PGA Tour's swing through Florida wraps up in Tampa. European tour goes to Singapore

VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Palm Harbor, Florida.

Course: Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead). Yardage: 7,352. Par: 71.

Prize money: $8.7 million. Winner's share: $1,566,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC).

Defending champion: Peter Malnati.

FedEx Cup leader: Rory McIlroy.

Last week: Rory McIlroy won The Players Championship.

Notes: The Copperhead course at Innisbrook is reputed to be one of the best tournament courses in Florida. Coming off big weeks at Bay Hill and The Players Championship, it still attracted eight of the top 25 players in the world ranking. ... Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas are the only players from the top 10. Schauffele is playing his third straight week after two months away because of a rib injury. ... Florida State junior Luke Clanton, assured of a card through the PGA Tour University accelerated program, is among the sponsor exemptions at the Valspar. ... Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald makes his second PGA Tour appearance of the year. Among prominent Europeans in the field are Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood and Thomas Detry. ... Two weeks remain before the top 50 in the world get into the Masters. Among those on the bubble and playing at Innisbrook are Michael Kim and Ben Griffin.

Next week: Texas Children's Houston Open.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

PORSCHE SINGAPORE CLASSIC

Site: Singapore.

Course: Laguna National Golf Resort Club. Yardage: 7,420. Par: 72.

Prize money: $2.5 million. Winner's share: $416,667.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 1-6 a.m. (Golf Channel); Friday, 10:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Jesper Svensson.

Race to Dubai leader: Laurie Canter.

Last tournament: Calum Hill won the Joburg Open.

Notes: Robert MacIntyre is going from The Players Championship in Florida to Singapore for his second European tour start of the year. He previously went from the Sony Open in Hawaii to Dubai the following week. ... Paul Casey and Tom McKibbin are two LIV Golf players who are staying in Singapore for a second straight week, having competed at Sentosa Golf Club for a LIV event last week. Most other LIV players are going to Macau on the Asian Tour. ... Two players in the field are defending champions this week on the Challenge Tour (John Parry) and PGA Tour of Australasia (Matthew Griffin). ... Former PGA champion Jimmy Walker is in the field. This will be his sixth European tour start since September, and fourth this year. He has missed the cut in the other three this year. ... This is the third tournament in Singapore in the last four weeks, following the LPGA (HSBC Women's World Championship) and LIV Golf.

Next week: Hero Indian Open.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/

HOAG CLASSIC

Site: Newport Beach, California.

Course: Newport Beach CC. Yardage: 6,725. Par: 71.

Prize money: $2 million. Winner's share: $300,000.

Television: Friday, 6-8 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Padraig Harrington.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Ernie Els.

Last tournament: Steven Alker won the Cologuard Classic.

Notes: This is the second of three PGA Tour Champions tournament in the West, concluding next week in the California desert. ... Club professional Jason Caron is the highest-ranked player (No. 5) in the Schwab Cup without having won any of the four tournaments this year. ... Bernhard Langer is in the field as the German tries to win for a 19th consecutive season on the PGA Tour Champions. ... Ernie Els is a two-time winner of the Hoag Classic. He has a slim lead over Steven Alker in the Schwab Cup. ... The tournament dates to 1995 and has been played every year except 2017. ... Langer, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh and Mike Weir are the four former Masters champions in the field. ... Els declined his exemption to The Players Championship last week. ... Duffy Waldorf holds the tournament record at 20-under 193 when he won the Hoag Classic by two shots in 2015.

Next week: The Galleri Classic.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions

Last tournament: Rio Takeda won the Blue Bay LPGA.

Next week: Ford Championship.

Race to CME Globe leader: A Lim Kim.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

Last week: Joaquin Niemann won LIV Golf Singapore.

Next tournament: LIV Golf Doral on April 4-6.

Points leader: Joaquin Niemann.

Online: https://www.livgolf.com/

Last tournament: Logan McAllister won the Astara Chile Classic.

Next tournament: Club Car Championship on April 3-6.

Points leader: Hank Lebioda.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour/schedule

Asian Tour: International Series Macau, Macau Golf and CC, Macau, China. Defending champion: John Catlin. Television: Thursday-Friday, 1:30-5:30 a.m. (NBC Sports app); Saturday-Sunday, 12-4 a.m. (NBC Sports app). Online: https://asiantour.com/

Challenge Tour: Delhi Challenge, Classic Golf & CC, Haryana, India. Previous winner: John Parry. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/hotelplanner-tour/

Ladies European Tour: Ford Women's NSW Open, Wollongong GC, Wollongong, Australia. Defending champion: Mariajo Uribe. Television: Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m. to 1 p.m. (NBC Sports app). Online: https://ladieseuropeantour.com/

PGA Tour of Australasia: Heritage Classic, The Heritage Golf and CC (St. John), Chirnside Park, Australia. Previous: Matthew Griffin. Online: https://pga.org.au/

Sunshine Tour: The Serengeti Playoffs, Serengeti Estates, Kempton Park, South Africa. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://sunshinetour.com/

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Xander Schauffele tees off on the 18th hole during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

ROME (AP) — Jannik Sinner has gone all the way to the final in his first tournament back from a three-month doping ban.

