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Story of this season? Akshay Bhatia kept saying it Sunday

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Every Sunday brings something different. One week there’s tears in the eyes of the champion. The next there’s flushed cheeks and sorrow words from the runner-up. This week brought the first playoff at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in nearly 30 years. And with it, a reminder:

This whole season has been telling us something. And Akshay Bhatia was watching closely enough to remind us once he made the winning putt. 

“This game is so crazy,” he told Cara Banks just minutes after his win. “It’s been crazy for these last couple weeks, watching [Jacob] Bridgeman win and then watching Nico [Echavarria] win, and so you just never know what can happen in this game.”

If you only tune in on Sundays, that’s been the story of the year, no? You just never know. That’s all we’ve seen recently! The Bridgeman character he’s referring to nearly bungled a lead on the back nine at the Genesis Invitational two weeks ago, having started the day six shots ahead. (He somewhat calmly parred the last to win by one.) The Nico character he’s referring to was last week’s winner by way of a Shane Lowry collapse. Lowry held a three-shot lead with three to play before rinsed multiple shots in the water. You just never know.

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Bhatia was never leading this week’s tournament alone until that final putt dropped. Daniel Berger, the runner-up, was trying to lead wire-to-wire, which had never been done at the legendary tournament. The 32-year-old Floridian had a five-shot lead through 36 holes. Then a one-shot lead through 54. And then suddenly, a three-shot lead with just six to play. He was on cruise control, but you just never know.


Akshay Bhatia of the United States celebrates with caddie Joe Greiner after winning the tournament on the eighteenth green during the first playoff hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard 2026 at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on March 08, 2026 in Orlando, Florida.

Akshay Bhatia’s clubs: What’s in his Arnold Palmer Invitational-winning bag


By:


Jack Hirsh



Chris Gotterup had one-half of a hole to play at the WM Phoenix Open last month, sitting two shots back with an expected win probability of 0.7%. (That is, win once or twice in 200 tries.) It was Super Bowl Sunday so maybe you weren’t watching, or maybe you were focused on making an appetizer, or commuting to the football watch party … as Gotterup stunted on those odds, made birdie from the rough, squeezed into a playoff and poured in a 40-footer to win. You just never know.

Maybe that’s what Bhatia was thinking while playing the par-5 16th hole, on which he hit perhaps the best 6-iron of his life to a tap-in eagle, moving to one back. It’s likely the shot he’ll remember most from this tournament, given how it took three steely pars after to raise the trophy. 

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He did, at the very least, admit to thinking about that mentality when he turned to the back nine. Bhatia had played the front in two over, bogeying the 9th. He was five back of Berger at that point and pissed off. 

“So I went to 10 tee very angry,” he said after, while wearing the red cardigan that API winner’s receive. “That was the first time I really showed some frustration. But I told [my caddie, Joe Greiner] you know, we shot 4-under yesterday on this side, let’s just try and do that again. And you just never know in this game.”

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What’s in his Arnold Palmer-winning bag

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Skateboarding World Championships: Britain’s Sky Brown wins park gold

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Britain’s Sky Brown has become a skateboarding world champion for the second time after winning gold in a rain-disrupted park event in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

The 17-year-old was leading the standings with a score of 88.16 on Sunday when organisers called off the final’s third run because of rain.

Japan’s Mizuho Hasegawa took silver with 84.36, while 83.90 was enough for American Minna Stess to claim bronze.

“The level is crazy. I had to put a lot down to get here, but I am definitely bummed how we couldn’t fully do a final,” Brown told World Skate.

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“To win, to be a world champion on International Women’s Day definitely means a lot, but there are bigger things going on.

“This feels huge and I am so thankful but there are bigger things, I just pray for peace.”

Brown became Great Britain’s first skateboarding world champion at the age of 14 when she won park gold in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates in 2023.

She was also Britain’s youngest Olympic medal winner of all time, winning park bronze as a 13-year-old at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games.

