BRADENTON, Fla. – This is the one-year anniversary of Viktor Hovland, on live television, saying that he “sucked” at chipping.

Of course, he’d just won the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA Tour title, but he also had a point – at the time, he ranked 230^th on Tour in strokes gained: around the green. It was one of the only weaknesses in the 2018 U.S. Amateur champion’s game.

But that’s no longer the case, at least not to that extreme. Entering the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession, Hovland has improved to 65^th in that category, and his short game has been put to the test repeatedly this week at a course that features tight, grainy lies and slick, undulating, elevated greens.

“If you can chip out here,” Hovland said, “you can chip.”

On Saturday, Hovland holed about a 25-yard chip for birdie at the par-3 14th hole after earlier in the day getting a 45-yard wedge shot from the rough to drop for eagle at the par-5 seventh.

He is 8 of 13 scrambling this week, his strokes-gained stats skewed by a nightmare ending to his second round, when he played ping-pong around the ninth green after finding terrible lies in the bushes and back lip of a bunker.

If not for that quadruple-bogey 8 to end his day, Hovland would be in even better position at this WGC. But as it stands, he’s at 10-under 206, firmly in the top 10 but a half-dozen shots behind Collin Morikawa heading into the final round.

Hovland credited months of hard work with swing coach Jeff Smith, who has revamped Hovland’s action around the greens to eliminate the leading edge on chips and use more bounce.

“I wasn’t doing that before – it was all leading edge, which I could get away with in overseed or ryegrass, but out here you’re exposed immediately as soon as you get into any type of Bermuda into the grain,” Hovland said. “You have to catch it perfectly. Still got some work to do, but I’m hitting chips that I wouldn’t have been able to do before.”

Hovland cited his pitch shot on the par-5 third hole on Friday, when he missed left of the green, in the collection area well below the putting surface. From a tight lie on a downslope, he elevated his pitch into a front-left pin and got the ball to stop, leading to a birdie.

“It’s cool to see a couple of those shots,” he said.

ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Calif. — With short, sure strokes of a flathead ax, firefighter Cole Gomoll methodically chopped along the edge of the SUV’s broken windshield as golf icon Tiger Woods — tangled up in his seatbelt and covered in a sheet to avoid shards of glass — waited in shock inside the mangled wreck.

When Gomoll had cut a long, continuous line to the end of the glass, he and another Los Angeles County firefighter peeled back the windshield. The 6-lb (2.7-kilogram), 36-inch-long (91-centimeter-long) ax went down, and the backboard was swapped in.

Within minutes, the ambulance had raced away, bound for the trauma center with its famous patient in the back.

It would be hours before the news broke around the world but for Gomoll and the other nine members of Fire Station 106 in Rolling Hills Estates, California, Tuesday’s call — initially reported as a traffic collision with a person trapped — lasted just 12 minutes.

“He’s just another patient,” Gomoll told The Associated Press on Friday at Fire Station 106.

The 106’s firefighters, from Gomoll up to Battalion Chief Dean Douty, stressed that anyone in Woods’ dire situation would have received the same care from them.

“I didn’t know who was inside the car,” Capt. Joe Peña said, until a sheriff’s deputy told him.

And anyone else would get the same privacy, too — the firefighters declined to recount the athlete’s conversations and condition at the scene to preserve patient confidentiality.

“His identity really didn’t matter in what we do,” Capt. Jeane Barrett said.

Even so, those minutes marked a milestone in Gomoll’s career: It was the first time the 23-year-old Marine Corps veteran had performed an extrication like that in the field.

Gomoll joined the fire station, located about a mile (1.6 kilometers) away from the crash site, in August as a probationary firefighter. Just three weeks ago, he’d practiced similar moves with one of his superiors, Barrett.

“We’ve trained for stuff like this,” Gomoll said.

Woods was transferred from Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on Thursday to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for “continuing orthopedic care and recovery,” hospital officials said. A Friday night post on Woods’ Twitter account said he “received follow-up procedures on his injuries this morning. The procedures were successful, and he is now recovering and in good spirits.”

Woods had shattered the tibia and fibula bones of his lower right leg in multiple locations. Those injuries were stabilized with a rod in the tibia during a long surgery. Additional injuries to the bones in the foot and ankle required screws and pins.