And Carlos Alcaraz is waiting for him in the Italian Open title match.

The top-ranked Sinner rallied past No. 12 Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals on Friday as he attempts to become the first Italian man to lift the Rome trophy since Adriano Panatta in 1976.

Earlier, Alcaraz advanced to his first Rome final by beating Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Sunday’s final will mark the first meeting between Sinner and Alcaraz since October, when Alcaraz won the China Open final in a third-set tiebreaker. Alcaraz holds a 6-4 edge in his career meetings with Sinner and has won three straight against his biggest rival.

But Sinner has not lost since that defeat to Alcaraz in Beijing and is on a 26-match winning streak. He’s playing his first tournament since he won his third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

“He’s playing great. I’ve been watching his matches,” Alcaraz said. “His level is really high right now. Every time that I play against him is always a battle, always really, really tough. I kind of enjoy (those) moments.”

Sinner cranked up his level to near perfection in a rout of Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Against Paul, Sinner made unforced errors in the first set while his American opponent hit shot after shot on the lines. But Sinner quickly turned the match around.

“Everybody saw the game against Casper,” Alcaraz said. “It’s a huge level.”

Sinner is the first Italian man in the Rome final since Panatta lost the 1978 title match to Bjorn Borg, and Alcaraz noted that playing Sinner before his home crowd will be “even more challenging.”

Sinner's fans have been out in full force for all of his matches, many of them wearing wigs and hats in orange — his theme color. One fan held aloft a sign during the semifinal that translated from Italian to, “Sinner, we missed you.”

In February, Sinner agreed to a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency that raised questions, since the three-month suspension conveniently allowed him not to miss any Grand Slams and come back at his home tournament.

Rome is the last big warmup before the French Open starts on May 25.

It’s the third final in three clay-court events this season for Alcaraz, who won the Monte Carlo Masters and finished runner-up in the Barcelona Open. He withdrew from the Madrid Open because of injury.

The third-ranked Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid tournament with an upper right leg issue and also had a left leg injury. In Rome, he has been wearing a long black brace covering the upper portion of his right leg stretching down to just below his knee.

Musetti took the first set off Alcaraz in the Monte Carlo final but Alcaraz broke the Italian’s serve in the first game of the rematch to silence the pro-Musetti crowd on Campo Centrale. Musetti didn’t help himself with unforced errors and began pushing Alcaraz only at the end of the set.

Musetti was docked a point for misbehavior late in the second set after receiving a warning earlier for breaking his racket.

On a windy day at the Foro Italico, Alcaraz said it wasn’t about playing “brilliant,” but rather “smart tennis” was required.

“Waiting for your chances to play aggressive, so I think I did it pretty well,” Alcaraz said. “I stayed strong mentally when things didn’t went to my side.”

Alcaraz is playing the Italian Open for the second time. During his Rome debut last year, he lost to then-135th-ranked Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan in the third round.

The women’s final on Saturday features Coco Gauff against Jasmine Paolini.

Paolini and partner Sara Errani also advanced to the women’s doubles final when they beat Russian pair Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-4 in a rematch of last year’s Olympic final also won by the Italians.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Jannik Sinner fans wait for the start of the semifinal tennis match against Tommy Paul, of the United States, at the Italian Open, in Rome, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Italy's Jannik Sinner stands on the court during his semifinal tennis match against Tommy Paul, of the United States, at the Italian Open, in Rome, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after winning the semifinal tennis match against taly's Lorenzo Musetti at the Italian Open, in Rome, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti during their semifinal tennis match at the Italian Open, at the Foro Italico, in Rome, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Italy's Lorenzo Musetti returns the ball to Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their semifinal tennis match at the Italian Open, in Rome, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz walks on the court during the semifinal tennis match against Italy's Lorenzo Musetti at the Italian Open, in Rome, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Italy's Lorenzo Musetti returns the ball to Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their semifinal tennis match at the Italian Open, at the Foro Italico, in Rome, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti during their semifinal tennis match at the Italian Open, in Rome, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti during their semifinal tennis match at the Italian Open, at the Foro Italico, in Rome, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)