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Masked fan stages VAR protest by unplugging referee monitor during German match

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A dramatic scene unfolded at a German second-division football match on Sunday when a masked fan emerged from the stands to unplug the video assistant referee (VAR) monitor, in an apparent protest against the technology.

The incident occurred as referee Felix Bickel was deciding on a penalty.

The unidentified individual, clad in white overalls and a ski mask in Muenster green, interrupted Bickel during the game between Preussen Muenster and Hertha Berlin.

Muenster later confirmed the fan came out of the stands to unplug the monitor. Television footage captured the person climbing back into the home fans’ section immediately after the act.

Despite the audacious disruption, the decision ultimately went against the home side.

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Video assistant referee Katrin Rafalski made a remote ruling, communicating her findings to Bickel. Hertha’s Fabian Reese subsequently scored the penalty, the opening goal in their 2-1 victory.

The penalty was eventually awarded and scored

The penalty was eventually awarded and scored (Getty Images)

Preussen Muenster expressed regret, stating it would “do everything it can to identify the perpetrator or perpetrators and bring them to justice”, and added that “initial findings indicate that this was a planned action.”

A large banner displayed by home fans, reading “Pull the plug on VAR”, supported this.

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Curiously, Muenster captain Jorrit Hendrix voiced approval of the fan’s actions.

“It shows how the fans experience things and that they want to do everything to win the game,” he said in comments broadcast by TV show Sportschau.

“If they can do something to influence it, they do that. I completely understand it and think it’s a good thing.”

The incident underscores the ongoing controversy surrounding VAR in German football, where it has been a source of fan frustration due to perceived delays and an unwelcome interruption to the flow of the game since its 2017 introduction.

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Despite complaints, VAR is set to be given more power at this summer’s World Cup. The technology is set to be used to cover second yellow cards and cards awarded to the wrong team.

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Akanji explains differences between Inter’s last two defeats against Milan

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Manuel Akanji expressed his disappointment at Inter’s performance during their 1-0 loss against city rivals Milan on Sunday evening, and explained why last night’s defeat differed to their loss against the Rossoneri earlier this season: ‘Today was different. It wasn’t good enough from our side’.

Akanji reacts to Milan 1-0 Inter: ‘Wasn’t good enough from our side’

The Nerazzurri slipped to their second Serie A defeat against Milan of the 2025-26 season as Pervis Estupinan struck with the only goal of the game in San Siro on Sunday night.

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Cristian Chivu’s side still have a commanding seven-point lead at the top of the Serie A table with 10 league matches of the season left to play, but there is disappointment around the camp in the aftermath of Sunday’s defeat against their city rivals.

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“I think they played the way we expected them to play. They try to press a bit up front, if it doesn’t work, they drop deep and that’s what they did, especially in the first half,” explained Akanji in his post-match interview with CBS Sports.

“We had a lot of missed passes or duels that we lost, or we gave them opportunities by losing the ball easily. And also we didn’t defend well in a couple of situations and that’s why we lost the game in the end.”

Inter will make it two Serie A titles in three years if they hold out for the Scudetto in 2025-26. They have also reached the Champions League final in two of the last four seasons and have won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italia twice within the last five campaigns.

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If there is a recurring complaint about Cristian Chivu’s side, though, it is that they have struggled to overcome ‘bigger’ sides in the league and Champions League this term. The Nerazzurri have also failed to beat Milan in any of their last seven encounters.

“I mean, I’ve only played in the last two, today and the one in the first part of the season and for me, they were totally different games,” said Akanji.

MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 08: Rafael Leao of AC Milan competes for the ball with Manuel Akanji of Inter during the Serie A match between AC Milan and FC Internazionale at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on March 08, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

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“The first one we dominated them, we had so many chances to score goals, we even missed a penalty. So, we clearly had enough chances to win the game. They had one opportunity and they scored the goal, that’s why they won the game.

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“Today was different. It wasn’t good enough from our side. A lot of lost duels, a lot of balls that we should have kept that we lost. Just way too many mistakes and also sometimes in the duels, we weren’t aggressive enough and that’s why we lost today.