Woods had been driving a 2021 Genesis SUV on a downhill stretch of road known for wrecks when he struck a raised median in a coastal Los Angeles suburb, crossed into oncoming lanes and flipped several times.

The crash was the latest setback for Woods, who has won 15 major championships and a record-tying 82 victories on the PGA Tour. He is among the world’s most recognizable sports figures, and at 45, even with a reduced schedule from nine previous surgeries, remains golf’s biggest draw.

He was in Los Angeles last weekend as the tournament host of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. Monday and Tuesday had been set aside for him to give golf tips to celebrities on Discovery-owned GOLFTV.

The Los Angeles County sheriff has called the crash “purely an accident” and says drugs and alcohol did not appear to be a factor.

Everyone says Woods is lucky to be alive — and “if nothing else, it’s a good PSA for wearing a seatbelt,” Barrett added.

The first responders did, however, correct previous reports that said they’d used the Jaws of Life and a pry bar called a halligan tool to free the celebrity.

Barrett, a 25-year fire service veteran, and her fellow firefighters know the dangers of the eponymous rolling hills in the area and have cut many drivers out of their twisted cars.

They initially had three plans for Woods’ SUV: First, try the ax on the windshield. If that didn’t work, see if going through the sunroof was a possibility. A third option would be to cut the entire roof off.

The firefighters and paramedics spoke to Woods — who introduced himself as “Tiger” — throughout, reassuring him through a hole in the windshield that he’d soon be free.

“You can tell he was in pain,” firefighter Sally Ortega said, but he was still responding to their questions and clearly anxious to get out.

“Luckily, our first plan was the one that worked,” Barrett said.

As the ambulance pulled away, Barrett surveyed the SUV to see what lessons her crew might be able to apply to save a future driver.

“No car is ever crumpled in the same way,” she said.

The firefighters later debriefed together around their station’s kitchen table, then ate salads for lunch in a nearby park — savoring the last of the quiet as the news finally made its way around the world.

Lacklustre Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw by Hellas Verona in Serie A on Saturday after Cristiano Ronaldo's opener was cancelled out by a towering header from Antonin Barak.

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The result leaves Juve in third place on 46 points, three behind AC Milan and seven adrift of leaders Inter Milan after 23 games, while Verona are ninth with 35 points from 24.

League top scorer Ronaldo fired in his 19th goal this season early in the second half but Barak guided home a 78th-minute equaliser as the champions' poor run of away form continued.

Andrea Pirlo's side have picked up four points from their last four league games on the road, and the woodwork saved them twice against a spirited Verona side who deserved a point.

"When you're in front in these games you need to bring them home," Pirlo told DAZN. "We were definitely missing some experienced players. We had a lot of youngsters, so we had few players who could understand the game.

"I asked Cristiano and Alex Sandro to speak to them and help them understand, but unfortunately it wasn't enough.

"It's a shame to leave two points behind, because the hardest thing is going in front and we should have taken advantage of this chance."

Pirlo was faced with a selection crisis ahead of the trip to the Stadio Bentegodi, with six first-team players out injured and defender Danilo missing through suspension.

Verona, bolstered by the memory of their 2-1 home win against Juve last season, came close to scoring early on when Davide Faraoni's glancing header was pushed onto the post by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Federico Chiesa came closest for Juve in the first half when his shot brought a smart save from Marco Silvestri, and the winger turned provider four minutes after the break when he teed up the unmarked Ronaldo for a simple finish.

Verona pulled level when Barak rose well to nod in an inviting Darko Lazovic cross and they almost turned the game on its head with five minutes remaining when Lazovic's fierce shot was superbly finger-tipped onto the bar by Szczesny.

The U.S. Soccer Federation's National Council formally voted to repeal a policy that required players to stand for the national anthem.

The vote to repeal Policy 604-1, which took place at the USSF's annual general meeting on Saturday, received 71.34% of the weighted vote. The policy had already been repealed by the USSF board of directors last June, but it still required a vote from the National Council, which comprises hundreds of voters from across the country representing stakeholders from the youth, adult amateur and professional constituencies, as well as the athletes' council.

