Woodland led by one shot overnight after Hojgaard, chasing his first PGA Tour win, backed up a sublime eight-under-par 62 on Friday with a seven-under-par 63 on Saturday.

But the American showed remarkable calm and control on a masterful front nine, featuring four birdies, to move into a lead he never looked like relinquishing.

Hojgaard also had two bogeys and one double bogey, despite two birdies, in his first 10 holes to boost Woodland’s chances.

The Dane closed the gap to five shots on the 14th hole – finding a birdie while Woodland carded a bogey – then four shots with another birdie on the 16th.

But Woodland matched him with a par on 17 and made par at the last, while Hojgaard dropped another shot.

Woodland received a warm reception from the crowd down the stretch, which turned to rapturous applause and chants of “Gary, Gary” as he sank his putt for victory.

It is Woodland’s fifth PGA Tour triumph and perhaps sets him up to challenge for the first major of the season at next month’s Masters.

When asked about his chances at Augusta, he emphasised he still had personal and mental issues to work on, but added: “My game is better than it’s ever been.”

American Johnny Keefer and Australia’s Min Woo Lee tied for third, one stroke behind Hojgaard, on 15 under.

Reflecting on his achievement, Woodland said he was “most proud” that he “didn’t give up” on his career over a difficult past few years.

He added: “I tried to slow down and take things in because it didn’t feel like this was possible a couple of years ago.”

A 20-year-old Irishman who has never played American football committed Sunday to play at South Carolina as an offensive lineman.

Neff Giwa, who is also Nigerian, has come a long way — from Tipperary — in a short amount of time.

Just a few months after showing an interest in the sport, he was touring U.S. college campuses, meeting coaches and collecting offers.

It’s a lot to handle, even for someone who is 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches tall, weighs 295 pounds and has 37-inch-long arms and great foot speed.

Sometimes he asks himself: “Is this really happening to me?” Incredibly, yes.

“I knew that there’d be a journey there, but I could never have anticipated this,” Giwa, in an interview with The Associated Press, said of the whirlwind around his recruitment.

Giwa, whose full first name is Oluwanifemi, selected the Gamecocks over offers from Miami, North Carolina, SMU, Tennessee and Texas.

Giwa had two visits to Columbia and spent “ a lot of time ” with coach Shane Beamer.

‘Freakish numbers’

Giwa — pronounced with a hard G — heard about Brandon Collier through a friend familiar with the American’s track record of finding, training and placing international kids at U.S. college football programs. Collier, an American who played defensive line at UMass, runs PPI Recruits out of Germany.

Collier had Giwa visit him for a workout and immediately envisioned him protecting quarterbacks.

“If you can create a tackle in a laboratory, this is what you want him to look like,” Collier told the AP.

It wasn’t just his size, though. Collier clocked Giwa at 4.88 seconds in the 40-yard dash and measured his broad jump at 9 feet, 10 inches — “pretty freakish numbers,” Collier noted.

“Then he has the toughness,” he added. “You can have all these measurements, but if you’re not tough mentally and physically then you probably won’t make it.”

Collier was bringing his latest group of recruits on campus tours earlier this month and decided to add Giwa — mostly just to introduce him to the process.

“I didn’t have expectations,” Giwa told the AP before Sunday’s announcement. “It was just to see what was out there, basically, and what to work towards.”

“Things kind of picked up.”

Here come the offers

Not long after touching down in the U.S., Collier detoured to Toronto to check out another touted prospect. Giwa joined him.

“I had them do some pass sets and some one-on-ones with some kids, he looked phenomenal,” Collier said of Giwa.

So he instructed Giwa to immediately create an X account so colleges could learn more about him. Collier then posted a couple of videos “and it went viral from there.”

“Miami, they messaged me literally 60 seconds after I posted it,” Collier said. “The head coach (Mario Cristobal) wrote me a message — ‘get him to Miami.’”

Like actually one minute?

“Literally 60 seconds, man,” Collier said. “The power of networking and social media. People know what I do.”

Giwa didn’t talk to Belichick

North Carolina would have been an intriguing choice not only to play for iconic coach Bill Belichick but also because the Tar Heels play their 2026 opener against TCU at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

“I haven’t spoken to him personally,” Giwa said of Belichick.

Playing in his country someday would be great: “I was born in Ireland, and I was raised in Ireland. It definitely would be cool and a bit of an honor to do that.”

Lots of international talent

Marvin Nguetsop, a German defensive end who is doing a year of prep school in Connecticut, was considered the top recruit on Collier’s recent tour. He got offers from Ohio State and Michigan.

“All of the kids had offers on the tour, too,” Collier said. “Tennessee offered five or six of the kids on one day.”

Giwa is not the first of Collier’s recruits to get offers despite no football experience. Hero Kanu received an offer from Penn State without ever playing the sport. The defensive lineman ultimately chose Ohio State. He now plays at Texas.

Giwa is a small-town kid

Giwa grew up in Cashel, a town in County Tipperary with a population under 5,000.

His mother is a nurse and his father is a physiotherapist. Giwa, who has three older siblings, said they were the first Nigerian family to move into town and that local residents “definitely made us feel welcome.”

What does he tell everyone about college football and the facilities he’s visited?

“I tell them it’s a different world over there,” he said.

Rugby, soccer, hurling and Gaelic football are the local sports.

Giwa likes that American football allows him to use his size. He sees a rugby-to-football template in Jordan Mailata, a 6-foot-8 Australian who plays offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Name, image and likeness deals allow college athletes, even international ones if done correctly, to earn big money.

