IVINS, Utah (AP) — Matt McCarty started the year on the Korn Ferry Tour and now is headed to the Masters, winning his first PGA Tour title Sunday at the Black Desert Championship with a 4-under 67 and one swing that all but sealed it.
McCarty won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn an instant promotion in August. In his third start on the PGA Tour, he made winning look just as easy. Staked to a two-shot lead going into the final round, he never trailed at Black Desert Resort and won by three shots.
Stephan Jaeger closed within one shot with birdies on the 14th and 15th. McCarty effectively ended any threat with a 3-wood on the 310-yard 14th that was close to perfect, bounding onto the green and settling 3 1/2 feet from the cup for an eagle.
The victory means the 26-year-old left-hander from Arizona is assured of being in three of the majors next year. He gets into the Masters and PGA Championship with his PGA Tour title, and McCarty already earned a spot in the U.S. Open by leading the Korn Ferry Tour points list.
McCarty becomes the first player since Jason Gore to win three times on the developmental tour to earn an instant promotion and then win on the PGA Tour in the same season. He finished at 23-under 261 and earned $1.35 million.
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) — Dan Bradbury of England closed with a 5-under 66 to win the Open de France by one stroke.
The 25-year-old Bradbury stepped it up with four birdies on the back nine to finish at 16-under 268 for his second European tour career win. He held off Denmark’s Jeff Winther (64). The victory sends Bradbury to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Winther could only par the last two holes and finished tied for second with Thorbjørn Olesen (68), England’s Sam Bairstow (68) and Germany’s Yannik Paul (66) at Le Golf National on the outskirts of Paris.
Swedish golfer Jesper Svensson, who held a one-stroke overnight lead from Olesen and Bairstow, shot 76 and tied for 27th. Justin Rose had a 69 and tied for 13th. Lev Grinberg, the 16-year-old Ukrainian playing for just the fifth time on the European tour, tied for 37th.
SHANGHAI (AP) — Ruoning Yin shot an 8-under 64 to win the LPGA Buick Shanghai tournament, the fourth career LPGA victory for the Chinese golfer.
Yin trailed third-round leader Mao Saigo of Japan by one stroke, but rallied with birdies on five of the final six holes. Yin finished on 25-under 263 at the Qizhong Garden Golf Club.
Saigo closed with a 71 and tied for second with Sei Young Kim of South Korea, who carded a 68. Saigo was looking for her first LPGA Tour victory. They were both six strokes off the lead, finishing at 19-under 269.
Yealimi Noh of the United States carded a 67 on Sunday to finish in fourth place, seven strokes behind the winner.
CARY, N.C. (AP) — Jerry Kelly closed with a 5-under 67 and won the SAS Championship when Padraig Harrington narrowly missed an 8-foot par putt that would have forced a playoff, giving Kelly his first PGA Tour Champions title in two years.
Kelly was bogey-free until a three-putt from 40 feet on the final hole. Padraig Harrington, who started the final round with a three-shot lead, birdied the par-5 17th to tie for the lead. But he went long on the 18th, chipped 8 feet by and missed the par putt for a 71.
Kelly won for the 12th time on the 50-and-older circuit, and the first time since the Shaw Charity Classic in August 2022. He had spent most of this year dealing with a wrist injury and rheumatoid arthritis.
The SAS Championship was the final tournament before the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs start next week for the top 72 players. Woody Austin, despite a 75 in the final round, tied for 17th and moved up two spots to No. 71. Lee Janzen held down the 72nd spot.
Shugo Imahira closed with a 2-under 68 for a one-shot victory over Ryosuke Kinoshita in the Japan Open, earning Imahira a spot in the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship in two weeks. ... Rattanon Wannasrichan won his first Asian Tour event in seven years when he closed with a 4-under 66 for a two-shot victory over Gunn Charoenkul in the SJM Macao Open. ... Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland finished off a four-shot victory in the Wistron Ladies Open-Taiwan with a final round of 3-nder 69. ... Hamish Brown closed with a 6-under 66 and made birdie on the first playoff hole against Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines to win the Hainan Open for his second Challenge Tour title. ... Jack Buchanan closed with a 66 and made birdie on the second playoff hole against Jordan Doull to win the CKB WA PGA Championship on the PGA Tour of Australasia. ... Jonathan Broomhead closed with a 7-under 63 and beat Luke Brown in a playoff to win the Vodacom Origins of Golf-Wild Coast on the Sunshine Tour. ... Miyuu Yamashita closed with a 6-under 66 and defeated Ayaka Furue in a playoff to win the Fujitsu Ladies on the Japan LPGA. Yamashita, the No. 17 player in the world, won for the first time this year. ... Min Byeol Kim had 18 points in the final round of Dongbu Construction-Koreit Championship to win by two points over defending champion Shinsil Bang in the modified Stableford scoring tournament on the Korea LPGA.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Dan Bradbury of England poses for photographers with the trophy after winning the Golf French Open at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, outside Paris, France, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Ruoning Yin of China holds up her trophy for photos after winning the LPGA Shanghai golf tournament at China's Shanghai Qizhong Garden Golf Club, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid is trying to believe in the good that can come from asking for help. Embiid’s career has yielded an MVP — and so many more DNPs — with a biography littered by the kind of devastating injuries that can, in time, heal.