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The policy was originally passed at the USSF's AGM in 2017, and stated, "All persons representing a Federation national team shall stand respectfully during the playing of national anthems at any event in which the Federation is represented."

The policy was adopted in response to U.S. women's national team midfielder Megan Rapinoe, who knelt for the national anthem before a 2016 match against Thailand. She did so in a bid to show solidarity with then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who had knelt during the anthem prior to NFL games to protest racial inequality and police brutality. Rapinoe did the same several times with her club, the Seattle Reign, now known as OL Reign. Following the policy's adoption, Rapinoe said she would honor the policy and continued to do so.

But in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020 while in police custody, protests took place across the U.S. about the very issues Kaepernick and Rapinoe were trying to raise. Some of those demonstrations included protesters and some police officers kneeling in memory of Floyd. This led the USSF to reconsider its policy.

At Saturday's meeting, held virtually because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the vote elicited more responses from those assembled than any other item on the agenda. Most comments were against the repeal, including from U.S. Paralympian and athletes' council member Seth Jahn in which he made disparaging remarks on the impact of police brutality and slavery in the Black community. The negative comments led USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone to address those assembled and state that the policy repeal wasn't in any way intended to disrespect the flag or the military.

"This is about the athletes' and our staff's right to peacefully protest racial inequalities and police brutality," she said. "So I urge our membership to please support our staff and our athletes on this policy."

In the day's other notable event, Idaho Youth Soccer Association president Bill Taylor was voted to be USSF vice president, gaining him a seat on the USSF board of directors. He beat out former U.S. international Cobi Jones, USSF board member Tim Turney and Metropolitan DC-Virginia Soccer Association president Jim Sadowski in a vote that went two rounds. Jones was the top vote-getter in the first round, but it was not enough to gain a majority. The second round saw Taylor receive 55.94% of the weighted vote to win the election.

Jones, the all-time leader of the U.S. men's squad in appearances, was aiming to be just the third Black person to sit on the USSF board.

Cone was also elected to the post of USSF president. She ran unopposed after taking over last year from Carlos Cordeiro, who resigned in the wake of controversy over language used in legal filings that disparaged the players on the U.S. women's national team.

Javon Williams Jr. and Romeir Elliott each had a pair of touchdown runs, and Southern Illinois beat top-ranked North Dakota State 38-14 on Saturday to end the Bison's 39-game winning streak.

North Dakota State (2-1, 1-1 Missouri Valley), which has won three straight FCS championships, had last lost on Nov. 4, 2017, to then-No. 8 South Dakota State.

"We didn't show up and play very well,'' Bison coach Matt Entz said. "There was not any position group that played well.''

It was the Bison's worst defeat since a 37-6 loss at Cal Poly during the 2005 season.

Williams ran for a 3-yard score and Elliott broke loose for a 20-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Both scores followed a North Dakota State turnover. Elliott finished with 91 yards rushing and Williams had 41, and the pair also had touchdown runs in the second quarter.

The Salukis (2-1, 1-1) snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Bison, who were 16.5-point favorites.

"This game will be recognized for a long time, maybe the biggest win in that stadium,'' Southern Illinois coach Nick Hill said of ending North Dakota State's FCS-record winning streak.

Avante Cox had seven receptions for 138 yards for Southern Illinois. His 65-yard catch set up Williams' 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down to give the Salukis a 17-0 lead with about a minute left in the second quarter.

Salukis quarterback Nic Baker, filling in for senior Kare Lyles -- who left with a rib injury during last week's game against North Dakota -- had a TD pass and was 17-of-23 passing for 254 yards. His 6-yard touchdown pass to Landon Lenoir stretched the Salukis' lead to 24-7 early in the fourth quarter.

"It's what I hope for, it's what I've dreamed of,'' Baker said. "I kind of want those moments."

Zeb Noland threw a 37-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass that was tipped to Jake Lippe that pulled the Bison to 17-7 at the break. Jalen Bussey's 63-yard run set up Noland's 5-yard touchdown run with 2:16 left.

It was Southern Illinois' first win against the Bison since a 24-14 home victory on Sept. 26, 2009.

TAMPA, Fla. -- DJ LeMahieu and the New York Yankees are happy there will be a little bit of baseball normalcy when spring training games begin on Sunday.