“It does make you think about possibilities and choices and how you can help others. (But) it’s more just making your family proud,” he said.

Giwa credits Collier with creating life-changing opportunities. He’s not sure what he’d be doing otherwise.

“I’d just be a regular guy,” he said with a laugh, “doing what 90% of the world is doing, just trying to make a living. That’s why I’m so grateful because I’m able to do something that I really love now.”

Terence Crawford retired following a virtuoso performance against Canelo Alvarez in September, and now Crawford’s trainer is hoping that he can secure a second win over Canelo, offering the Mexican a fight with ‘Bud’s stablemate.

Brian ‘BoMac’ MacIntyre guided Crawford to a legendary triumph over Canelo six months ago, as the Omaha-born sensation maintained his undefeated record and became the first three-division undisputed champion since Henry Armstrong in 1938.

Canelo remains sidelined, plotting a return to the division in September, when he will presumably return in an instant world title shot – with newly-crowned WBC champion Christian Mbilli being the assumed target.

Mbilli defeated Maciej Sulecki to claim the WBC Interim title last year and defended it in a brawl with Lester Martinez that was scored as a draw, before being elevated to full WBC world champion due to Crawford’s retirement.

Meanwhile, Martinez, a training partner of Crawford’s, assumed position as the new interim champion when he returned to action this month, claiming the title and subsequent mandatory challenger position with a decision victory over Immanuwel Aleem.

Speaking to FightHype after cornering the Guatemalan in that win, MacIntyre called for a rematch between Martinez and Mbilli for the full WBC crown and also suggested a potential showdown with Canelo Alvarez.

“This s**t is beautiful, making world champions and going for the next motherf***ers that is in the weight class. You heard me, Mbilli, Canelo, and anybody else out there at 168lbs that want this s**t. Let’s get it!”

Mbilli may fight before September as he seeks to defend his belt and prepare for a possible clash with Canelo. Although, Martinez would likely be deemed as a risky option for a first defence when such a lucrative opportunity is within touching distance.

After incurring two black eyes in his Caulfield return, trainer Ciaron Maher is holding off clearance for Jimmysstar on The Championships’ opening day.

In the William Reid Stakes (1200m) March 21, Jimmysstar ran seventh despite short odds favouritism and consumed some turf there.

Maher requires another session of work from the gelding before settling on the TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick Saturday.

The eye ailments resolved for the sprinter in under 48 hours; he trucked to Sydney last week and managed an easy canter Saturday morning.

The trainer steered clear of rationales for the run yet found it challenging to rationalise.

Mark Zahra handled duties at Caulfield, but Ethan Brown, the steady rider, returns if Jimmysstar joins the TJ Smith field.

Saturday’s Group 1 sprint sees Zahra aboard Tentyris.

“We’ll see how he works,” Maher said.

“I don’t really like making excuses, but Mark said he got sort of terrorised. He is a horse that does his own thing a bit, bridles up.

“I didn’t mind him being on the inside, but he jumped, got hit straight out of the barrier. He was wanting to get out, but he got pushed back in and then at the furlong got a decent bump as well.

“I don’t like making excuses and Mark is a pretty straight shooter, and he was like ‘nothing went right’.

“I was very happy going in, but I’m a little bit on the fence (afterwards).”

Maher added that apart from the black eyes, no other troubles arose for Jimmysstar post-race.

Additionally, Maher verified stablemate Tempted sidesteps the TJ Smith Stakes for the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (1200m) Randwick on April 11.

Markets for the TJ Smith Stakes and future events are live at prominent Australian betting sites.

Discover competitive racing odds on the TJ Smith Stakes now.

Leicester boss Geoff Parling has apologised after he was involved in a heated exchange with TV presenter Craig Doyle ahead of their Gallagher Prem match with Gloucester at Villa Park on Saturday.

Footage showed TNT Sports’ Doyle inviting Liam MacDevitt to attempt a conversion, which prompted an angry response from Parling after MacDevitt’s kick from the touchline flew in the direction of where the Tigers players were warming up.

He walked towards Doyle before pushing him and replied “It’s f****** not on,” after the presenter asked: “Would you sign him, Geoff?”

In a statement from Leicester on Sunday afternoon, Parling said: “I would like to apologise for the incident pre-game yesterday – it is important we stay a family-focused game and it wasn’t appropriate for viewers to see that.

“We have a great product in the Gallagher Prem and I offer my thanks to Craig Doyle and everyone at TNT for continuing to innovate and think differently.

“After talking last night, we’ll make sure we are fully aligned behind new ideas, including when best to use them; and keep pushing our game to new audiences.”

Leicester also confirmed that “those on the ground at Villa Park” had been offered private apologies from Parling and the club, and said “Tigers appreciate the apologies for the kick taking place initially”.

Doyle apologised for Parling’s language on air, saying: “Geoff not happy about that.”

Speaking after the game to BBC Radio Leicester, Parling said: “The producer from TNT has just come and apologised to me. They had something set up that wasn’t passed with anybody, without our knowledge.

“I’m very wary I need to protect my players and certainly balls flying towards our players that could go anywhere where there’s an injury risk, then I’m obviously not going to be happy.”

TNT Sports declined to comment when contacted by the Press Association on Saturday.

Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton (BCCI)

Mumbai: At last, the Mumbai Indians have ended their jinx of losing the first match of the IPL, an unwanted habit which they had been carrying for 13 long seasons — from 2013 to 2025.In fact, on Sunday night at the Wankhede Stadium, that unwanted record looked like continuing when the Kolkata Knight Riders raced away to an imposing total of 220 for four after being asked to bat first.