thomas +2200
9. Joaquin Niemann +2700
10. Hideki Matsuyama +3000
11. Viktor Hovland +3500
12. Brooks Koepka +3500
13. Jordan Spieth +3500
14. Patrick Cantlay +3500
15. Tommy Fleetwood +3500
16. Shane Lowry +3700
17. Tyrrell Hatton +3700
18. Will Zalatoris +4500
19. Min Woo Lee +4500
20. Cameron Smith +5500
21. Russell Henley +5500
22. Robert Maclntyre +5500
23. Akshay Bhatia +5500
24. Tony Finau +6500
25. Corey Conners +7000
26. Wyndham Clark +7500
27. Jason Day +7500
28. Sepp Straka +7500
29. Sahith Theegala +8500
30. Dustin Johnson +9000
31. Sam Burns +9000
32. Tom Kim +9000

Courtesy bet365

Chicago's "Lovable Losers" won't have a home game until April 4, the latest of any MLB squad. At the end of March, their record stood at 3-4, but the NL Central appears to be a wide open affair. As of March 31, St. Louis leads at 3-1 and least season's division winner, Milwaukee, is 0-4 with a differential of -32, having been roundly beaten by the Yankees in the opening series in the Bronx and then being pounded, 11-1, by Kansas City in their home opener, March 31.

IdleGuy.com will feature Players of the Day from both the American and National Leagues every day (unless there are no games scheduled) throughout the baseball season on Page 7a - Sports Extra

The first few days of the baseball season have been nothing short of spectacular, with Aaron Judge whacking three homers against the Brewers in a 20-9 romp on March 29.

And what's a guy to do? Cincinnati's emerging superstar, Elly De La Cruz, socks a pair of homers, a double, single, steals a base, and drives in 7 runs in a 14-3 win over Minnesota, which, on any normal day would have been easily good enough for Player of the Day (POTD), but along comes Cubs' catcher, Carson Kelly, hitting for the cycle, reaching base six times, scoring three runs and driving in five, batting out of the nine hole. That's better, right?

Keep up to date on the hottest players in baseball every day on Sports Extra.

Head over to the May issue of idleguy.com Sports page on May 1 for complete coverage and Fearless Rick's Picks for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Brendan Walsh's Gosger ran down long shot front-runner Bracket Buster to win the Grad 3 Lexington Stakes by two lengths Saturday at Keeneland. Both horses appear to be headed to the Preakness, as neither has amassed sufficient points for entry in the May 3 Kentucky Derby.

With the Florida Derby and Arkansas Derby already run on March 29, preps at Gulfstream Park and Oaklawn Park have concluded and it's on to the April races remaining.

Tappan Street, trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Luis Saez, won the Florida Derby, paying $6.80 to win. Bill Mott's Sovereignty finished second under Manny Franco, and show horse long shot Neoequos (Joseph Saffie Jr., Edgard Zayas) paid $4.20.

Jose Ortiz rode Sandman to victory in the Arkansas Derby. Mark Casse's trainee paid $9.40 to win. Second place went to Publisher with Flavian Prat aboard, trained by Steven Asmussen. Coal Battle disappointed in third with Juan Vargas riding the Lonnie Briley-trained colt. Notably, Bob Baffert's favored Cornucopian.

April 5:
UAE Derby (G2) Meydan Racecourse, Dubai, UAE.
Wood Memorial (G2), Aqueduct, New York, NY
Blue Grass Stakes (G1), Keeneland, Lexington, Kentucky
Santa Anita Derby (G1), Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California

April 12: Lexington (G3), Keeneland, Lexington, Kentucky

Top 20 U.S. Horses (via kentuckyderby.com)