As in, fans in the stands when the Yankees host the Toronto Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field.

Due to restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, it will be the first time fans will see the Yankees play in person since a spring training game last March 12.

"To me it's just Major League Baseball with fans," LeMahieu said on Saturday. "Last year I'm glad we played. Glad we were able to get in as many games as we could and I thought the playoffs was cool but just missed that adrenaline and excitement."

The limited crowd due to safety protocols for Sunday's game is expected to be around 2,800 in the ballpark that has a capacity of over 10,000.

"You can definitely tell how excited people are to go to baseball games, especially to watch the Yankees and that's what I'm excited about," LeMahieu said. "I enjoy the game but I know how much it means to a lot of fans to watch the Yankees and baseball."

Social distancing and mask-wearing rules are in place and there will be no close interactions, such as signing autographs, between players and fans.

"I definitely miss that," said LeMahieu, who led the majors in batting last year. "It's not always my favorite thing to do but I know how much it means. It's something I look forward to. Hopefully that kind of interaction returns."

The Blue Jays will also be playing before fans for the first time in almost a year.

"In just watching other events, whether it was college football, NFL games, different games where fans were there in limited capacities, it does change the look and the feel even watching it on TV I felt like," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "I'm sure it will be nice for the guys to have that environment and atmosphere that only the fans can create."

Boone said the first time the lack of fans last year really hit him hard was the initial series with the Boston Red Sox.

"Where there's just that normal extra buzz, angst and intensity in a regular-season setting," Boone said.

Wales secure the Triple Crown and keep their Grand Slam hopes alive with a thrilling and controversial 40-24 win over England at the Principality Stadium.

MATCH REPORT: Wales beat England and take the Triple Crown

WATCH MORE: 'It was a hell of a game' - Wales boss Pivac

Available to UK users only.

If England had shown the same rock-steady discipline on the pitch as they did in the touchline interviews, the result might have been very different.

"We can't argue with the referee. The result's there and we've got to accept it," he added.

"They're huge decisions. We can't debate it, we are not allowed to debate it. All I will end up with is a fine and that won't help anyone.

"The dog won't be able to eat its food, wife won't be able to eat, so I can't say anything."

Captain Owen Farrell was, outwardly at least, equally philosophical after the match, but clearly upset during the game.

"There is no point in talking about it now. That is for everyone else to talk about," he told BBC Sport.

It certainly did get supporters of both sides talking.

These were the two first-half calls that sent social media into meltdown and fans searching the rulebook small print.

15 mins - Josh Adams' try

The first controversy came after a quarter of an hour.

England captain Farrell was penalised for failing to roll away from his own tackle on George North.

Referee Pascal Gauzere told him to tell his team to "change their behaviour" and said "time off" indicating that the clock was stopped.

Farrell's team huddled around him in front of the posts, the drinks carriers came on.

Wales fly-half Dan Biggar asked Gauzere to tell him when the time was back "on" and he could take the penalty.

With England still grouped around Farrell, Gauzere blew the whistle, Biggar kicked wide and Adams claimed it for a try, much to England's bewilderment.

Pundits reaction:

Former England and British and Irish Lions captain Martin Johnson: "I am speechless. That is appalling referring. Owen Farrell's wingers have come in to the conversation. They've not had time to reset.

Former Wales and British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton: "I would be fuming if I was Owen Farrell. If you've been told you can speak to your team and are in the middle of a conversation... I would be livid."

Social media reaction:

29 mins - Liam Williams try

Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit attempts to gather Adams' kick ahead. The ball drops down, and apparently forward, off his hand, deflects back off his thigh and finally off the chasing Henry Slade and towards the England try line.

The loose ball is snaffled by Liam Williams who slides over to score - and put Wales into a 17-6 lead.

Pundits reaction:

Former England and British and Irish Lions centre Jeremy Guscott: "We think it's a knock-on and Rees-Zammit can't believe his luck.

"But the letter of the law is it's hit him and not the floor and not another player so it's not deemed a knock-on."

Johnson: "I would have thought he's lost control of the ball. Everyone who has ever played rugby will think that's a knock-on."

Warburton: "It went down and backwards. We've seen those given as knock-ons and they haven't as well."