“I think as a team we didn’t create enough opportunities up front. We tried to cross the ball, but nothing really happened, not off the crosses. But still we had good opportunities to score a goal.

“I think right before they scored the goal for 1-0, Mkhi (Henrikh Mkhitaryan) runs alone at the keeper and couldn’t score. And even in the second half when Mkhi laid it off to Dima (Federico Dimarco) to score a goal and I think there were also a couple of opportunities with the corner that we had that the referee apparently blew the whistle before. Then a couple of situations where it maybe could have been a penalty.

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“So we tried to create something but I think it just wasn’t enough from our side today.”

MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 08: Referee Daniele Doveri at the end of the Serie A match between AC Milan and Inter after AC Milan 1-0 Inter at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on March 08, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Naturally disappointed by Sunday’s defeat against Milan, Akanji insists that he is still trying to look at the positives.

“The next few days are not going to be good. You’re never happy when you lose a derby. The good thing is that we’re still seven points ahead and we have enough time to recover. The next game is not until next Saturday at home against Atalanta, which is a big game, but we will be ready again.

“We need to make better what we didn’t do good today and I’m confident we can get the win there.”

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New York Knicks vs LA Clippers Preview: Starting Lineups Tonight, Betting Tips and Game Prediction (Mar. 9)

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The New York Knicks and the LA Clippers will lock horns at the Intuit Dome on Monday, with tipoff scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET. This will mark their second and final meeting of the season, with the Knicks securing a 123-111 win in the previous matchup.

However, New York enters the game after a 110-97 loss to the LA Lakers at Crypto.com Arena and will be playing on back-to-back nights. The Clippers, meanwhile, come in with momentum after a 123-120 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday at the FedEx Forum.

New York Knicks vs LA Clippers Preview, Starting Lineups Tonight, Betting Tips and Game Prediction

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New York Knicks vs LA Clippers Betting Tips and Odds

Moneyline: Knicks (-135), Clippers (+114)

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Spread: Knicks -2.5 (-105), Clippers +2.5 (-115)

Total over/under o/u: Knicks o220.5 (-110), Clippers u220.5 (-110)

Editor’s note: Odds might change closer to tipoff.

Betting Tips

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Kawhi Leonard is expected to score over 26.5 points.

Jalen Brunson is projected to combine for over 28.5 points and rebounds.

Darius Garland is expected to make over 1.5 3-pointers.

New York Knicks vs LA Clippers Preview

The New York Knicks had a rare off night offensively on Sunday, finishing with just two players in double figures. Mikal Bridges and Jose Alvarado were both held scoreless, while Jalen Brunson led the backcourt with 24 points.

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Karl-Anthony Towns led the way with a strong double-double of 25 points and 16 rebounds, while his frontcourt partner, OG Anunoby, added 16 points. Josh Hart, meanwhile, also struggled, recording just eight.

The Clippers pulled off an impressive comeback against the Memphis Grizzlies. After trailing by 18 points in the first quarter, LA outscored Memphis over the remaining periods to secure the win.

Kawhi Leonard led the team with 28 points, while Darius Garland added 21. Bennedict Mathurin matched Garland’s total off the bench. Despite three players finishing scoreless, the trio’s 20+ point performances were enough to power the Clippers to victory.

New York Knicks vs LA Clippers Starting Lineups Tonight

New York Knicks starting lineup

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PG- Jalen Brunson, SG- Mikal Bridges, SF- Josh Hart, PF- OG Anunoby, C- Karl-Anthony Towns

LA Clippers starting lineup

PG- Darius Garland, SG- Kris Dunn, SF- Kawhi Leonard, PF- Derrick Jones Jr., C- Brook Lopez

New York Knicks vs LA Clippers Prediction

The LA Clippers have been better at home and will fancy their chances against the New York Knicks on Monday. However, the Knicks have not lost back-to-back games since January and will likely pull off a win at the Intuit Dome.

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Final score prediction: Knicks win 117-101