Ask even the most casual 76ers fan, and they can rattle off a CliffsNotes version of Embiid’s injury timeline: The broken bones in his feet, the grotesque dislocated finger that made it resemble a used bendy drinking straw, the torn meniscus in his right knee, the torn ligament in a thumb, a bout with Bell’s palsy, and even his latest ailment — a busted sinus that compelled him to ask a media horde to cut the camera lights because of his sensitivity to the brightness beaming in his face.
Embiid played Friday night wearing a carbon graphite mask straight out of the “Phantom of the Opera” prop department. He needed the protection to save his face from another errant elbow, another sudden strike, that could thrust him into the kind of prolonged absence that has defined his star-crossed career.
With the 7-footer boasting a wingspan that could stretch a couple of Liberty Bells, his knack for knocking down spot-up 3s, Embiid's presence in the lineup is all that separates the Philadelphia 76ers from a playoff team and title contender to one drowning in the NBA standings.
He feels the burden. He understands the hardships.
Selected by the 76ers with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Embiid carries the weight of expectations of Philly — and beyond — with him, and the injuries that sidelined the 2023 MVP and have denied him a real shot at being heralded as one of the NBA's greats have led him to admit the cracks they formed in his mental health was something he could no longer ignore.
So the native of Cameroon who once never believed in seeking help from others had decided over time — much like elite athletes Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and retired swimmer Michael Phelps — to shake the once-taboo stigma of therapy and go all-in on the process to steer him through turbulent times in his professional career.
“It's kind of hard when you get in those moments where it's kind of hard not to feel bad about yourself, especially when you know who you are and what you can accomplish but it's not the way it is,” Embiid said. “One lesson that I learned is to try and stop feeling bad about myself and just live day-by-day. Enjoy good people around me, positivity and not focus on the negativity.”
Embiid has openly talked at times over the last year of feeling depressed from time on the shelf — he was sidelined for two full NBA seasons, and had chunks of so many others recovering, rehabbing, even resting — and this season was no different.
Embiid had his homegrown sidekick in All-Star Tyrese Maxey and nine-time All-Star Paul George along for the ride to form a kind of Big Three expected to challenge Boston, New York and Cleveland for Eastern Conference supremacy.
With all three walloped by injuries, they have played start-to-finish in all of two games this season.
Embiid slogged through headaches and dizziness to drop 34 points and led the 76ers past Charlotte on Friday night in a win that completed a 4-0 season sweep against the Hornets and propped the 76ers' record to a meager 9-16 overall.
“He does make the game so easy,” George said. “A lot of stuff was just plays we weren't in sync on. We'll get that as we're on the court more.”
The question again is raised around the NBA — what could the 76ers have accomplished had Embiid been healthy enough to always play 80 games a season?
As is the norm with Embiid, the two-time scoring champion will sit out the second game of a back-to-back Saturday at Cleveland.
“As long as it gets better every day,” Embiid said, “that'll be good.”
It's a modest goal as Embiid tries to make the days — using his word “manageable” — until perhaps it feels close to 100% in time for the playoffs.
His frankness in admitting he needed therapy belies a public persona of a 30-year-old who has delighted in playing the role of troll to needle rivals both in the locker room and on social media. Embiid — who signed a $193 million contract extension ahead of the season — has leaned on his wife and young son to push him through the hard days.
Embiid's a big brother to 20-somethings on the team like Maxey and rookie Jared McCain and he finally has a relatable peer this season in a fellow Olympic gold medalist George, who has had his own career interrupted by catastrophic injuries.
“You can never get enough of the support,” Embiid said. “If I'm being honest, when you've got the support from your family, people close to you, teammates, guys like (George), that's the reason why you want to keep doing it and you want to keep figuring it out. That's who you play for. The people who care about you, people that support you, people that push you. I have a hard time disappointing people, which I'm working on. When you've got that type of support, it's kind of hard to feel bad about yourself. I like to please people. You've just got to keep going.”
Keep going.
It's all Embiid can do now to find happiness on the court and in his personal life — and find some peace through treatment along the way.
He can at least improve his state of mind, even if the state of his body takes longer to heal.
“It's a work in progress. We'll see if it works," Embiid said. "You get to a point where nothing is working, I'm always willing to try anything and see if it works.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid left, tries to go up for a shot against Charlotte Hornets' Vasilije Micic during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid walks the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, goes up for a shot against Charlotte Hornets' Moussa Diabate during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid holds the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid reacts after being fouled during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