Social media reaction:

For the record, World Rugby's laws state: "A knock-on occurs when a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.

'Wales were worthy winners'

Wales' victories over Ireland and Scotland in the first two rounds came after their opponents were reduced to 14 men by red cards.

When asked if the decisions changed the course of Saturday's game, Jones said: "Well, they get points maybe they don't deserve and we have to fight to get back into the game.

"It makes it difficult and you have to be good enough to overcome it, they were worthy winners, but we have to be good enough to overcome those, as unusual as they might be."

England gave up 14 penalties to Wales' nine, including four after pulling back level at 24-24 just after the hour mark.

"There were times we gave away penalties we shouldn't have. It was just from the effort and sometimes you get in situations where emotionally you struggle because of the circumstances and you try too hard," added Jones. "That happens.

"Whenever you get beaten and bettered by a penalty, then discipline is an issue. But there were bigger issues in the game than that.

"Wales were worthy winners. We take full responsibility and don't blame the referee. But sometimes there are circumstances that happen that are difficult to handle and we weren't good enough to handle them."

Wales counterpart Wayne Pivac said the referee was lenient on England in some aspects with star second row Maro Itoje giving away five penalties in total, without being shown a yellow card.

"That is a lot of penalties for one player," said Pivac. "He is pushing the boundaries, clearly, but he is a world-class player. Sometimes world-class players get away with a little bit more than others."

Wales take on Italy in two weeks and then France in the final round as they continue their quest for an unexpected Grand Slam, while England take on France at home before travelling away to Ireland.

BBC Sport users' reaction:

Brian, Newport: Total professionalism from Owen Farrell in the post match interview. We all know how bad the ref was, let's hope somebody in authority challenges this refereeing performance.

Chance Hooper: We can blame the ref for two dodgy Welsh tries... but Ford, Farrell, Youngs and Daly did nothing but aimlessly kick. Our tactics are still one dimensional.

Andrew Norreys: Substitute all the officials at half-time please.

CH, Warwick: Well, the gods are smiling on Wales in this Six Nations. Sendings-off, weird tries, fine-margin decisions going their way. Make the most of it while you can, I suppose.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa – With the 60th running of the Knoxville Nationals scheduled for this August, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is showcasing winning cars from sprint car racing’s biggest event.

Currently, 12 Knoxville Nationals winning cars are on display in the museum. They are:

• Kenny Weld’s 1965 race winner
• Kenny Gritz’s 1969 race winner
• Dick Gaines 1974 race winner
• Doug Wolfgang’s 1977 race winner
• Steve Kinser’s 1980 race winner
• Doug Wolfgang’s 1989 race winner
• Mark Kinser’s 1996 race winner
• Danny Lasoski’s 2004 race winner
• Donny Schatz’s 2009 race winner
• Tim Shaffer’s 2010 race winner
• Jason Johnson’s 2016 race winner
• David Gravel’s 2019 race winner

“Of course, we started collecting these cars a year ago, in anticipation of the 60th running of the Nationals, but we all know that was postponed,” explained Bill Wright, the Museum Coordinator at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum.  “We’re very fortunate to have some very cooperative museum supporters in these owners, who have allowed us to hang on to these cars to display a little longer!  We’d like to thank the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska, Ron Fick, Danny Lasoski, Tony Stewart, Aaron Call and Janet Holbrook and Bobbi Johnson.  We’re hoping to add one or two cars yet this spring, so stay tuned, and come on in and see us.”

In addition, the museum still has many other displays, including the Salute to Champion Greg Hodnett. Currently, the theater is playing the “Best of 2020,” featuring the best main events of the past year.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Weekday hours will expand to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. starting April 1.

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is out for Saturday's game against the Edmonton Oilers because of a sore wrist.

Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe announced the decision before the start of a three-game series between the teams.

Matthews has 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists) in 20 games this year and has been dealing with the wrist injury much of the way.

Toronto (15-4-2) will get some other key players back in the lineup -- forward Joe Thornton returns from a lower-body injury; defenseman Jake Muzzin is back after missing two games with a facial fracture; and goalie Jack Campbell is available after a leg injury.

The Maple Leafs lead the all-Canadian North Division, with the Oilers (14-8-0) four points back.