Digital Sports Desk

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Archives for March 2023

PGA Tour: Rahm Leads After 18 Holes

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ORLANDO – Spain’s Jon Rahm closed his round eagle-birdie-birdie to take the 18-hole lead/co-lead for the 11th time on the PGA Tour. When holding the first round led, he’s converted three of 10 on the season, winning the 2018 American Express, the 2022 Mexico Open and the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions). Rahm is seeking his fourth title in his seventh start this season.

Chris Kirk won The Honda Classic last week and seeks to become the first player to win in back-to-back weeks since Tony Finau (2022 3M Open, 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic).

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler sits T-5 at 4-under (67).

Arnold Palmer Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

Jon Rahm 65 (-7)

Chris Kirk 67 (-5)

Cameron Young 67 (-5)

Kurt Kitayama 67 (-5)

Eight players 68 (-4)

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The 2022 winner and reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler is making his second of four starts as the defending champion in a nine-week stretch, and successfully defended his title during the first opportunity (WM Phoenix Open). The last player to successfully defend multiple titles in a season was Tiger Woods, who did so four times in 2007 (Farmers Insurance Open, PGA Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, WGC-CA Championship).

The 2018 winner and reigning FedExCup Champion Rory McIlroy is making his ninth consecutive start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and has finished worse than T13 just once (T27/2016). McIlroy’s Scoring Average of 70.31 at the event is the second-lowest of any player on record (1983-present) with a minimum of 20 rounds played, behind only eight-time champion Tiger Woods(69.97). McIlroy has been the first-round leader/co-leader each of the last two years at the event. The last player to hold the 18-hole lead/co-lead at the same tournament three years in a row was Tiger Woods at the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Chris Kirk won The Honda Classic Sunday, earning his fifth PGA TOUR title and first since the 2015 Charles Schwab Challenge. Kirk is one of two players with top-10s in each of the last two years at the Arnold Palmer Invitationalpresented by Mastercard (T-8/2021, T-5/2022), along with Matt Fitzpatrick.

Arnold Palmer‘s Bay Hill Club & Lodge was the most difficult course on the PGA Tour during the 2021-22 season among non-majors, playing to an average of 1.886 over par.

Most difficult courses on the PGA TOUR in 2021-22

  • +2.507 The Country Club U.S. Open
  • +2.458 Southern Hills Country Club PGA Championship
  • +1.951 Augusta National Golf Club Masters Tournament
  • +1.886 Bay Hill Club & Lodge Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard

Arnold Palmer Invitational | Tournament Facts

COURSE: Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida

YARDS/PAR: 7,466 yards/Par 72

ARCHITECTS: Dick Wilson\Joe Lee

PRIZE Money – Purse: $20,000,000 with Winner: $3,600,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 550

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @APInv and @PuertoRicoOpen

Big East: Marquette Takes Title

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INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – In Tuesday action, Marquette won its first BIG EAST regular-season crown when it defeated Butler 72-56 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Villanova continued its hot play with a 76-72 victory at Seton Hall, which assured the Wildcats of the No. 6 seed at next week’s BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

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The sixth-ranked Golden Eagles (24-6, 16-4 BIG EAST) put together a strong first half that ended with a 36-22 lead at the break. MU was able to maintain a comfortable edge the rest of the way. Tyler Kolek posted game highs of 21 points and 10 assists. He shot 9-of-13 from the field. Jayden Taylor led the Bulldogs (14-16, 6-13 BE).

Villanova, the nation’s leader in free throw shooting, made 21-of-22 from the stripe in the second half of its 76-72 victory. Justin Moore was 9-of-9 from the line and finished with a game-high 23 points. The Wildcats (16-14, 10-9 BE) have won six of their last seven games. The Pirates (16-14, 9-10 BE) were led by Femi Odukale, who compiled his first double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The teams ranked second through fifth in the standings are in action on Wednesday. At 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1, No. 19 Xavier plays at No. 20 Providence. Both teams are 21-8 overall and 13-5 in BIG EAST play and are tied for second place.

DePaul (9-20, 3-15 BE) plays at No. 14 Connecticut (22-7, 11-7 BE) at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Creighton (18-11, 12-6 BE) hosts Georgetown (7-23, 2-17 BE) at 8:30 p.m. on FS1.

The following seeds have been determined for The BIG EAST Tournament: No. 1 Marquette, No. 6 Villanova, No. 7 Seton Hall, No. 10 DePaul and No. 11 Georgetown. St. John’s and Butler will be in the 8/9 game with exact seeds to be determined.

Final Week of Big East Season

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Going into the final week of the regular season, tremendous fan support has increased once again across the BIG EAST Conference in men’s basketball.

Led nationally by Creighton (17,172, 6th) and Marquette (14,098, 16th), seven BIG EAST schools rank among top-50 in overall attendance in 2022-23. Overall, nine of 11 BIG EAST schools’ attendance number have increased this season, with BIG EAST teams combining for 53 sellout home games.

Powered by the boisterous crowds, BIG EAST programs are 123-45 on their home courts, collectively winning 73.2 percent of games. In addition, the top five seeds in the 2023 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament, presented by JEEP boast an astounding 70-7 home mark, winning 90.9 percent of contests in front of their respective fan bases.

As a league, average attendance has risen to 10,322 fans per game, up 6.87 percent from a season ago. The attendance across the league currently ranks second since realignment, with an average of 10,371 fans per game set in 2018.

For schools playing in their primary arenas, percentage capacities are at or near 100 percent for multiple programs, led by Xavier and Villanova. Playing all 16 games in front of the fans at Cintas Center, the Musketeers are averaging 10,279 fans and hitting 100.54 percent capacity. In addition, Villanova has sold out at each of its nine home game played at Finneran Pavilion (6,501 seat capacity).

Just shy of reaching full capacity, Creighton has sold 98.96 percent of tickets to its 14 home games, while Marquette has filled 76.21 percent of Fiserv Forum (18,500 seat capacity) seats across 16 games to stay in the top-20 in overall NCAA attendance.