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Arnold Palmer Invitational – fourth-round leaderboard

-15 A Bhatia (US)*, D Berger (US)

*Bhatia wins after first hole of sudden-death play-off

-12 C Young (US), L Aberg (Swe); -11 C Morikawa (US); -10 S Theegala (US), R Henley (US), MW Lee (Aus); -8 H Hall (Eng), R Fowler (US)

Selected others: -6 J Spieth (US), A Scott (Aus); -2 S Scheffler (US), X Schauffele, R MacIntyre (Sco); +1 M Fitzpatrick (Eng); +6 T Fleetwood (Eng)

Akshay Bhatia beat fellow American Daniel Berger on the first sudden death play-off hole to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando.

Berger, who had led since the first round, bogeyed the par four 18th as he missed a putt from seven feet, while Bhatia made par to seal his third PGA Tour win.

Bhatia, 24, went into the final round a shot behind Berger, but four birdies on the back nine which included a 57ft putt on the par four 11th plus an eagle on the par five 16th saw him card a three-under par 69.

That put him on 15 under for the tournament, level with Berger, who shot a 70.

“Everyone knows when you show up to Bay Hill it’s going to be a test and to play one of the hardest golf courses,” said Bhatia after winning his first PGA Tour title since the 2024 Texas Open, also won via a play-off. “And to succeed is really cool.”

Berger, 32, who has not won on the PGA Tour since 2021, led by five shots after the second round.

But his lead was cut to one on Sunday morning when the third round was completed, having been delayed because of darkness on Saturday.

“Obviously it didn’t go the way I wanted it to,” Berger said. “But at the start of the week if you told me I would have a chance on the 18th hole to win Bay Hill, I would be ecstatic with that. So a lot of positives, a lot of things to learn from.”

American Cameron Young and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg were tied for third place on 12 under, while world number one Scottie Scheffler carded a 73 to finish on two under in a tie for 23th.

England’s Harry Hall was tied for ninth on eight under.

Ireland clinched a place in the Hockey World Cup finals with a dramatic shootout win over Japan to finish in third place at the qualification tournament in Santiago.

After the game finished scoreless, Sarah Hawkshaw, Hannah McLoughlin and Jessica McMaster scored in the shootout with goalkeeper Elizabeth Murphy making three saves as Ireland won 3-1.

It wouldn’t be Ireland without a shootout in a major qualifying tournament.

Ireland dominated possession and territory in the first half but couldn’t turn their advantage into goals.

Niamh Carey came within inches of setting up Emily Kealy for a tap-in, while Jessica McMaster saw her shot saved and Charlotte Beggs hit the outside of the post.

The Irish high-press was causing Japan to turn the ball over but a couple of other scrambles in the circle just didn’t fall their way.

Japan had only a few minutes of sustained pressure when they won four penalty corners in quick succession but they came to nothing.

There was more frustration for Ireland in the third quarter as Kealy saw another effort go wide and then from a deflection off the Japanese goalkeeper, somehow the ball came off Michelle Carey and over the crossbar.

With two minutes remaining, Ireland thought they’d scored. From a scramble in front of the goal, Katie Mullen poked the ball into the net from close range,

Irish celebrations were short lived when from an umpire’s referral, it was adjudged the ball hit the back stick of Mia Jennings.

Ireland’s men completed the perfect week by coming from behind with two goals from Gregory Williams to beat France 2-1 in the tournament final.

With both sides having qualified for the World Cup, this became a battle for ranking points and ninth place in the world.

If the game didn’t matter that much, neither side showed it as it became an intense battle.

The French took the lead early in the second quarter with a well-worked goal from Noe Jouin from a penalty corner.

Ireland struck back before half-time when Williams’ shot from a corner was too hot to handle for French goalkeeper Corentin Saunier.

Given another opportunity just after half-time, Williams’s effort was even more powerful, leaving Saunier grasping at air.

In their five victories in the tournament, Ireland scored 21 goals but it has been their work defensively that has been the cornerstone for their success and they needed to show that again in the final quarter.

“It was amazing to qualify for the World Cup this week, that put to bed some demons,” explained Carr.

“While this game may not have counted for much on paper, obviously playing a nation like France it was always going to be a difficult game in a rivalry like this one so it was nice to go out and make a bit of a statement.

“They pushed us right to the very end but we knuckled down and defended really hard. [We’re] really happy with the win and it’s a great way to end the week in Chile.”

“Super-focused” world number one Aryna Sabalenka hit 23 winners as she beat Jaqueline Cristian to move into the fourth round at Indian Wells.

The Belarusian, 27, had been on track to take the opening set but double faulted as she looked to serve it out.

A swift break back allowed the four-time Grand Slam champion to take it 6-4, though, and she followed that by winning the second set 6-1 to seal victory.

“I knew that she was not going to give up easily,” Sabalenka said of Romanian Cristian, the world number 35.

“That’s why I was super-focused, especially on my serve. I didn’t want to give her much opportunity so [I was] super-happy with the serving, with the game and of course with the win.”

She will next face 16th-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan, who beat Colombian Camila Osorio 6-1 3-6 6-1.

Osaka, another four-time Grand Slam champion, is playing her first tournament since withdrawing before her Australian Open third-round match in January with an abdominal injury.

Other third-round match-ups in California include Britain’s Emma Raducanu taking on sixth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova, while fourth-ranked Coco Gauff, also of the US, is drawn against rising Philippines player Alexandra Eala.

In the men’s competition, fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev was taken to three sets but held off American Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (7/2) 5-7 6-4.

Luke Littler claimed a second straight UK Open title by beating James Wade 11-7 in the final in Minehead.

Having thrashed Wade 11-2 in the 2025 decider, Littler again got the better of his fellow Englishman, albeit in a much closer contest.

By doing so, Littler became the first player since Michael van Gerwen in 2015 and 2016 to win the ‘FA Cup of darts’ back-to-back.

The 19-year-old world champion raced 3-0 ahead in the best-of-21-legs final but was pegged back to 3-3 by Wade.

Littler promptly won the next three legs before, remarkably, Wade drew level again at 6-6.

Three-time UK Open champion Wade was averaging just 88 at that point while Littler was at a shade over 100 – but some slack finishing by the world number one allowed ‘The Machine’ to stay in the contest.

But while Wade raised his level and Littler never reached anywhere close to his best, the teenager was still able to reel off four straight legs from 7-7 to seal victory.

Littler ended with an average of 99.58 and a checkout percentage of 35.48% – numbers which proved enough for him to take home the £120,000 prize money.

“It feels amazing [to go back-to-back],” Littler told ITV4. “I don’t think it’s been the best of tournaments for me average-wise but I’ve dug deep throughout the tournament and I’ve come out with a win.

Littler had been pushed all the way in his semi-final by Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock.

‘The Nuke’ hit just one of his first 17 darts at double and found himself 5-1 down, only to battle his way back and secure a 11-9 win – extending his unbeaten record in major semi-finals to 16.

Meanwhile, Wade came out on top in a scintillating semi-final against Gerwyn Price, who had earlier overcome Jonny Clayton in an all-Welsh quarter-final.

Both players averaged over 100, Wade registering 105.53 to Price’s 101.39, as he claimed an 11-8 win.